MechWarrior 5: Clans Review

Mechs are cool. From Gundam to Front Mission, these giant, bipedal death machines are always a sight to behold. In MechWarrior 5: Clans, players will have the opportunity to pilot some of the most lethal mechs across all media. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean the game is good, right? Can the latest standalone entry in the MechWarrior franchise stand metal shoulder to metal shoulder with the well-received MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries? Let’s find out!

Players take on the role of Jayden, a new graduate of the Smoke Jaguar cadet program and designated Star Commander of his squad. The team will travel across many worlds, engaging with various hostile forces, whilst also questioning if their side really is fighting the good fight. Each mission features numerous cinematics, as well as the squad chatting to one another over the radio, and it helps paint a picture of this massive universe.

Sure, there is a lot of jargon that took me a while to get to grips with, and some kind of in-menu codex would have been nice. But with this being my first MechWarrior title, I just assumed those who have played previous games will be more up to speed on the lingo, especially if you know a bit about the BattleTech franchise in general. All in all, this is a lengthy campaign, and though it takes itself a little too seriously at times, it was just an enjoyable journey with Jayden and company.

The sci-fi aesthetic of Clans is an absolute sight to behold. The game features some truly gorgeous environments, as well as intricately detailed mechs and other vehicles. Character designs are also surprisingly well done, considering you’ll only see them now and again during cutscenes; in particular the facial animations that wonderfully showcase expressive emotions. In short, the presentation of Clans is absolutely stunning, and showcases the full potential of the Unreal Engine, despite the occasional low-quality textures.

But, it doesn’t end there, as the soundtrack, voice acting, and overall sound design are all top-notch. Switching from more tranquil tunes straight into pulse-pounding beats as you engage in combat always had me ready to blow up some mechs and helped to keep me engaged just a little bit more in the exciting combat. More on that later, though! As for the voice acting, whilst it is a bit cheesy at times, the actors nevertheless put in solid performances throughout the campaign. As I said earlier, Clans takes itself way too seriously, and the dialogue reflects this the most, but I never encountered any groan-worthy conversations, at least.

Piloting a mech and firing off an insane amount of ammunition is the main gameplay loop of Clans. As huge walking tanks, each mech comes equipped with a large arsenal of weaponry in which to take out your enemies. You have the option of two control schemes in order to pilot your mech, with the “modern” version feeling more like a standard shoot ‘em up — forwards, backwards, and strafing on the left stick and aiming using the right stick — and the “classic” method having a bit more of a sim feel to it. The latter of the two felt rather cumbersome using a controller, so I opted for the former and had no complaints.

These aren’t nimble mechs by any means, and you’ll slowly crash your way through the environments on your way towards each objective, which varies from mission to mission. You’ve got the standard “go here, destroy everything”, but also investigating areas of interest, defending key locations, and so on. They all culminate in mech vs mech showdowns, of course, but at least the build-up to the firefights isn’t always the same.

Speaking of firefights, combat is the main aspect of Clans, and thankfully, it’s really quite good! It’s relatively standard as far as shooters go, although you’ll need to keep an eye on how much ammo you have left over for each weapon, the heat gauge for your mech, and the damage each body part has accumulated. As the leader of this team, you’ll also be able to give orders to your four squad mates, either using a radial menu or the Battle Grid. The radial menu is fairly standard (although a tad unintuitive on a controller due to the amount of options) and the Battle Grid acts as an overhead map that allows you to order your team to precise points in any given area. Gameplay doesn’t pause during this, though, so make sure you’re not in the line of fire when planning out these in the heat of battle!

Between missions, you have the option to level up each of the five characters, which does things such as improving mech handling or increasing melee damage. You’ll also earn new mechs that unlock the deeper into the story you get, and though there aren’t too many to choose from, at least you can customise their loadouts to suit whatever is about to come your way. It’s a simple system, and some skills aren’t nearly as useful as others, but it does give some degree of player choice when equipping your team.

Despite this being my first MechWarrior title, I had a blast with MechWarrior 5: Clans. It’s fun, if fairly simple, gameplay loop was genuinely exciting as I stomped and shot my way through each encounter, and the AI team were always very helpful in the more dire moments. If you’re more familiar with the franchise, I can only assume you’ll get much more out of the story than a newcomer like myself, but I nonetheless enjoyed this spacefaring journey with Jayden and his squad.