BattleTech: Heavy Metal adds some great new mechs and an engrossing campaign to the game, but it’s aimed squarely at people who are already fans.
Of all the video games based on the BattleTech tabletop game, Harebrained Schemes’ Battletech may be the closest any of them has come to emulating the feel of the original. Its high-stakes turn-based combat and intricate inventory management put players in the role of both commander and quartermaster, replicating the sensation of poring over stat sheets and manuals to wage war over a hexagonal grid in a hobby shop. It’s fitting, then, that BattleTech’s latest expansion, Heavy Metal, digs deep into the well of old-school BattleTech lore to produce a great set of new mechs and missions straight from the game’s history.
True to its name, Heavy Metal brings some of the heaviest metal in the BattleTech canon to its digital incarnation. The expansion’s standout feature is the introduction of seven mechs from the BattleTech tabletop game, plus one designed exclusively for the video game. Die-hard BattleTech fans will recognize some of the most iconic mechs in the game - Annihilator, Archer, Assassin, Flea, Phoenix Hawk, Rifleman, and Vulcan. The new mech, the Bull Shark, is a 95-ton behemoth with a look that fits right in with the rest of the classic machines in the expansion.
These new mechs are more than just pretty metal faces. Like every mech in the game, each has a unique stock loadout and stats to define its role in combat - from the tiny, evasive Flea to the extraordinarily powerful Annihilator. In a first for BattleTech, each mech also has a unique piece of equipment to reinforce its role. For instance, the Phoenix Hawk gets better performance out of its jump jets, while the Assassin ignores the evasion bonus that its targets get from moving, making it ideal for hunting light mechs. These bonuses are a welcome edition, making the new mechs feel unique and even imbuing them with a little personality. On the other hand, they tend to throw balance out the window by giving the new mechs abilities that aren’t available to anyone else. That puts players at a distinct advantage when they use them, and can make squaring off against them unexpectedly dangerous.
The new weapons in Heavy Metal tip the scales a little less, leaning more toward new tactical possibilities than sheer firepower. Probably the most interesting is the COIL Beam, which does more damage the farther its wielder moves before using it, but also generates more heat. That makes it an incredible addition to a fast scout, but can easily lead to overheating behind enemy lines. Other new additions include missiles that deal heat damage over time, a long-range shotgun, and the BattleTech’s first area-of-effect weapon. Each is fun to use and can be game-changing if used well, but they require skill and a particular playstyle to be effective. Unlike the new unique equipment, these weapons can also be equipped on any mech, so they don’t lock players into using one of the new additions.
Players will encounter all of Heavy Metal’s new gear in a mini-campaign that explains how all this technology showed up in the first place, but everything except the Bull Shark - which shows up half-way through - can be found without playing the added missions. The surprisingly deep campaign unfolds over a series of Flashpoint missions available after the main story concludes in campaign mode or any time in career mode. It’s definitely aimed at experienced players, as it’s full of long, grueling missions, and the new mechs players will face can annihilate an unprepared crew. It never felt like a slog, but players should expect to earn their new toys before they get to play with them.
Fortunately, the new campaign is one of the most interesting storylines in the game, throwing players into the mystery of a ship that shouldn’t exist and into the path of two legendary MechWarriors. Black Widow and Bounty Hunter have a storied rivalry in BattleTech lore, and in Heavy Metal, they appear as both fascinating characters and fierce opponents.Their story is at least as interesting as that of the derelict ship players are chasing, providing even more incentive to see the campaign through. The only real issue with the new campaign is that it doesn’t do anything terribly novel. BattleTech always had a need for more mission variety, and while the missions in Heavy Metal are interesting, they’re more of the same.
BattleTech’s Heavy Metal expansion offers lots of new ways to approach the game, even if the gear it adds doesn’t always play nice with the existing mechs, and its new campaign is well worth playing through for its own merits. The biggest thing Heavy Metal has working against it is that it doesn’t fit neatly into the existing campaign, and even in Career Mode, where it’s available from the beginning, new pilots will need to spend a good amount of time equipping themselves with some powerful mechs from the base game to survive the challenge. After that time investment, it ends up feeling like more of the same with some extra bells and whistles. Heavy Metal isn’t likely to bring many new players on board, but for dedicated BattleTech fans, it adds enough to the formula to make it worth a look.
Update: Review was updated to accurately explain that all players can access the Heavy Metal campaign.
Next: MechWarrior 5 Was Delayed and Its Coming Exclusively to Epic Games Store
BattleTech: Heavy Metal is available now on PC, Mac, and Linux. A PC code was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.
