MechWarrior 5: Clans Reviews
MechWarrior 5: Clans delivers a strong story of struggling young warriors alongside the best-ever version its iconic, lumbering mech combat.
MechWarrior 5: Clans has some bugs it needs to work out, but this is still an excellent campaign carried by a thoughtful story, fantastic mech combat, and all of the customization you could want.
Like one of its titular mechs, Mechwarrior 5: Clans is an effective machine that is purpose-built, but a touch awkward in motion. It has great moment-to-moment combat, backed up by a fair bit of tactical depth.
Despite some iffy performance and a lot of proper nouns that I just couldn't track properly, I enjoyed my time with Mechwarrior 5: Clans.
A grandiose and adrenaline packed simulation of mech combat, marred by an incomprehensibly tame story shackled by its aderence to estabilished story.
Review in Italian | Read full review
MechWarrior 5: Clans is a towering behemoth of action and storytelling worthy of its massive BattleMechs. It pays homage to its story-driven predecessors by exceeding them in nearly every way. While there may be a few cracks in the armor when it comes to pilot customization and presentation elements, the total package is excellent. This is the definitive MechWarrior game.
Mechwarrior 5: Clans is a fantastic addition to the Mechwarrior lineage, offering a good mix of an engaging storytelling, deep customization options and some seriously satisfying mech combat. While the PC version has some technical issues and the overall game has a bit of a learning curve, the overall experience is well worth it for fans and newcomers alike. And the fact that Clans is hitting gamepass is sure to garner some new Battletech fans to the fold, which is great so we can get some new games form this legendary mech series.
The tactical aspect of the game is also finicky. You can give your four squadmates orders, but only within a short radius of yourself, limiting their potential. Your choice is a map that doesn’t pause the action and is therefore useless in a fight, or a quick menu that takes up most of the screen and isn’t very quick, also making it a burden in fights. The first-person view is neat, and the ability to take control of your squadmate's mechs is novel, but these features aren't enough to shake the feeling your time would be better spent playing XCOM.
MechWarrior 5: Clans does a good job of balancing story, combat, and the all-important time in between. Customizing the mechs and gearing up the squad are both lots of fun and the battles themselves are appropriately oversized.
While there's certainly several coats of polish still to add, the core of MechWarrior 5: Clans gives us an excellent storyline culled straight from the novels, combined with cutting edge graphics and gameplay only Piranha Games could deliver. THIS is the MechWarrior game we've all been waiting for, and damn, is it fun. Reactor online, sensors online, weapons online. All systems nominal.
While MechWarrior 5: Clans could use some more polish, it is a solid sequel that captures the excitement of giant mechs tearing each other in realistic skirmishes.
As I was getting ready to review MechWarrior 5: Clans, I had a stunning realization-it's been quite a while since I last played a MechWarrior game. Back when
Developers of MechWarrior 5: Clans know their limitations and skills, and don’t cram unnecessary elements into the game. Instead they focus only on the things they know they can deliver. Clans has the best story in the history of the series, and gameplay-wise it’s like an upgraded Mercenaries. Christmas came early for true MechWarrior fans!
Review in Polish | Read full review
As mech games go, MechWarrior 5: Clans is an easy-to-recommend title full of action and drama. It may take itself too seriously, but this is still a brilliant sci-fi adventure.
Mechwarrior 5: Clans does a lot of relatively new things for the series, and a whole lot more effort has gone into the polish and presentation of the game. The new changes aren't all for the better, and while I can respect that the game is meant to tell its own story, it comes at the expense of effectively removing all of the player's agency in influencing it. My idea of a perfect Mechwarrior game is some sort of middle ground between Mercs and Clans.
MechWarrior 5: Clans is a fun new entry in the MechWarrior franchise, even if you don’t know all the intricacies of the world and its history. Players can get lost trying to figure out how to customize everything from their characters, to their mechs, to what things to research — as there is a lot to unpack here. I do recommend the game, it’s one of the better MechWarrior games out there. If you enjoyed MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, don’t pass this one up either.
MechWarrior 5: Clans is a Mech game for Mech fans. If you want a game that portrays these mechs for the whatever-ton steel beasts they are, then this is the game for you. The storyline takes a bit of a backstep, but the characters are interesting enough, and the gameplay more than makes up for a somewhat vague storyline. There are some issues, such as the friendly AI doing some things that will make your life difficult, and the performance seems far worse than it should be, but if you have a PC to brute-force through the performance issues, the game overall is solid. I would have given MechWarrior 5: Clans an 8/10 for gameplay, but the severe performance issues and crashes lower it to a 7/10 gameplay score for me. Unfortunately, the above-mentioned performance means that the game is unplayable on the Steam Deck, and given how poor the performance is, I don't think it'll just be a case of "a patch will fix it" for this one.
Mechwarrior V: Clans is a standalone title that don't replace its predecessor but rather enriches the experience in a complementary way, and it's a significant addition to the saga.
Review in Italian | Read full review