265 replies to this topic

[Jackal Noble]

TLDR - This game is ******* awesome.
I've probably spent ~30-40 hours playing the demo at this point, all solo.
BTW several early critiques and bugs have already been addressed patched - difficulty and flamers. Difficulty is perfect to me atm.
I love how one map can be played differently according to you - Go Rambo with the Sleipnir or BW, do a light rush with squad mates, random grenade. Before you know it, you're running a 4 man Assassin pack, or trying to see how long you can survive PPC sniping in a PHX-KK (fragile arms btw!!!)

It is exactly what kind of Mechwarrior game I wanted before I discovered MWO and became ensconced in a hyper-neckbeard comp fantasy land where everyone has small hands and smells of cabbage.


It's what I want.
The mechs are absolutely gorgeous. Entire blocks of buildings that you can just wreck havoc in like a giant playground. The difference in how different size mechs interact with the environment like, the same wall that a Kintaro 55t can't walk through, our boy the Atlas will just drop a shoulder. That's cool as hell to me.
JJs - much more logical and both more powerful, while being impacted by gravity more. I like it.
Music is on point.

Controls are different at first, but become more natural as you get use to the HUD.

No more balance issues. There is no balance, it just is.

No more baggage from years of brackish, boorish weapon balance changes to achieve androgynous symmetry for the sake of pvp. Thank goodness for all of that.


No more samey weapons, every one has a distinct attribute. Heat management is simple and effective. Every component available feels like it improves firepower or survival.


AI
I like the AI for what it is, what it does and how it reacts. I've spent countless of hours in the demo and have yet to encounter any anomaly that can't be attributed to 'There's a lot of **** going on, eventually something might shoot sideways."
The AI does exactly what it's supposed to, make you feel like you are in a battle from start to finish.
I'm very pleased with how PGI has thus far implemented AI. It's pairs perfectly with the game style.
I like how squadmates function and think they do pretty damn well for the most part. Little things like how your squadmates weapon groups are set are important to consider.

It is pure unadulterated romp stomping fun 7 ways from Sunday.
I can safely say if the demo is just a teaser (and there is lore etc), this game is going satisfy many a mechwarrior to the max.

I am greatly looking forward to the 10th.



Addendum-
It's surprisingly well optimized. There are some minor occurences of dithering involved.

I am playing on a Samsung 40 series 6 4k tv with a i-56600K, gtx1060 6gb, 32 GB set up and it runs great at 1440p.

The screenshots I took after figuring out how to use the built-in Nvidia supported Ansel screenshot tool paired with the HUD clearing Ctrl+Shift+v (meant to be used with a 360 pc controller for more options). Now I need a gamepad, sigh.

I happened across on Russ's twitter-
here's the link for the camera controls on a 360 controller. I'd assume an xbone or similar would work?
https://static.mw5me...ra_Controls.pdf

Further update - XboxOne wireless controller works via standard micro-USB. Sweet, it's been collecting dust for two years.
With the dev camera you can pan over the entire map! A lot of enemies are spawned at start of map, that's interesting. PGI PLEASE KEEP THIS IN!!! IT'S VERY COOL.
Night mode (and subsequent 5 or so other day settings) is


pretty damn nice.

added

Edited by Jackal Noble, 06 December 2019 - 11:07 PM.

[LordNothing]

i think the positivity of the review depends on whether or not the writer is a joystick user. game would be perfect if the joystick support was better. it is something they claim to be working on though.

[Dee Eight]

Quote

No more years of brackish, boorish weapon balance changes to appease whiny comp players. Thank goodness for all of that.

Because doing that did so much to retain players... oh it retained whiners sure... but was that really worth chasing away everyone else ?

[FupDup]

Jackal Noble, on 02 December 2019 - 06:54 PM, said:

No more balance issues. There is no balance, it just is.

Bruh, please. People are gonna pretty quickly figure out the objectively strongest mechs/guns/strats just like they did in TT, HBS-BT, and every MW game. I dunno how you think that never having patches will prevent some guns or robots from being the "meta."

[Ilfi]

Jackal Noble, on 02 December 2019 - 06:54 PM, said:

No more samey weapons, every one has a distinct attribute.

You playing the same game we are? There's a whopping two missiles, six lasers, MG+Flamer, Gauss+PPC, and four sizes of AC. The weapon selection is downright anemic.

Edited by Ilfi, 02 December 2019 - 07:33 PM.

[John Bronco]

Jackal Noble, on 02 December 2019 - 06:54 PM, said:

No more years of brackish, boorish weapon balance changes to appease whiny comp players.

In what world did this happen?

