Battletech is a turn based strategy involving the core fundamentals of Sci-Fi adventure, space and mechs. Developed by Harebrained Schemes, the team behind Shadowrun, the hit series from the same genre, and published by Paradox interative, players familiar to the series should find themselves at home
At it’s heart, Battletech offers tactical warfare with an incredible amount of customization. Add an atmospheric soundtrack and a space sci-fi setting, and you’ve got yourself the recipe to a successful sci-fi strategy game. At first glance, Battletech gave me the XCOM feels but then it begins to distance itself from the classic alien infested TBS.
The mech modification isn’t just shallow leveling up or grinding. There is so much to consider and balance. The mechs are divided into four types, light for scouting, medium for light combat, heavy for moderate combat and assault for, well the name says it. While loading your mech with weapons, you have to consider the implications too, for example every mech has a limited weight capacity. Powerful weapons are heavy and often produce a lot of heat, reducing the heat efficiency and consistency of the mech in combat. It also leaves less room for armor, depleting the durability as well in the process.
The same goes for ship upgrades. Mech Bay upgrades increase active mech count, crew upgrades improve repair times, while ship upgrades help with the travel duration. There’s always a compromise and a trade-off, just as I explained above balance is necessary otherwise one thing or another will go failing on you when you least expect it.
Another unique mechanic in battletech is the inclusion of Biomes and environmental impact on your battle mechs. If you’re in a warm habitat, your heatsinks will function less efficiently whereas in tundra region the effect will be reverse. Similarly forests provide cover reducing the accuracy and mountainous areas degrade mech stability. The developers have laid an enormous amount of stress on strategy.
If you’ve installed a cannon in the arm and the arm gets blown off, the weapon becomes inoperable. Likewise, if your mech loses it’s leg it’ll get knocked down and if both legs are stripped it is removed from combat. I really appreciate this combat system. It allows for strategic elimination of larger enemies possible using a smaller mech possible.
This game has only one flaw, and it’s a technical one. The performance is lackluster in Battletech. The game’s graphics are far from impressive yet it tanks the most powerful of systems. I ran the game at 4K with a GeForce GTX 1080Ti, and yet the frame rate often dips to the 30s, sometimes even plummeting down into the 20s. Although the game is still playable, given that it’s a turn based strategy, it’d still prefer if it performed as admirably as the other mechanics of the game.