MechWarrior 3

The Good
Good graphics, decent net connectivity, plenty of weapons and mechs, good briefing videos, good mech design interface, good missions (those that are there).

The Bad
Horrendous AI (you can snipe at enemy and they don't chase you). AI relies on triggers, so if you avoid the trigger, nothing happens. Horrendous interface to manage MFB inventory, nothing's sorted. Too few maps, too few missions (only 20). No mission editor, no mission saves. Inability to export/import the custom mech configs to share with others.

The Bottom Line
MW3 is better than Mechwarrior 2, but it's merely an evolutionary step forward. The story is less grand (you're just a grunt raiding the Clans), and game mechanics are nearly identical. The ability to gain salvage is fine, but the interface to manage the salvage is horrendous. The rest of the game is filled with "could have been better" things like that. If they had just spent a bit more time on it... It's worth playing, sure, but it could have been much better.

The Good
Well, I have to thank ATI for getting me into Battletech. My ATI video card came with an ATI version of MechWarrior 2, and I loved it so much I got the BattlePack version of MW2, MechCommander, and then I got MW3 as soon as it came out.

This is easily the best Mech game I've ever seen, and it has some of the best graphics of any game I know of. The game runs smooth as silk, and the sound effects are really impressive. The voice acting is good, the choices of Mechs are great, and the multiplayer rules. It can use the Joystick/Mouse combination of controls that MW2 had for legs/torso twist, which I love. You can also customize the controls.

When your Mech is hit by bullets, it will pitch over, and can actually fall over if the conditions are right. This is a real pain, but it adds to the realism. Also, if your leg is damaged, it will limp. :) The MFBs (Mobile Field Bases, which let you rearm & repair) are really nice. I wish MW2 had had them!

The Bad
Even though the voice acting is good, the storyline is hard to follow, typical of the other MW games I've played. Basically, I end up finally getting the story after playing it through about 3 or 4 times.

It would have been nice to be able to play on the Clan side. But I guess that would have doubled the price, huh? :)

And even though the graphics and sound are great, I wish the "results" of the impact of the projecticles would be more realistic. I'm waiting for a Mech game that shows bullet holes in the Mech! Also, when missiles hit, they make a big ol' crater in the ground. Now that's neat, but the craters are like perfect circles... it seems like they shouldn't look so "sculpted".

Even though patches have tried to rebalance the effects of the weapons, I still think bullets knock Mech's down too easily.

Also, the single-player is too easy to win. They need to have more enemy Mechs coming at you!

The Bottom Line
You definitely should play MW3 if you are interested in Mech games. It's awesome!

The Good
First of all, when I put the game in, I was blown away by the graphics. They are still pretty good today. Very realistic Mech responses make the game even better.(Shoot a mech in the leg, it will limp). The gameplay also is very good. You can twist your torso,and target indiviual parts. The mech customization is also very good. The sound is crisp and solid.

The Bad
The AI is where this game really stumbles. If you stay far enough away, you can bombard them with missles from extreme long range and all they do is continue their normal behavior. Some bugs also make the game less fun. Aside from the classic " fall through the ground", (very rare) every time I load a certain mission, the game crashes.

The Bottom Line
A solid game with excellent grapics and terrific sound. It has every thing a great game needs except good AI. The AI is very poor. If you are a fan of Mechwarrior, then this is a must have. If you are not, this is merely an average game.