MechWarrior 3

The Good
Terrific graphics, and good control. The missions, while not astounding, were varied and fun. Multiplayer is good, but a lot of that comes from the fact that you're able to play in FASA's universe rather than any outstanding move by the developers. The environment is great, and you can interact (blow up) many of the things in it. Weather and terrain really make a difference. Finally, it captures the feel of the board game better than its predecessors.

The Bad
Fairly short. 20 missions aren't really enough, and while they are fairly varied for this type of action game, they're rather dry compared to missions from MechWarrior 2. The enemy AI can be somewhat braindead at times. The initial release was somewhat buggy, and had a serious multiplayer issue -- you could shoot off one of someone's legs and they'd die immediately.

The Bottom Line
While not as much sheer fun as MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries (for me, at least), it captures the feel of the board game quite well. If you don't care about the differences between an autocannon/20 and a medium pulse laser, though, MechWarrior 2 is probably a better bet if you haven't played it already.

The Good
In the past I have looked at this series many many times in the stores. but never quite picked one up. If Mech 3 is a standard then I might need to pick up some old copies of Mech 1 and 2. It is rare that I overlook a jem like this for so long. So it heighted my pleasure to play this great game. Great weapons good control ease of use, all qualities of excellent games. On an odd note I own a system that has a cd-rom and a burner, D and E respectively. When I have Civ II in drive D and Mechwarrior 3 in drive E and play mech something interesting happens. During the game it plays music from the civ game. WEIRD!!

The Bad
Too many weapons that are almost completely the same. No in game info about equipment. Teammates can walk through you (wow I must have missed that section in the manual that talks about matterless armor.) Often when refitting in basecamp teammates will get caught in with the mlb's.

The Bottom Line
Good game with a few flaws that dont take away enough to negate the fun.

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.