Windows

MechWarrior 3: Pirate's Moon

Puh, war das ein hartes Stück Arbeit, mich durch die 20 Zusatzmissionen zu spielen. Der Feldzug auf Pirate's Moon ist wirklich nichts für Anfänger. Schon die ersten Einsätze verlangen einem alles ab. Trotz des ultraharten Schwierigkeitsgrads macht auch die Missions-CD mächtig viel Spaß. Das liegt vor allem an der gewohnt brillanten Steuerung. Daneben gefallen mir auch die neuen optischen Schmankerl, wie die von Armen und Beinen der Mechs wegspritzende Panzerung. Pirate's Moon ist genau das Richtige für all diejenigen, denen MechWarrior 3 viel zu leicht war. Denn am Addon werden Sie garantiert eine Weile zu knabbern haben.

Eine nette Missions-CD: Außer zwei Kampagnen haben die Designer auch neue Mechs und Waffen spendiert, die Grafik-Engine wurde ebenfalls überarbeitet. Die Einsätze machen durchweg Spaß, sind jedoch ziemlich schwer egraten. Außerdem finden Sie keine Zwischen-Sequenzen, die komplette Story wird während der Briefings erzählt, für das man schon halbwegs gut Englisch können sollte. Dafür wurden die Landschaften überarbeitet, die nun nicht mehr so kahl aussehen. Nett sind auch die mit giftigem Gas gefüllten Schluchten. Alles in allem ein Grund, den Importhändler aufzusuchen.

If you're a serious BattleTech fan, you should already have bought Pirate's Moon. The ability to play as an Elemental is worth $30 bucks to most of the fanboys I know (myself included). But for all you casual fans, you may want to wait for MW4 which will no doubt have all these improvement/additions and then some.

It is difficult to recommend purchasing Mechwarrior 3 simply to enable the installation of Pirate's Moon. For those that have already made the investment in Mechwarrior 3 and either loved it and wanted more, or wanted to love it for its great graphics and atmosphere but were put off by some of the quirks in the gameplay, Pirate's Moon deserves a look.

Well, overall the MW3 expansion set is a solid package, but disappointing when compared to the original. I can forgive the lack of a coherent story, and I can forgive the lacking AI since I like doing most of the work anyway, but the mission design and difficulty leaves a lot to be desired. I still had fun with Pirate's Moon, but there were times when I wanted to hop into a real Masakari and express my opinions at the Zipper offices ... particularly in the mission design department.

As in MechWarrior 3 before it, the problem with Pirate's Moon is that it lacks the scope and scale of its subject matter. The game's unpolished front end and its lack of memorable scenarios are circumvented by its impressive graphics and control, such that MechWarrior fans will probably enjoy Pirate's Moon just because it lets them climb into the cockpit of the Atlas and the Awesome. Yet while it accurately conveys the sheer power of BattleTech's walking tanks, it doesn't create an environment that's big enough or otherwise interesting enough to do them justice.

Because Mechwarrior 3: Pirate's Moon is simply an expansion pack, it's really up to the player to decide if they really want it or not. It's more of Mechwarrior 3 with a few additions and tweaks. It's certainly not like Brood War was to Starcraft, or Armageddon's Blade was to Heroes of Might and Magic 3. You'll still be using the same strategies and running through the same types of missions as you were with Mechwarrior 3, but without the video introductions. I must admit it is fun to take on a mech with a lance of Elementals, but is it worth $40? You decide.