My point? Even with four companies involved, Mechwarrior 3 is long on style but short on substance.

No doubt about it, the game looks stunning. The opening movie had me rarin’ to jump into a cockpit and take down some Clanner scum. In the training missions, I had to force myself to look away from the graphics and follow the instructor’s orders. On high-end machines, this is literally like nothing you’ve seen before.

Sadly, gameplay is marred by some pretty disruptive errors.

The story follows that of the board game and book series. The Inner Sphere houses have finally merged to reform the Star League, sort of a United Nations. The Clan truce is still in effect, though all worlds beyond a certain point are fair game. So the Star League launches an assault on some Clan Smoke Jaguar planets, culminating on a strike that liberates the Jaguars’ homeworld.

Now the Star League is targeting the homeworld of all the Clans. No reason is given — presumably, it’s explained in the novels, but we can only guess that like vampires, the Clans will wither and die without their head. Whatever the case, the Jaguars are rebuilding their forces, and it’s up to the player (of course) to lead a Star League commando team against the growing enemy.

It’s a great setup, considering the rich history behind the game. It’s always more fun playing the underdog Inner Sphere against overwhelming Clan odds (as in Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries). Sure enough, the player is made the underdog fairly quickly. One of the commandos’ drop-ships is destroyed in the atmosphere, so the player must run a few missions solo. Instant underdog.

Again, the graphics are breathtaking all around — the first mission or two will probably be spoiled when the player just stares at the enemy ‘Mechs loping into battle. Even better, the landscape is affected by the ‘Mechs, from footprints in mud to huge craters opened by weapons fire.

‘Mech command is easy to learn; the training missions really do a nice job of preparing for most situations. It does get a bit complicated when using the keyboard to simultaneously twist a ‘Mech’s torso and move its legs while aiming the guns with the mouse. So I just don’t twist the torso, and the accuracy makes up for the loss of movement.

The sound is done well, as are the voices. It’s humorous to hear reports of enemy ‘Mechs and realize it’s the enemy talking about you. That’s also a valuable tool, because that means it’s time to get ready to rumble.

Okay, so the campaigns don’t allow for in-mission saves. That’s still a huge pet peeve for me, but that’s fairly consistent with other Mechwarrior games. Of course, it becomes a huge problem when, at the end of one hard-fought level, I was told I’d completed all objectives (even checked the list) and ended the mission. At the mission stats screen, I clicked the happy little check at the bottom only to see too late the mouse balloon that labeled it "Replay mission."

Eh? There was no "Next mission" button. Sure enough, I was routed back to the mission I’d just struggled through, and was promptly pasted.

Of lesser concern, but concern nonetheless, is the awful AI of friendly wingmen. Really, they’re almost useless, aside from maybe providing covering fire and occasionally lucking into taking out an enemy. They say they’re following you, but rarely wind up at the destination. That means players need to learn to win battles on their own — not an easy feat sometimes.

Still, it’s possible. And, really, this one is worth it for all of its good attributes.