One of the first things that struck us was the incredible quality of the graphics. Mechwarrior 4 does indeed have superb graphics, and its not just eye candy as the graphics are used appropriately in all situations. Some excellent additions were the smoke trails for the missiles, game-engine based anti-aliasing, and spectacular vision effects when hit by weapons such as the PPC. PPC hits were done really well, as when your mech is hit the HUD wavers and fades in and out as though hit by an EMP pulse (which is part of the PPC's effect). Fog has been used to good effect also, the most common use being mechs kicking up dust as they traverse the ground. An impressive touch was the trees and lamp posts … which are fully destructible. Of course one of the best things about stomping around in a giant robot is the ability to crush things, and the trees make a most satisfying crunching and snapping noise, while the lampposts screech metallically when stomped upon. Add to this the fact that it does this relatively efficiently and there's even more reason to praise Microsoft/Fasa Interactive's efforts. The review was played with all graphics options set to their highest settings (including anti-aliasing) in 1024x768 with 32 bit colour, and it ran flawlessly. The frame rate was at all times acceptable and reminds one of the way Mechwarrior 3 ran well on most systems. The only downside was even though anti-aliasing was enabled it didn't seem quite as effective as the anti-aliasing options available with Geforce and Voodoo 4/5 drivers.

The soundtrack is pleasing, adding to the games general atmosphere and at times punctuating important moments. A common problem occurs when a sound track becomes intrusive upon game play, however this is not the case with Mechwarrior 4 and the music was upbeat and rocky with just a tint of Mechwarrior 2's soulful overtones. The games sound effects are also well suited, as mentioned before the trees and lamp posts make satisfying death cries. Weapon sounds haven't changed much from Mechwarrior 2/3 but have rather been more finely tuned. The gauss rifle for example now sounds and look just like a rail gun. Laser sounds are as they should be, and the machine guns sound good. LBX scattershots emit a resounding boom when fired and missiles fire with giant rumblings. Incoming missiles leave a swishing sound as they fly past your mech in near hit scenarios. Radio chatter is acceptable, although it could have been better. Team mates usually only chatter when scripted to or when acknowledging commands. However when there is chatter, its of a high quality and reasonably authentic especially with call signs and lance names (a lance is the name given to a small force of mechs in the Inner Sphere).