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Since I couldn't find any section of this forum designated for feedback of the game, I decided to post it where I think it's most relevant.
I just recently picked up this game in the downtime between releases of titles that I am looking forward to. I was drawn by nostalgia, and little more; since 1991, I have been a fan of Mechwarrior games and, later, the novel series beginning with Exodus Road. I have never played the TT, though I have been tempted to give it a try. Over a few hours, a bunch of my friends picked up the game, moving over from Hawken to give MWO a try.
To be honest, this is half way a critique and half way a plea for help. Because although my experience has been overall negative, I think it can get better on the player's (me, and my friends) end. But I also believe that there are just issues in the game that a player cannot surmount on his own.
Highlights of our experience as fresh pilots:
Sound
This game easily has the best sounds of any Mechwarrior game to date. The bombastic ker-blam of large caliber weapons followed by the sound of the loading mechanism working its magic is phenomenal, and far better than the stock, generic vwoop sound effects of yesteryear. The music is also great. Top notch, 10/10 probably what's really keeping me in the game. I can't even really go on about it without nerdgasming about how great it is.
ECM
Why doesn't this work like any game previous? Holy cow, you have to be within such a distance to find anything with ECM that it's just silly. I understand that this is to help fight missiles, but they could have done it in other ways that don't effect everything else in the mean time. I don't think even BAP fully counters it, I could be incorrect though.
Level design
The design for the levels is visually appealing and inspired. Even the clearly alien landscapes look natural, and in some ways, totally radical. I, myself, am a fan of the Tourmaline Desert map in terms of sheer appearance. Whoever is in charge of the visuals isn't getting paid enough.
Sadly, the design of the levels always seems to favor one style of combat, and only one style of combat. Though there are stand outs that break this mold, I play a Hunchback 4G. That chassis is clearly designed for close range brawls in mind. Alas, most maps (Tourmaline Desert being one of them) always seem to draw a line over an open field, between articles of cover, etc. with very little for an AC/20 totting medium to do. Large lasers, PPCs, and Gauss rifles seem to rule the day – as they always have in Mechwarrior games. Lights tend to get in very close to their enemies, but there is a stark difference between a small mech going at 130 kph and a medium going at 91 kph, if he is built just right.
This wouldn't be as much of a problem if I had any choice regarding the maps I would be dropped into. Unfortunately, this would require a heavy revamp of the matchmaking system. The maps could also be redesigned to allow close range mechs a chance to get close to their enemy without being shot to bits. That would require a lot of work, however, and likely upset a community that has grown around these maps. So it seems the only recourse that I have is to build my mech around long range engagements. That's a shame, because I liked the massive tank cannon on my mech's shoulder. More on this next.
Heat management
As I said before, it is a fantastic thing that they made heat a bigger issue than it's ever been. More attention than ever has to be paid to heat output and heat bleed-off. There are two issues I have with the system at current, however.
The first is that, as I stated with my earlier map gripe, there is no way to select your map. So you have a very good chance to drop into a volcanic wasteland with an AC/2 boat, PPC reliant build, or some other energy heavy mech and be more or less screwed. I think it would be very lovely if the game allowed us to pick from our mech bays which vehicle we want to take out to the mission at the ready screen. That way, we know what map we will be playing on and have flexibility to make a choice in response to that.
My second issue is that, although shutting down itself is an inconvenience that can result in death, I more often than not see heavies and assaults be perfectly willing to alpha strike a medium and take the shutdown knowing full well that the medium is not in a position to do anything about it, and they can just slam the O key to override shut downs. This has been an issue in mechwarrior games from the start – everyone overrides shutdowns, and there's no reason not to. In other games, if you weren't careful, you could blow up your mech. In this, I've never seen it happen and I doubt that it even can happen. Am I wrong?
Game modes
Every game mode, Assault, Skermish, and Conquest, is for the most part the same. Assaults boil down to Skermishes; I've never seen a game won by capturing the base. Conquest is better in this regard. I see about a 50/50 between wins by resources or wins by kills. That said, conquest seems to be won easiest by one team moving together in one big mech blob. They will find a significant portion of the enemy team, wipe it out through sheer tonnage, and now they have greater initiative to go for caps with more manpower or just hunt down survivors.
Off the top of my head, I believe that conquest should allow respawns – with faster timers for lighter mechs. I have no idea how assault can be made any better, though.
Withholding mechs that are in are destroyed in a match
This is annoying as all kinds of heck. Cut it out. I lost, whatever. I want to move on and play the game in the mech I want. This was frustrating in World of Tanks, a similar game, and it's annoying here.
Weight distribution
Several times, my friends and I have gotten together in a lance with the make-up of a Raven, a Cicada, a Hunchback, and a Jagermech. In conquest games, the only type where lance seems to actually matter, it's been great fun when we find a comparable enemy lance and fight over a point. Even if we lose, it's usually a good fight.
MOST of the time, however, what happens is that we run into an enemy lance of four assaults, or an assault and three heavies, or three heavies and a light, or...
The point is that we get out-tonned more often than not, and there's just very little we can do. This has been an issue through out the mechwarrior games that I very rarely see discussed: The games tend to turn into heavy and assault beat-downs. Historically, lights and mediums have been treated as nothing more than campaign stepping stones to get into the mechs that everyone cares about. In multiplayer for any given game, there has always been a disproportionate number of heavies and assaults in play. This is because more guns and more armor trumps the use of speed as an advantage, unless you get into extremes. There were always a few who liked stand-out lights and mediums, but not many.
This game does a bang-up job in making sure that lights are elevated from their former humble place. Light mech wolfpacks are absolutely dangerous thanks to limitations in the torso twist speeds of heavy mechs, as well as their pitch limits. Since the game also goes on to make heat a bigger issue, with no coolant flushes to serve as get-out-of-jail-free cards, heavy weapons that fire and miss lights are severely penalized.
However, medium mechs lack the armor to stand up to their larger brothers. They also (save for some stand out examples) lack the speed to play any sort of role as skirmishers. Anything under 100 kph, especially something as large as most mediums, is not at all a challenge to hit. In terms of firepower, they CAN put a hurt on the enemy if allowed to, but it's still nowhere near as potent as their heavier cousins who also happen to have superior armor values.
Mediums are viable in the lore because economic and practical dropship weight restrictions make them so. Without something to reflect this context, mediums are sadly going to be under-represented.
I would love to hear the opinions of other new and veteran players on these issues, and possibly get educated on these matters.
Edited by Shermburger, 11 March 2014 - 08:17 AM.
Any way have fun and see you in game.