[MischiefSC]

The weapon selection is stock, with the added burstfire.

And this is just the T1 weapons - there's variants going up to T5.

That'll likely give this more real weapon variety than tabletop has up until Dark Ages, given that Clan tech is largely just higher tier same weapons.

I'm going to end up wanting a bit different game from Jack Noble I. Sure but that's okay - because modding.

The core game is great and it's Battletech. Everyone wants it to cater to their own tastes but that just ain't gonna happen. Modding isn't a product of an incomplete game it's a way to let everyone take a complete game and make it their own.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Jackal Noble, on 02 December 2019 - 06:54 PM, said:

No more years of brackish, boorish weapon balance changes to appease whiny comp players. Thank goodness for all of that.

I like your review but I need to know when and how that happened.

[Knight Captain Morgan]

At least there'll be 12 months and 8 days worth of bug fix patches available before it's released on a decent game launcher

[Ilfi]

MischiefSC, on 02 December 2019 - 07:37 PM, said:

And this is just the T1 weapons - there's variants going up to T5.

Wow! Four upgrades from the base weapons! Power creeping sixteen weapons multiple times will surely increase the variety despite there being no reason to use lower tiers.

@OP, it's fine if you like the game; honestly, have at it. But the only thing I'm seeing here is "I don't care about the smooth-brain AI or lack of balance, weapons, joystick support and polish; I still like the game". That's not the greatest position to plant your feet in.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Ilfi, on 02 December 2019 - 07:44 PM, said:

Wow! Four upgrades from the base weapons! Power creeping sixteen weapons multiple times will surely increase the variety despite there being no reason to use lower tiers.

@OP, it's fine if you like the game; honestly, have at it. But the only thing I'm seeing here is "I don't care about the smooth-brain AI or lack of balance, weapons, joystick support and polish; I still like the game". That's not the greatest position to plant your feet in.

Upgrades are salvaged or bought. They aren't available easily and hence sought after to replace your existing low tier weapon systems. Furthermore, in a mission, you lose that arm or that ST in which your max-tier weapon was installed, then you're back to using the low tier one again. It's a simple concept and easy to comprehend. If you've done any upgrading to your vehicle, you'd know this instantly.

"Lack of balance" and "weapons" needs more clarification from your end instead of an eye-roll, don't you think?

[Ilfi]

Thanks for your detailed description of how salvage works. Regrettably, it does zilch to change the mindset you need in outfitting your Mech -- you put the highest tier weapons you have in each slot and that's more or less the end of it. Worse still, it doesn't apply to Instant Action at all and won't have a big influence on the later half of the campaign.

How does this make weapons deeper again?

[FRAGTAST1C]

Ilfi, on 02 December 2019 - 08:05 PM, said:

Thanks for your detailed description of how salvage works. Regrettably, it does zilch to change the mindset you need in outfitting your Mech -- you put the highest tier weapons you have in each slot and that's more or less the end of it. Worse still, it doesn't apply to Instant Action at all and won't have a big influence on the later half of the campaign.

How does this make weapons deeper again?

You thanked me for describing how the salvage works and yet posted something that made zero use of what you understood from it.

By that logic, any game that has upgrades means that it "does zilch to change the mindset you need in outfitting your....", right?

[Ilfi]

Why do you consider "same weapon but the numbers are bigger" to be a different weapon? It's the same weapon.

[Anomalocaris]

Ilfi, on 02 December 2019 - 07:44 PM, said:

Wow! Four upgrades from the base weapons! Power creeping sixteen weapons multiple times will surely increase the variety despite there being no reason to use lower tiers.

@OP, it's fine if you like the game; honestly, have at it. But the only thing I'm seeing here is "I don't care about the smooth-brain AI or lack of balance, weapons, joystick support and polish; I still like the game". That's not the greatest position to plant your feet in.

I thought the review was just an excuse to rail against the players in MWO that he doesn't like. It's ok, I hate everyone too....

[FRAGTAST1C]

Ilfi, on 02 December 2019 - 08:19 PM, said:

Why do you consider "same weapon but the numbers are bigger" to be a different weapon? It's the same weapon.

It's the same weapon. Not a different one. Hence why the word "Upgrade" is used when referring to such a weapon.

Again, if you've played Battletech or better yet, the Roguetech mod, you'll know how exactly the upgrades work. It isn't about swapping a low tier weapon with a higher tier one. It's about acquiring them first and then, making sure that you don't lose them. Also, the different "numbers" may do critical damage or just raw damage, or boost max range, etc.,

I can bring in e.g., from other games as well. But it serves the same purpose. Upgrades are acquired and outfitted. They aren't a "gimme".

