MechWarrior 5: Clans Heavy metal, five mechs at a time

You are a Star Commander, which means five BattleMechs answer to you, four of them flown by squadmates. In the field you direct them from the Battle Grid and Command Wheel: send a lancemate to a point, order the Star to concentrate fire on one target, or have someone fall back to a repair bay. The controls are streamlined compared to older MechWarrior games, so giving orders mid-fight does not turn into a keyboard recital. It matters, because your pilots will happily walk into a crossfire otherwise. A quick "focus fire" order turns a scrappy brawl into an execution, and forgetting to give one turns it into the other thing.

Between missions the MechLab is where the campaign is really won. Clan tech means OmniPods and hardpoints: swap weapon systems, engines and equipment to build each mech for the job ahead, then assign loadouts to your five pilots. Pilots themselves level up through a progression system, so the crew you train becomes as much an asset as the machines. The campaign is linear, so you unlock heavier mechs on a set schedule rather than hunting salvage on the battlefield. That makes each trip to the MechLab a real decision: fit for speed, fit for range, or fit for the boss waiting at the end of the mission.

The combat is the reason to show up. Missions run from scanning derelict installations to full set-piece battles, and mechs here take punishment and deal it out in chunks: armor plates shear off, limbs go, and the Unreal Engine environments crumble around the fight. Scan mode and jump jets give you tools older fans will remember fondly. One honest trade-off: fights lean toward attrition, with enemies arriving in waves and time-to-kill running long, so patient, focused shooting beats flashy heroics. When a Dire Wolf finally walks onto your side of the field, the ground has opinions about it.