Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance

Pros • Game plays at a faster pace than previous installments • Good voice acting • Music and sound effects greatly enhance the experience • Very smart enemies • Looks great	Cons • More difficult to take out legs of enemy mechs • Very hard to play with only a keyboard
Bottom Line With its faster pace and smarter enemies, Mechwarrior 4 is easily the best in the series so far. Mechwarrior games are improved by leaps and bounds with every new installment to the series. In the past, the most noticeable changes have come in the games’ visuals. This time, however, the improvements come far more in the gameplay. While the visuals look better than Mechwarrior 3, the increased speed and intelligent enemies are what really make Mechwarrior 4 shine. If it’s giant robot combat on the PC that you want, Mechwarrior 4 is the way to go.

One of the biggest overlying factors attributing to the high quality of Mechwarrior 4 (MW4) is the fact that it is the people responsible for the Battletech universe that are behind this game: FASA Interactive (now owned by Microsoft). They’ve brought MW4 closer to the Battletech universe than any previous Mechwarrior game has come.

While the game was touted as being more arcade-like during its development, the controls have not changed much, allowing for very precise, sophisticated control of your mech. In regards to control, this is a title where gamers are far better off playing with a joystick than the keyboard, as keyboard controls are very spread out, causing a lot of blind fumbling in the heat of battle. Even trying to change the controls is futile, as there is so much to do that centralizing the buttons will just result in a confusing jumble of command keys. For MW4, playing with a joystick is the only way to go and keep your sanity intact. Where the game does feel more arcade-like is in its speed. While mechs in previous installments of the series have felt like slow, lumbering beasts, those found in MW4 move very quick, even the heavily armored mechs buried under a mountain of cannons and missile launchers move with more speed and grace than their brethren from previous games.

This increased speed and solid joystick control will come in handy when facing off against enemy mechs in this game, as the AI is very good. Unlike older Mechwarrior games where combat felt more like jousting as enemy mechs ran at you head-on, guns blazing, then turned around and did it again, a certain dance of death is present in MW4. Enemy mechs will maneuver themselves behind buildings and other obstacles to get cover, and will even circle around the player while firing, making it harder for the player to acquire a lock. These giant robots are very clever foes. Adding more challenge is that it is a lot harder to take out the legs of the mechs, their key weakness, as it takes a lot more damage to destroy them, drawing out battles considerably.

It’s not just the gameplay that is done well in MW4, as the visuals are very nice too. One would think that there are only so many mech designs to go around, but there are a ton of different mech types to choose from in MW4. From scouts, to mid-class, all purpose mechs, to the goliaths, they all have their own distinct personalities. The game also moves along at a very smooth frame rate, everything is very crisp, with sharp details, and it is possible to see very far into the distance. The visuals in MW4 are not as big of a technological leap as that made by earlier Mechwarrior titles over one another, but they are impressive nonetheless.

Happily, voice acting is handled very well. Banter during radio communication is very believable. The rest of the audio is equally respectable. The music has an air of military purpose to it (wouldn’t make much sense to have nothing but lutes and lyre making a whimsical, ambient sensation now would it?), and the sound effects are very solid, adding to that “Ooo, that’s gotta hurt!” feeling when hitting enemy mechs or being hit yourself.

If you’re a PC gamer and are looking for some top notch giant robot related blasting, Mechwarrior 4 is the way to go. It’s beautiful, it’s challenging, and it will keep you occupied for a long, long time.

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