giant robots

Bought this yesterday, played for a few hours...

I'm a big Mechwarrior series fan, I ve been waiting for this one for a while. Overall, this is a very good game, but it has pro's and cons. I liked the addition of the money management, it's not enough to just slap a bunch of big weapons onto the mech - you have to be able to afford it. You also have to pay your lancemates, and they all require different salary (BTW, you get what you pay for). Fixing your damaged mechs also costs money(surprise!), as well as traveling from planet to planet. The tournament single player missions are also kinda cool, but don't expect a large payout - after winning the tournament my mech was so badly damaged that prize money was less than what it cost to fix it.

Now the bad: I guess I just expected a new Mechwarrior game, which this isn't. It should have been marketed (and priced) as an expansion pack. The terrains and environments are nothing special, actually the jungle is quite annoying, you have to blow up most of the trees before you can get a shot at your opponent. Nothing has been added to the gameplay itself (but nothing lost either).

The bottom line: If you are a die-hard fan of the Mech series (like me) or you never played Mechwarrior before, get this one. Otherwise wait for the price to come down a little. (I don't think expansion packs are worth $50)

This is the first Mechwarrior game I've bought... ever. So I don't have anything to compare this to.
To say the least, it's a VERY fun game. Kind of straightforward though, and not much to each of the missions. You just choose your mission, and go blow stuff up. They usuallly don't take any more than 10 minutes a piece, which can be nice, but it would also be nice to be able to do a long, drug out mission from time to time where it involves more then just blowing stuff up.
The sounds are awesome and the Mech graphics are great, but the terrain maps [stinks]. 2-D sprite trees, people, bushes, etc... That is the one thing that I cannot stand about this game is the NICE quality graphics of the mechs meshed with the not-so-good looking graphics of the backgrounds. Oh well, it doesn't take away from the gameplay.
As a final note, I'd say if you're a veteran fan of Mechwarrior, don't buy this game, as you will probably be disappointed. BUT if you're a first-timer like me, you'll have quite a bit of fun with it!

Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries (MW4:M) is a stand alone expansion to Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance (MW4:V). Why is that so? Well, if you played MW4:V before, you'll automatically feel accustomed to the this game. The game engine, graphic, control, mechs, weapons, AI, and even multiplayer are based on the first game. However, the storyline doesn't follow. In the first series, you are a young noble fighting for revenge. This time you are a mercenary starting up your own company. The time period between the two games is the same, which is during the civil war between House Davion and House Steiner.

For those of you completely clueless, Mechwarrior is a game where you choose and pilot mechs (or large robots) with various speed, size and firepower to out-gun your opponents. There are no other PC game similar to Mechwarrior. On the other hand, there are a zillion games on real-time strategy (RTS) and even more on first person shooters (FPS). Mechwarrior stands out because even though it is like a FPS, the variation of mechs, battle strategy and firepower makes it unique.

In this game, the focus is C-bill (the cosmic form of currency). You need it to travel, buy and repair mechs, and hire lancemates. You travel around the universe seeking jobs for hire (and crushing those who stand in your way, obviously). Eventually, you might need to pick between the Davion or the Steiner House. Here are my conclusions.

Pros:
1) Battles are even bigger than before. For over half of your campaign missions, you have the option to command 2 lances (8 mechs total). That spells for large battles with a huge amount of chaos and fire power. If you like that, then that's a big plus.
2) More mechs, there are about 8 or so new mechs on top of the first game (I'm not including the Clan/IS mech packs). Most of the addition is in the assault (ultra-big) mechs. This added firepower allows even more mayhem on top of Pro #1.
3) Graphic, although a bit dated, is still pretty good. There are subtle touches added. For example, when using ballistic cannons, you can see the spent shells exhausting out of the torso/arms after firing. The larger the cannon, the larger the shells. That's a very realistic touch.
4) Solaris. This is a part of the campaign mode where you play first-person shooter, except in a robot. You enter an arena solo and you have to out-gun and out-last 7 or more opponents. Be careful, you could be disqualified if you're not careful.
5) Multiplayer, if you are a big fan of Mech Warrior multiplayer, then this is a plus. Connection is pretty good and stable.

Cons.
1) Because of the larger battles, you need a pretty beefy computer to handle the graphic smoothly. I occassionally get choppy gameplay on large battles and it really puts a hamper on my aiming.
2) Although there are some new weapons, I don't think it is enough. I still end up using the same weapons I used from the first Vengeance, which are the PPC's, Guass's, Scatterboxes, and Clan LRMs. The only new weapon that I occassionally use is the Arrow T-bolts missiles. That's not good enough.
3) Lancemate AI can be a pain. When you are paying 7 other lancemates to help, you want them to follow orders! I have countless time got mobbed by computer opponents because my lancemates refuses to follow me and cover my flank.
4) More variation. At the start of this game, you choose one of four different mercenary sponsors. I wish there could be some more differences aside from starting equipment. I end up with pratically the same thing regardless of who I choose.

Overall, a great game and I highly recommend. This is more of a action/FPS game than a simulation, but I think that helps appeal to more people.