I almost didn’t get through art school because of MechWarrior 3. Well it and MechCommander: Desperate Measures, which I purchased at the same time and didn’t sleep the whole weekend. Both drop you straight into Operation Bulldog. But I’ll be getting to the latter soon enough.
I think what first grabbed me about the game was the quality of the cinematics. I don’t just mean the title sequence where a Timberwolf and a Summoner proceed to melt hovertanks, step on PBIs, and ruin the day for a pair of Fireflies. But the initial briefing scene and subsequent cut scenes after missions, mainly consisting of radio chatter between the G2 (Intelligence) officer and the player’s team mates; sometimes accompanied by decrypted enemy comms.
3rd person view of a Bushwacker owning something to bits.