BattleTech
From original BATTLETECH/MechWarrior creator Jordan Weisman and the developers of the award-winning Shadowrun Returns series comes the next-generation of turn-based tactical 'Mech combat. The year is 3025 and the galaxy is trapped in a cycle of perpetual war, fought by noble houses with enormous, mechanized combat vehicles called BattleMechs. Take command of your own mercenary outfit of 'Mechs and the MechWarriors that pilot them, struggling to stay afloat as you find yourself drawn into a brutal interstellar civil war. Upgrade your starfaring base of operations, negotiate mercenary contracts with feudal lords, repair and maintain your stable of aging BattleMechs, and execute devastating combat tactics to defeat your enemies on the battlefield. COMMAND A SQUAD OF 'MECHS IN TURN-BASED COMBAT Deploy over 30 BattleMechs in a wide variety of combinations. Use terrain, positioning, weapon selection and special abilities to outmaneuver and outplay your opponents.
Steam User 42
This game is only worth playing, and continuing to play, because of the amazing work that the modding community has done, turning it into the game that the fans originally wanted. And not just a compromised product designed to appeal to the largest number of people.
If you're looking to buy this game in 2024 what you'll need to do is head over to Nexus Mods. There are a host of great mods that give you the entire map of the galaxy, mods that allow other factions to go to war and take systems, and my current favourite, Hyades Rim which changes the story, rewriting it, changing the cut scenes, your role (which didn't make any sense to the roll playing elements of your origin story) and gives you a far more realistic, natural, place in BT universe.
Is it the Cresecent Hawks Inception remake that I've always dreamt of (I'd destroy the only copy of Half-life 3 if it meant some studio remakes Cresecent Hawk inception), no of course not but jeebus, its a great game. The remade story, the added flashpoints and difficulty changes on many of the big overhaul mods have really sharpen the game. It's finally giving me that battletech hit i've been dreaming of since my first shot in the 1980s.
So Batteltech, is worth it? Its cheap, play vanilla, see what it gives you and then go to town modding it. The mods are amazing. The expansion of the innersphere, the realignment of planets, the application of 40 years of lore, Every fricken planet has its own story, there are hundreds of mechs that modders have put into the game, thousands of weapons and equipment, great missions (properly thought out, challenging but not impossible, well paced). I used to fall asleep playing the vanilla but these days especially with Hadyes Rim you really need to think of strategy, flanking, feints, drawing the enmy in and other tactics or else you're gonna get your ass kicked.
Anyway, jeez, why are you still reading this. Go buy it.
Also go watch some Battletech Black pant legion tube videos (especially for the perun cameo)
(edit excuse the grammar, me no speak englash goud)
Steam User 36
The base game is good for the story - for a more genuine tabletop feel go modded. I can recommend BEX (Battletech Commanders Extended 3025) and BTAU (Battletech Advanced Universe). NexusMods for BEX and bta3062 dot com for BTAU. RogueTech is another mod that is worth exploring, with the caveats that it requires a more robust computer and the gameplay can be quite a bit more harsh until you learn the systems it introduces.
Steam User 77
>Play for 30 hours in vanilla
>Install BTA3062 and RogueTech
>Play for another 800 hours
Yep, that's just how it goes.
Steam User 47
This is a "MUST BUY!" if
- You are a fan of the original tabletop game.
- You are into Battletech/Mechwarrior from somewhere else.
- You enjoyed Shadowrun (same devs), X-COM or similar games.
- You like turn-based tactical games in general.
- You love big stompy mechs.*
- You want an expansive (low) SciFi universe.*
* unless you dislike turn-based tactical games.
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The base game has already alot to offer, they did a great job for an indy team on a tight budget (game got funded via Kickstarter), it runs stable if rather slow (but there is ways to improve performance/stability) depending on your hardware.
The DLC is definetly worth it as well, best get the game + season pass, as it regularly goes on 75% discount on Steam or elsewhere, it's also cheap (but if it were not for the frequent sales, still worth full price).
Now, the real kick here is the mods, after you enjoyed the vanilla game, probably for a few hundred hours, the skill, dedication, and community involvement of the BT mod scene has produced some outstanding "expansions", bundled up in one of the three main mods (BTExtended, BTAdvanced, RogueTech) you can extend the content and complexity of the game tenfold.
Also there is mods that implement a new story campaign, namely the popular "Hyades Rim" mod.
While the basegame does cover a relative short timespan based around 3025-3035, in a limited corner of the Inner Sphere, and thus excludes the Clans, the mods open up the whole vastness of not only the Inner Sphere, but outlying regions as well, with technology and lore form a timespan of several hundred years, basically from the beginning of the SLDF (~2700) up to the Jihad and Dark Age (~3100) and everything in between.
Base game: 8/10
Modded game: 11/10
Steam User 14
The game has been kept alive by mod packs like Battletech Extended (BEX), Battletech Advanced 3062 (BTA), and Roguetech.
Steam User 17
This game is good on its own, and massively expanded with Roguetech or Battletech 3062 mods.
Steam User 12
I have only one problem with this game: why the hell didnt I play it earlier??? I have purchased it ages ago and just forgot. Shame on me!
Anyway, this is one of the best tactical turn-based games I've ever played. Game is being compared to X-Com (because obviously most people dont know any other good tactical turn-based games, lol) but I wouldnt go that way. These are totally different games. Need to underline that Battletech is a self-standing, well recognised title located in well known universe. And it is about Mechs!
Mechanics behind this title is pretty simple, though not stupid. And yes, there is a lot grinding as well, but battles are insanely good and fun, so even doing your 100th battle you will still want more. Difficulty is okay, but not plain - sometimes it is borring-easy, sometimes you just have to fail, but alltogether, once you learn how things work and gather some nice Mechs in your garage, it is just okay.
Right before writing this opinion I've found out that in full month I've dropped 90 hours into this title, which is about 3 hours of playing per day. I dont know how and when I did this, but it is a fact showing that game is really good and once you start playing it you will want more. Just. One. More. Battle!