BattleTech (computer game)

BattleTech
Studio	Harebrained Schemes
Publisher	Paradox Interactive
Erstveröffent- lichung	April 24, 2018
platform	Windows , Linux , Mac OS
Game engine	Unity
genre	Turn-based strategy game
Subject	BattleTech
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer
medium	diskette
language	English
Age rating	USK PEGI

BattleTech is a turn-based strategy game from the American development studio Harebrained Schemes , which was released on April 24, 2018 for Windows , Linux and Mac OS . It is a licensed game based on the tabletop universe BattleTech and was funded with 2.7 million dollars in a crowdfunding campaign in 2015 .

action

The action takes place in the year 3025, in the age of the Succession Wars . The great houses of the Inner Sphere, the human-populated part of space, are in a permanent war for supremacy, but none can achieve the decisive victory. Instead, the worlds of the Inner Sphere are bleeding to death and important technologies and knowledge are lost. The giant BattleMechs and their pilots (MechWarrior) have become rare and often crucial war resources. The events of the game take place away from the locations known from other licensed products in the Aurigan Reach in the periphery, the outer edge of the Inner Sphere. The region lies in the border area between the sphere of influence of the Confederation Capella in the Inner Sphere and the periphery-starry Magistrate Canopus and Taurus Concordat. Here, the Arano family has consolidated planets, which formerly belonged to the three kingdoms mentioned and were abandoned for defense reasons, in a coalition of aristocrats as an independent domain. The player takes on the role of a mercenary leader who leads an initially poorly equipped, up to four-member troop of this contract MechWarrior. Lady Kamea, a ruler in Aurigan Reach, asks the mercenaries for an escort to their enthronement ceremony. But before that happens, she is betrayed by her uncle, who as a usurper claims the throne for himself. The player gets deeper and deeper into the intrigue-rich succession dispute.

Gameplay

The game is divided into a strategy and a tactic part. From his spaceship, the player coordinates the equipment and repairs of the 'Mechs, creates storage rooms and workshops, regulates the finances of his mercenary company, recruits new pilots and accepts new orders. Here the player can negotiate the type of reward. He thus determines how the payment is divided as a percentage of cash, share of the looted items and share of fame. Mechs can be expanded directly with the help of looted items, and higher fame makes follow-up contracts more lucrative. The spaceship can also be modified. B. reduce travel times between planets.

Tactical planning comes into play on the battlefield. It starts with the choice of 'Mechs and their pilots. In addition to health / repair status, equipment and skills play an important role, the MechWarrior can increase their skills through combat experience. However, if they are injured too badly, they will die permanently. In addition to the heat development, which determines the operational capability of the 'Mech, the battle setup and the terrain affect the chances of success in turn-based battles.

development

Harebrained Schemes announced the development and funding of BattleTech via crowdfunding in July 2015. After Shadowrun Returns and Shadowrun: Hong Kong, it was the third title that the studio had financed through the online platform Kickstarter . Most of the developers had worked on MechCommander for FASA Studio , including producer Mitch Gitelman and director Mike McCain. The studio also partnered with Catalyst Game Labs , the publisher behind the tabletop and book novels, and Piranha Games , the developers of MechWarrior Online and MechWarrior 5 . In this way, the continuity to the game world and a uniform design of the mechs should be maintained through asset takeover and coordination between the development teams.

When the studio opened funding on September 29, 2017, the studio had already put a million dollars into development from its own resources. The team asked for a minimum target of another $ 250,000, which was achieved within 53 minutes of opening. By the end of the funding campaign, a total of 2.78 million US dollars were raised, which the developer promised to implement a lot of additional content and bonus goals.

Two of a total of three announced expansions as DLCs have been released so far: Flashpoints in November 2018 and Urban Warfare in June 2019 . Heavy Metal is to appear as the last expansion for the time being in winter 2019 .

reception

Meta-ratings Database Rating Metacritic 78% reviews publication Rating 4players 78% GameSpot 8.0 / 10 GameStar 82% IGN 7.0 / 10 JeuxVideo 15/20 PC Gamer US 85% PC Games 87% PCGamesN 9/10

The game received mostly positive ratings ( Metacritic : 78%).

"Even if the presentation is a bit fragile: BattleTech is a good, surprisingly epic implementation of the tabletop template."

- Jörg Luibl : Test report 4Players

“If, as Sid Meier likes to say, good strategy game design boils down to providing a series of interesting decisions, then what comes next should be a series of interesting consequences. This is where BattleTech excels. Harebrained Schemes has taken the hard sci-fi tabletop game (...) and married it to the XCOM formula in a way that brings out the best qualities of both. "

“When, as Sid Meier likes to say, good strategy game design compresses itself into making a series of interesting decisions, then next comes a series of interesting consequences. This is where BattleTech stands out. Harebrained Schemes has combined the tough sci-fi tabletop game (...) with the XCOM formula in a way that best combines the qualities of both. "

- Chris Thursten : Test report PC Gamer

“The new XCOM editions are one of my all-time favorite games. And yes, Battletech is very strongly and clearly inspired by these games, but without quite achieving their quality, both in terms of tactical demands and in terms of presentation. But the title simply lacks fine-tuning and variety. But Battletech brings enough fresh ideas into the genre to stand on your own two feet. "

- Manuel Fritsch : Test report Gamestar

Web links

• Official website
• BattleTech at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/battletech-shadowrun-macher-haben-mechwarrior-ueber-kickstarter-zurueck,3234223.html
2. ↑ Colin Campbell: BattleTech returns with giant mechs and turn-based tactical battles . In: polygon . September 29, 2015. Accessed September 30, 2015.
3. ↑ Mike Williams: BattleTech Kickstarter: 7 Things You Should Know About the Game . In: USgamer . September 29, 2015. Accessed September 30, 2015.
4. ↑ Jason Bohn: Harebrained Schemes Launches Kickstarter for BattleTech . September 30, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
5. ↑ Mike Futter: Returning To Battletech 31 Years Later . In: Game Informer . September 28, 2015. Accessed September 30, 2015.
6. ↑ KG Orphanides: BattleTech returns to the PC with massively popular Kickstarter . September 30, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
7. ^ Nic Rowan: BattleTech Kickstarter begins, immediately secures funding for 'stage1' . In: Destructoid . September 29, 2015. Accessed September 30, 2015.
8. ↑ https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/battletech-kickstarter-aktion-ablossen-alle-stretchgoals-erreich,3238722.html
9. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/battletech
10. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.4players.de/4players.php/dispbericht/PC-CDROM/Test/36961/83078/0/BattleTech.html
11. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/battletech-review-a-tactical-pc-game-that-will-mec/1900-6416903/
12. ↑ ^{a b} https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/battletech-in-grossen-fussstapfen,3328986.html
13. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/04/25/battletech-review
14. ↑ http://www.jeuxvideo.com/test/840734/battletech-adopte-un-mech.htm
15. ↑ ^{a b} https://www.pcgamer.com/battletech-review/
16. ↑ http://www.pcgames.de/Battletech-Spiel-18782/Tests/Review-WANY-Strategiespiel-1255123/
17. ↑ https://www.pcgamesn.com/battletech/battletech-pc-review