The single player campaign is superbly scripted and is of a decent length … 25 missions in total with reasonable durations allows for a challenging yet satisfying experience. In addition because the campaign is more personal than previous Mechwarrior games it involves the player to a larger degree and the continuation of the plot gives a satisfying reward when a mission is completed. One annoying point about the briefing screens is that the briefing videos replay automatically after the mission map is zoomed in upon and back out, making them become quickly tedious.

In terms of game play a small number of very important changes has been made. First of all, mechs are now very differentiated in ability. Only allowing slots on different mechs to hold specific types of weaponry has accomplished this rather cleverly. For example a 50 ton mech may have ten slots available for beam weaponry and four for projectile weapons, while another may have different slot types and may be more inclined to projectile based weaponry rather than beam weapons. This opens up a whole new world especially for multiplayer as now certain mechs may be weaker against other mechs of the same weight class depending on the players choice of weaponry. Omni mechs (mechs which have many slots that can be used by any type of weapon) become particularly popular and powerful and in the single player game obtaining an Omni mech is a helpful accomplishment. AI is quite good, and commanding computer controlled teammates has never been easier. The F1-F4 keys have been dedicated to command up to 3 lance mates. F1-F3 selects an individual member, while F4 selects all of them, then F1-F9 issue specific commands. It sounds simple and it is, I have never come across such an intuitive control system. Multiplayer has now been enhanced significantly over previous Mech warrior games. Mechwarrior 4 now offers capture the flag and capture the beacon styles of play, as well as the traditional death match. Capture the flag – think Quake 3 CTF except you're in a giant robot with lots of big guns. Capture the beacon is a time based point system where the team that holds the beacon for the longest amount of time wins. Instant action is similar to past games and allows replaying of missions and training etc.