"The best Mechwarrior to date!"

Mechwarrior has always been a series I have enjoyed. Now with the 4th release, I am overwhelmed by this game. It is incredible.

Gameplay
This game is pure and simple fun. Picture this, you are riding a 100 ton goliath over massive terrain destroying everything that moves. The missions are well thought out and varied. Each mission will test your skills.

The best part of its gameplay is easily the multiplayer. However, unless you have a cable modem, DSL, or other high speed internet access, the game may be laggy in online play. The different types of games you can play online are great. Ranging from capture the flag to attrition (kill your enemy). It even has a chat to talk to other gamers while you are playing your mission.

Another great aspect of the gameplay is the ability to customize your own mech. You can go into the mech lab and strip down your mech's weapons and add anything your heart desires. The weapon array is awesome. Like new weapons such as the Bombast Laser and Long Tom artillery are a blast to use but no mech has them as a default weapon set, so they need to be added manually through the mech lab. With the mech lab, it is easy to make a vicious, battle ready mech in 10 minutes. This is the easiest and least complex mech lab in any of the other Mechwarrior's.

Story
The story is very good and is tied in with the other Mechwarriors. Before every mission, you will be filled in on your objective and you will learn the story through that as well. I think the story is a little above par for this game genre. It is really very interesting once you start to progress through the missions.

Graphics/Sounds
The graphics are the best I have ever seen from a computer game. The backgrounds, the mechs, the weapons, everything is a masterpiece. The special effects are also I site to behold. So far, I have been raving about this game, so why the 9? The game is so massive (1000 MB) that there is a lot of slowdown and the game is very choppy unless you have a 32 MB graphics card. With one, the game will run very smoothly. Getting back to the graphics, they are some of the best polygons ever put into a game. You feel as if you are watching a movie. You forget that is its fantasy because everything looks so real. This is a definite plus.

The sound is also very good. The sound of the weapons is pretty much the same as the last couple of Mechwarriors. The lasers make a high pitched screech and the missiles make a salvo launch type of sound. Exactly what you would expect. The sound of your 100 ton mech shaking the earth with every step is also pretty good. Overall, the sound is pretty average, but good.

Replayability
The game has a lot going for it in terms of replay value. You will never get bored of multiplayer play as playing with people is always very fun. The missions are still fun after you beat them but not as. The mech lab is another replayable aspect as you will really want to try and make the most devastating mech that could possible be made.

Buy/Rent
Buy this game if you are an action junkie or like fighting with 100 ton hulking behemoths. You may want to hold off on this game if you have a week graphics card. It just isn't worth it. I recommend you get a 32 MB card or the game may not run very well. Other than that, this game is fantastic.

Mechwarrior 4 shines in every category. Playing this game may just be an experience you wont soon forget.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/07/01, Updated 02/22/01