Don't get me wrong. Despite the MW4M's brevity and hand of subtle problems, I have to admire the overall feel and creation of the game. You start (and end as well for that matter) as a Mercenary in the mechwarrior world where houses Davion and Steiner are both competing for domination of the majority of a galaxy as it seems. You start out with a few funds for designing your mech and hiring new cohorts, etc, etc. For most of the campaign the game is action-packed, aurient, and has a very amusing feel to it despite its rigid appearance. You fight in arenas, backstab political figures, defend naval bases; the usual stuff with excellent variance and the feeling of a well put together game (with excellent force feedback controls might I add). The arena's announcer, as a minor detail I loved, is convincing in his voice-acting (though occasionally repetitive) and even unveils little side plots during matches. Once you start climbing in capital, however, reaching the top is an easy objective. By the time you are about halfway through the campaign, you will have enough money to buy absolutely everything you would ever want or need. You simply attain funds way too fast. Having everything does not mean the game is not fun anymore, quite the opposite in fact, but it makes you lose any objective other than beating the game. Most of this wealth accumulation problem is caused by the arena. But the real kicker is when the campaign abruptly ends. It doesn't leave you on a cliffhanger so much as just sort of the feeling of climbing up the mountain and then coming across an unpassable gap and instantly deciding to turn around walk back down. I played the campaign again (seriously, as much as I punching this game around, it is most assuredly a solid title otherwise) and by thoroughly following the scattered storyline I found that the ending was not entirely abrupt but the problem came with the fact that despite the fact that the story was leading up to that moment, the gameplay was not. In the actionous feel of the game it was building up to some all-out war with tons of super powerful mechs at the end; but that never happened sadly. Do not let me discourage you. Once again on the subject of gameplay, this game is one of the best out right now and if you have a desire to play a game with big smashy robots, this is the one. It has a decent instant action mode and the multiplayer is definitely helpful. The AI isn't the brightest thing in the world, but it definitely poses a challenge for quite a while. The customization process, while tedious, is quite flexible (it isn't comparable to the customization in Armored Core: Nexus, but then again it doesn't take 3 hours to make a mech either) and the variation of weaponry and mech types is pretty good. The campaign simply needed some work. On a minor note, I don't know if its just my joystick or not but the game seems to lack a dead zone on all three axes, making standing still a very difficult task on a stick. Isn't impossible; just kind of annoying. Suggested purchasers are people that... -Need something a bit strategic but with some shooting involved -Want to buy a mech game -Are tired of beating one Armored Core: Nexus level for every four hours put in. -Have played the Mechwarrior series before -own a PC.
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