MechWarrior 5 DLC reverses routine, but AI is still useless

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries still a bit messy even with the new Legend of the Kestrel Lancers expansion. The new DLC manages to eliminate the early game grind, primarily by throwing in-game money at the problem. But nothing seems able to stop the overwhelming stupidity of its friendly AI.

Kestrel Lancers It begins with a series of war games that, fitting very well with the general lore of the BattleTech universe, are actually real-fire field exercises. Damage coverage (cash you use to repair your Mechs after a battle) increases to 10 million credits, an order of magnitude more than the compensation imposed on the first missions of the base game. This allowed me to use my arsenal of large robots for particularly rampant destruction.

Image: Piranha Games / Sold out via Polygon

And what arsenal it is. The game begins with eight Mechs in total, including a Blackjack (a powerful fire support Mech) and a Kintaro (a very close fighter). That’s twice the number available in the base game. The payouts are ridiculously high on those first few missions too. After salvaging some wreckage from the battlefield, I jumped back to a nearby industrial zone to buy two more. After my shopping spree, I was rocking a hanger full of 12 top-of-the-line Mechs. That included two punishment humpback variants (medium-range snipers), a Grasshopper (another great fighter), and a Catapult (a long-range missile ship). It felt like Christmas had come early.

A year later in the game came the invitation to join the Kestrel Lancers, a powerless military unit marching in the midst of a galaxy-wide civil war. What followed was a series of epic battles, each set on a handcrafted map. The opposition was fierce and gaining ground required careful herding of my brilliant collection of Mechs.

Image: Piranha Games / Sold out via Polygon

And that’s where the game finally let me down. The friendly AI is still wildly silly. Friendly units entered my field of fire. They were left hanging on the ground. They stayed behind while I charged ahead. There is still no way to issue subtle commands, and the new “Mech switch” feature, which allows you to take direct control of any of the four units in your squad, is tedious at best. That means MechWarrior 5 and all of the accompanying downloadable content continues to be an experience best enjoyed in multiplayer.

Nevertheless, Legend of the Kestrel Lancers is a must buy for fans of this particular title. New linear missions, new biomes, and new Mech variants add to the fun. It’s a particularly nice touch that only one person needs the DLC to share with up to three of their friends in multiplayer. The expansion arrives September 23 for Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, the same day that MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries makes its debut on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. No pricing has been announced yet, but it is expected to cost a little over $ 19.99, which was the price of its first hefty DLC pack.