by Wastelander
Rating: 3.4/5

Website: http://megamek.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main
More info: http://www.mekwars.org/

Pros:
~ Conversion of original BattleTech rules
~ Vast selection of units
~ Fun online campaigns

Cons:
~ Simple graphics, no music / sound
~ Online campaigns not part of the actual game

MegaMek is a turn-based strategy game based on the classic board game Battletech. To be precise, it is a 99% conversion of the original level 1&2 BattleTech rules. The game is developed as an open-source project, so it is sure to be improved and expanded constantly.

In terms of graphics, MegaMek surely doesn't stand out from the majority of freeware games. In fact the graphics do their job nicely but that's about it. On the one hand, every Mech has its own picture and you can even distinguish the different weapon setups on them. But on the other hand, there are absolutely no animations. The hex maps look decent and important information is easily readable, but again graphics-wise there is nothing out of the ordinary here. Also there's no music throughout the game and sound is limited to a simple 'Bling' to indicate the beginning of your turn.

Having that said, let's take a closer look at the gameplay. For anyone not familiar with the BattleTech rules (like me), I will try to give you a short summary of them. Before the battle begins, each player gets to choose from a large variety of not only Mechs but also a selection of vehicles and infantry. Each unit is assigned a BattleValue(BV) and in order to keep battles balanced, you can compare the combined BVs of you armies. One feature I missed in MegaMek was the possibility of building your own Mechs. In other BattleTech-based games this was a thing that added greatly to the fun. 

Like BattleTech, MegaMek takes place on maps consisting of hexagonal tiles. The game comes with a built-in map editor, so you won't have to stick with random generated battlefields. When you first enter the battle map, players alternate turns deploying their units. After that, the real game starts. One round consists of three phases, Movement, Firing and Physical Combat, and in each phase, players give one command to one unit taking turns. There's are a myriad of rules you need to keep in mind when planning your moves, for example ranges and firing arcs of your weapons, forests blocking line of sight, terrain elevation and many more. 

One fact that is a bit disappointing about MegaMek is the lack of a single-player campaign. There is the choice of playing against bots, but although the A.I. is a challenging opponent it can be really slow when calculating the movement of its Mechs. This happens espacially when there are lots of light Mechs (which have more movement points to spend) under its control. Also there is no matchmaking tool, so when you want to play, you need to arrange a game with a friend. Fans developed an alternative to that though. There are online BattleTech campaigns based on the MegaMek game, the most popular being MegaMekNET. It offers the possibility of arranging games and adds a lot of interesting features to the game.


To sum it all up, MegaMek is a nice game with a large potential of becoming a great game. For players of the BattleTech tabletop game, MegaMek is also a great play-aid that does all of the complex ToHit-calculations for you in a few clicks. So if you like challenging strategy games and if the lack of ultra-sweet graphics and sound doesn't bother you, you definitely should give MegaMek a try!