I’d recommended MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries Rise of Rasalhague, but that comes with some caveats. It’s a late game (starts after the Kestrel Lancers questline finishes), tightly scripted mini campaign that offers veteran players a real challenge (the last 3 missions are stupidly difficult) that follows events as they happened in the BattleTech universe. Its punishingly difficult if you aren’t equipped correctly.

Story
The campaign is focused around the birth of Rasalhague, a new republic that’s situated between Kurita and Lyran space, and has your mercenary outfit helping them as they fight for their independence against the hardliners who want to defect back to the previous galactic owners.

Gameplay
The mini campaign follows the same setup as the Kestrel Lancers, in that you accept the job and are given time to prepare for the conflict. While the first few missions are easy enough to do and offer something different in having a 3rd force that is hostile to you but you get rewarded for not damaging the future missions are brutal. The recommended requirements are quite high, being 3 full Lancers of assault Mech’s, and 12 pilots and the game isn’t kidding. I’d recommended having as many 100 ton Mech’s as possible that do decent damage and having pilots in the high 50’s skill level, otherwise the last 3 missions are going to be impossible. At this point you are also expected to be changing the load out on the Mech’s for more favourable setups and installing upgrades otherwise the missions are going to be impossible to complete. I feel you would save a lot of tears if you played this in multiplayer, with competent squad mates who know how to shoot.

Most of the campaign feels like it’s feeding the player with false hope. Early missions have you at least fighting with allies, or in a 3-way battle where you can play it safe and take down enemies without being caught in a horrendous crossfire. Unlike the Kestrel Lancers you start at 0 rep with the new faction and have no chance to improve before the campaign starts, so Mech salvage isn’t usually a reward you can get. That also makes repairs harder, and the payouts smaller. A lot of the missions have decent Mechs as rewards, but you won’t have time to repair them before the campaign finishes even if you have the money on hand. The time between missions is usually a week or 2 at most (with the last 3 having no downtime) being an absolute endurance test of patience vs cancelling the contract.

There are some standout missions, with the assassination of Kelswa (3 way warzone) and the final mission (assassination of Alexander Kurita) being excellent, if stupidly difficult because you are forced into a trap right at the end and have to fight your way out while likely being heavily damaged from the preceding missions and stage.

After the main campaign is finished there’s 1 additional questline of 3 missions that are just as brutal (you are taking on around 3-4 lancers of enemy Mechs, though at least you can repair between them)

The charger, a fast assault Mech lacks sustained long range firepower but as its name suggests is great for getting up close to punch other Mech’s into submission. I didn’t find much use for these, though had fun collecting them like all the other Mech’s in the game.

The update also adds other Mercenary companies to the game, which are spread out all over the map. Fighting in their sphere of influence might have them appear and either help or hinder you. I found this a neat game mechanic, though it is entirely optional to select missions in their areas.

Music
All of the new missions are voiced, and I felt its done to quite a good standard. There’s lots of chatter between the Rasalhague commanders, enemies from both sides taunting them and the other Mech companies you fight alongside.

For more reviews please visit https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/curator/31327216/

I’d recommended MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries Rise of Rasalhague, but that comes with some caveats. It’s a late game (starts after the Kestrel Lancers questline finishes), tightly scripted mini campaign that offers veteran players a real challenge (the last 3 missions are stupidly difficult) that follows events as they happened in the BattleTech universe. Its punishingly difficult if you aren’t equipped correctly. [B]Story[/B] The campaign is focused around the birth of Rasalhague, a new republic that’s situated between Kurita and Lyran space, and has your mercenary outfit helping them as they fight for their independence against the hardliners who want to defect back to the previous galactic owners. [B]Gameplay[/B] The mini campaign follows the same setup as the Kestrel Lancers, in that you accept the job and are given time to prepare for the conflict. While the first few missions are easy enough to do and offer something different in having a 3rd force that is hostile to you but you get rewarded for not damaging the future missions are brutal. The recommended requirements are quite high, being 3 full Lancers of assault Mech’s, and 12 pilots and the game isn’t kidding. I’d recommended having as many 100 ton Mech’s as possible that do decent damage and having pilots in the high 50’s skill level, otherwise the last 3 missions are going to be impossible. At this point you are also expected to be changing the load out on the Mech’s for more favourable setups and installing upgrades otherwise the missions are going to be impossible to complete. I feel you would save a lot of tears if you played this in multiplayer, with competent squad mates who know how to shoot. Most of the campaign feels like it’s feeding the player with false hope. Early missions have you at least fighting with allies, or in a 3-way battle where you can play it safe and take down enemies without being caught in a horrendous crossfire. Unlike the Kestrel Lancers you start at 0 rep with the new faction and have no chance to improve before the campaign starts, so Mech salvage isn’t usually a reward you can get. That also makes repairs harder, and the payouts smaller. A lot of the missions have decent Mechs as rewards, but you won’t have time to repair them before the campaign finishes even if you have the money on hand. The time between missions is usually a week or 2 at most (with the last 3 having no downtime) being an absolute endurance test of patience vs cancelling the contract. There are some standout missions, with the assassination of Kelswa (3 way warzone) and the final mission (assassination of Alexander Kurita) being excellent, if stupidly difficult because you are forced into a trap right at the end and have to fight your way out while likely being heavily damaged from the preceding missions and stage. After the main campaign is finished there’s 1 additional questline of 3 missions that are just as brutal (you are taking on around 3-4 lancers of enemy Mechs, though at least you can repair between them) The charger, a fast assault Mech lacks sustained long range firepower but as its name suggests is great for getting up close to punch other Mech’s into submission. I didn’t find much use for these, though had fun collecting them like all the other Mech’s in the game. The update also adds other Mercenary companies to the game, which are spread out all over the map. Fighting in their sphere of influence might have them appear and either help or hinder you. I found this a neat game mechanic, though it is entirely optional to select missions in their areas. [B]Music[/B] All of the new missions are voiced, and I felt its done to quite a good standard. There’s lots of chatter between the Rasalhague commanders, enemies from both sides taunting them and the other Mech companies you fight alongside. For more reviews please visit https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/curator/31327216/