BattleTech

Get the game, beat Vanilla, install Roguetech, wake up 1000 hours later in a blur

I have been playing BattleTech and related properties like Mechwarrior, Mechassault etc. for a long time. And I have played a LOT of them, as well as quite a bit of the tabletop. This is on balance probably the 'best' battletech game there is right now in terms of accessibility, storytelling, and gameplay, in roughly that order. This is probably the best game to be introduced to the setting with for the following reasons:
1. The skill floor is low and the skill ceiling is high--just like it should be.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is considered the easy XCOM for babies who poop their diapers, and I had to save scum my way turn by turn to slog through it. I've beaten this game all the way through 5 or 6 times. That said, you can absolutely get yourself into all kinds of incredibly sticky situations that SEEM borderline insoluable: For example you can lose a priceless and irreplacable LosTech weapon or a whole mech, an elite pilot can disappear into a red mist from a gauss rifle headshot.
The key is perseverance. This is one of the few games I'd recommend an ironman in--just to see what you can actually survive. One time I got my ♥♥♥♥ kicked in so hard I went from vets in heavy mechs to a bunch of noobs in light mechs, but I was still able to just barely scrape by and pay bills for a bit before we got back into proper fighting shape.
2. The storytelling is by far the best video game treatment BattleTech has gotten in ages. The only thing that even comes close, in *moments,* that I know of is Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, and that game is about as accessible as a handrail surrounded by a square mile of polished marble covered in grease. A lot of veterans like Mitch Gitelman and of course, Jordan Weisman himself (who also created the Shadowrun universe!) worked on this game's story, and a lot of the local planetary lore (and some jokes in the achievements) comes from an actual play run by the developers for a while. I've often joked there's more pathos in this game's introductory cutscene than all of Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries, and I probably will again.
3. And that's all before you get into the mod scene, which can do all kinds of wild stuff. If you've run the base game and career a bunch and got left wanting more to play with, you might check out Roguetech, which adds THE ENTIRE INNER SPHERE and THOUSANDS OF MECHS. It also edits a lot of the base game to be a lot more challenging, so be ready to die a lot.
This is a good pick if you're looking for a tactical or simulator game that's going to scratch a unique itch, someone new to tactics games that wants something forgiving but challenging enough to really teach you some ropes, just like giant robots doing giant robot things, or enjoy the BattleTech universe and wish the games took more interest in depicting its actual fiction.

Base game is okay, but it reaches its final form when you download the RogueTech mod which is a total overhaul of the base game, adding hundreds of different mechs, weapons and parts. It tranforms the campaign into a free roam mercenary romp across the galaxy where you choose which planets you vist, which battles you take on, which campaigns you participate in. Adds so much depth to every mechanic within the game and introduces plenty of its own.

Roguetech transforms this into one of the greatest tactical strategy games of all time IMO, unrivaled by anything on the market, there is simply nothing like it. It's endlessly replayable and wildly customisable. I love this game and as you can see, I have come back to it many times over the years.

Once you go Roguetech you never go back <3

Great game wish we could get more Battletech/Mechwarrior strat games, but the mod community is what takes this game to the next level. After you get tired of the campaign and career mode, try out BTA3062 or RogueTech.

Best mech game ever!
To be honest, I am NOT that interested in mechs.
Of course I played some games with mechs over the years, one of my favorites is Titanfall 2, but most other mech games... yeah.. a bit boring or just not really good.
Battletech... this is turn based, you don't understand something, you google it, or check the tooltips or save and try.
The graphics are really nice, I love them.
The engine is Unity, but I still don't believe it, you don't realize it in-game.
I own this game since many years and every few years I play it a bit. It is just good.
If you like X-Com you might like this too.
The campaign is practically a LONG and very, very good tutorial, because you get more and more access to your ship which otherwise would overwhelm you.
Career mode is practically free roaming of the galaxy.
You can only take four mechs into battle and there is a maximum weight, so you can not do everything you want. But that will not be a problem for a LOOOOOOOONG time, because you will play with light and medium mechs and only with multiple heavy mechs will you have problems with the weight limit.
So many weapons, so many ways to play, go melee, or short range guns blazing or long range sniping or even very long range artillery, you'd need a scout in front so you see your targets, but some missiles have really long ranges.
You decide on the map to what kind of planet you want to fly, industrial or some cow raising back land, easy fights or hard fights... you decide.
You can get reputation, money or mech parts as rewards for missions, but you have to negotiate for it before the mission. Meaning you select, if you want max money or more reputation or if you'd prefer more loot.
This is one of the "just one more map" games, like Civilization.
But you have to try it, if you like to temper with mech loadouts and having to decide which skills to train your pilots in. Like multi-targeting or better cover or other interesting stuff.
You can even create weaponless fast small mechs who have pilots with the skill Sensor Lock who don't even have to have line of sight with the enemy to enable your missile bots to attack them from the back.
It is fun. Really fun. And because it is turn based you have no stress.
Good graphics, sound, control, game play. Everything is good about this game!

You should play this game. You get to run a company of mechs. And upgrade the mechs. And get better mechs and make your company better. And your company gets better so you get better mechs. And your mechs become cooler!

Literally one of the best Mech, one of the best tactics RPG, and one of the best "The Mercenary Experience™" games to date. And that's just the Vanilla game. The many mods (RT, BEX, BTA, EA, etc) makes this game the Tabletop experience put into a video game. I really cannot recommend it enough.

If you like the tabletop, get it.
If you like big mechs and customizing them, get it.
If you like a mercenary game experience, get it.
If you like a good tactics RPG, get it.
Basically get it.