[Jackal Noble]

Ilfi, on 02 December 2019 - 07:31 PM, said:

You playing the same game we are? There's a whopping two missiles, six lasers, MG+Flamer, Gauss+PPC, and four sizes of AC. The weapon selection is downright anemic.

Performance and behavior wise, mon.
The Gauss leaves a billowing wake in the trail of it's shot that looks phenomenal.
The AC-20 Burst is magnificent chunky fun.
The ER-PPC and the PPC are waaaaayyyyyy different from MWO, and allowed to be distinct but equal in performance.
The LBX-10 solid slug is new and different, but haven't really decided on how much I prefer it over the spread.
The Ultra-AC5? Are you kidding? That rework is by and far improved.
The Lrm Stream missiles are to me, a similar style Clan missile. Haven't discovered a benefit to stream style missiles(Sure as hell didn't in MWO lol).
Medium Pulse are lethal but more costly and shorter range max.
SRMs are awesome. nuff said.
Tbh the lasers are hard to gauge compared to how the other weapons communicate damage occurring.

[FRAGTAST1C]

Jackal Noble, on 02 December 2019 - 08:34 PM, said:

Performance and behavior wise, mon.
The Gauss leaves a billowing wake in the trail of it's shot that looks phenomenal.
The AC-20 Burst is magnificent chunky fun.
The ER-PPC and the PPC are waaaaayyyyyy different from MWO, and allowed to be distinct but equal in performance.
The LBX-10 solid slug is new and different, but haven't really decided on how much I prefer it over the spread.
The Ultra-AC5? Are you kidding? That rework is by and far improved.
The Lrm Stream missiles are to me, a similar style Clan missile. Haven't discovered a benefit to stream style missiles(Sure as hell didn't in MWO lol).
Medium Pulse are lethal but more costly and shorter range max.
SRMs are awesome. nuff said.
Tbh the lasers are hard to gauge compared to how the other weapons communicate damage occurring.

There are less AMS in MW5 and the Streams seem like better weapons to use against heavy and assault mechs. The regular ones are better to make sure you hit something small and fast.

Also, the UAC5s are more or less like the RAC5s, especially if you boat 4 of them. They're incredibly fun and good for seeking headshots as well, oddly enough. The BF is a spray-and-pray but great effects and an absolute killer if you focus on a stationary or a slow-moving target.

The lasers are good, imo, especially if you boat a lot of them like on the Thunderbolt or a Black Knight. If you can, try 8ML + 1 LPL on the Thunderbolt and slap on the DHS. That's a headshot machine.

MW5 is more or less like a FPS version of HBS's Battletech but with the intensity of Doom. The AI is serviceable and improvements can be made.

[Jackal Noble]

BlaizerP, on 02 December 2019 - 07:34 PM, said:

In what world did this happen?

You're saying there are no whiny comp players?

FRAGTAST1C, on 02 December 2019 - 08:58 PM, said:

There are less AMS in MW5 and the Streams seem like better weapons to use against heavy and assault mechs. The regular ones are better to make sure you hit something small and fast.

Also, the UAC5s are more or less like the RAC5s, especially if you boat 4 of them. They're incredibly fun and good for seeking headshots as well, oddly enough. The BF is a spray-and-pray but great effects and an absolute killer if you focus on a stationary or a slow-moving target.

The lasers are good, imo, especially if you boat a lot of them like on the Thunderbolt or a Black Knight. If you can, try 8ML + 1 LPL on the Thunderbolt and slap on the DHS. That's a headshot machine.

MW5 is more or less like a FPS version of HBS's Battletech but with the intensity of Doom. The AI is serviceable and improvements can be made.

I really enjoy running the Black Knight -P with 3 ER peeps and 3 Med pulse. The ppcs are pretty sweet.
I should try and run some more laser builds. I've only run a 8 small laser FS. That was ok.
Haven't touched the LPLs

Edited by Jackal Noble, 02 December 2019 - 09:03 PM.

[Anjian]

Its looking good at this point, and it comes at a right time and place when the market is showing PvP fatigue. This looks highly recommendable.

The problem is that I have been there, many times before. You play a story driven, single player to coop game, its all good, very good, till the story runs out and you are just playing coop for a while but after one or two months, it can get boring.

You have to address this by creating new content quickly, if not every month, you have to do it biweekly or even weekly. Many games and game companies have made creation engines that allow them to fabricate new content for the game quickly. But I would expect PGI should already be aware of this.

If you are not planning to create and update content often, the only other way to sustain the game would be is to introduce PvP and sandboxing.