Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 298 sampled Steam reviews (259 positive / 39 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing12% mention it
- Combat8% mention it
- Difficulty & balance4% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing23% mention it
- Difficulty & balance15% mention it
- Controls & UI15% mention it
- Music & audio13% mention it
- Combat10% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
62%
26 reviews
5-15h
82%
28 reviews
15-40h
90%
31 reviews
40-100h
80%
50 reviews
100h+
93%
163 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 80 | 23 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 97 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 84% | 78 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 87% | 81 | 35 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 101 reviews sampled · 76 total reviews in window · weighted 73 up / 11.1 down · computed 3h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (62)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 80
“BattleTech is a well-made strategy based on a popular universe with an interesting battles, cool role-playing elements and great units customization options.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Everything in the battles is done perfectly. Deep tactics with a lot of different ways to fight, requiring to keep a lot of parameters in your head, will not leave time for other activities.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Exceptional tactical and strategic layers paired with a often rewarding mech management / risk and reward system makes BattleTech a must have for any turn based strategy fan.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“BattleTech in the form of a video game is a beautiful reference to the original board game. It's a unique tactical turn-based strategy game that sets new trends in this genre. Until competitors won't think of resurrecting other games with mechs, BattleTech is without question a master-class.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“You never feel like an army, and that's to the game's benefit. This isn't a game about a war, even though it is set against the backdrop of one. Battletech is a game about battles, in all their sad and joyous desperation, and the machines that they so lovingly destroy.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“If you can ignore the possibility of rerolling missions and accept what you’re given BattleTech is definitely a success on par with other tactical games in the genre. You get satisfaction in your victories, frustration in your failures, and sweet relief when you barely manage to escape alive. It brings back the magic and wonder of playing XCOM combined with the technicality of games such as EU4.”
read full review ↗ - 80
- 60
“While the story in BattleTech takes some interesting turns, and the combat is slow if serviceable, the game chugs along as playable with occasional moments of greatness. The major issues come from how combat is both too slow at times and too random, plus there are too many numbers to sort through for anyone short of the very dedicated. The structural problems are too ingrained in the game to easily fix, which is unfortunate as there is actually a solid package underneath the problems.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Bombastic battles, deep campaign with management, and a strong AI. A brilliant must-have game.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Battletech is an addictive strategy game that smushes everything we love into one game, and dares us not to love it. It combines Firefly, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, XCOM, and giant Mechs punching each other and shooting laser beams.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“This is a flawed title, but BattleTech's nuanced tactical depth and engaging system of progression will ultimately sustain it over the long haul.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Featuring an engaging story, addictive gameplay, and beautiful art design, Battletech is a standout title in the turn-based strategy genre. However, the level of randomness can sometimes feel unfair.”
read full review ↗
GameMAG
3DNews
Hu3br
GRYOnline.pl
Paste Magazine
Invision Community
Kinglink Reviews
Cubed3
PC Invasion
GameWatcher
ZTGD
PCMag…and 50 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- BATTLETECH Security HotfixOct 30, 2025
- LIVE - BATTLETECH 1.9.1 Update Release NotesMar 3, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH 1.9 Update Release NotesFeb 20, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH 1.8.1 Update Release NotesDec 10, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH Update 1.8 and Heavy Metal Paid Expansion Release NotesNov 21, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH 1.7 Update Release NotesSep 10, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH Update 1.6 and Urban Warfare Paid Expansion Release NotesJun 4, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH 1.5.0 Release NotesMar 12, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH 1.4.0 Release Notes: The One with Localization!Jan 31, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH Update 1.3, Flashpoint Expansion, and Localization Beta Release NotesNov 27, 2018significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH 1.2.0 Release Notes, MechWarrior Abilities Re-Spec Beta, and More!Aug 27, 2018significant · resets scoring window
- LIVE - BATTLETECH Update 1.1 Release NotesJun 21, 2018significant · resets scoring window