MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries checks most of the boxes I would have asked for out of a modern revival of the series.

MechWarrior 5 is a showcase of nostalgic, joyful mech combat.

MechWarrior 5 is impressive when it’s able to work long enough to live up to its own potential.

If you’ve been waiting for a full-on simulation with all the bells and textbooks, and nothing less will satisfy you, Mechwarrior 5 isn’t going to cut it. For everyone else though, it’s bloody excellent.

It takes time to really get into MechWarrior 5, which is to be expected. At first, things go by at a plodding pace and your customization options are slim. But once you assemble your crew, jump into mechs you want to play as, and the story picks up, it starts to feel like old MechWarrior again. Mercenaries still might not satisfy everyone, but I enjoyed my reintroduction to the action-oriented BattleTech world.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries tries to be inclusive, but unfortunately makes the mainstream issues with the genre all the more apparent without doing anything truly new or exciting to really draw the player in.

The hardcore fanbase will appreciate MechWarrior 5 at its core as it feels like a game that wishes it had today's hardware technology 30 years ago.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is very nearly a fantastic mech game, an incredible sandbox of mech mercenary ecstasy. If you happen to have friends willing to play it with you, it is one. However, if your mecha fan club is a party of one, flying solo can be a truly miserable experience thanks to brain-dead AI-controlled squadmates. Your mileage in single-player will vary on your ability to tolerate them and the impact they have on the financial management side of the game.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is an ideal starting point for anyone who wants to get into the mecha game genre. Its technical mechanics are daunting at first, and the management system can be harsh, but there is fun to be had in the destructible environments and PvE mayhem.

After two decades away, the PlayStation is finally back inside the Battletech universe, and it feels…alright.