Well, first impression...I suuuuuuuuuuck and how! Have played 10 matches so far and have lost every single one without doing more than 20 damage. I'm not going to rail at the game, it's clearly my lack of skill (though I don't remember being this bad in MW3 or MW4...)
I've played with all of the trainer 'Mechs available. Right now I'm running a custom WHM (max armor, dual Snub PPCs, Laser AMS, and spare tonnage into Heat Sinks), not a fantastic machine, but on table top I think it would be okay. In MWO....apparently not so much.
Some other observations:
1) I can't figure out their divisions, it seems all over the place, the last 3 matches (in my WHM) I faced a Piranha, a King Crab and an Atlas. From what I've read, 'Mechs are supposed to be divided into 7 distinct divisions....and it's beyond me how those 3 'Mechs can be considered in anyway in the same division as my WHM. (Seriously, how is a 'Mech that out masses me by 30 tons supposed to be fair?) I think they should have just stuck with the 4 weight classes.
2) I'm really noticing the lack of melee here. Especially against that Piranha. Even with my snubbies I could barely hit him after he ran up into my face, since he was so much shorter than me. Would have been very helpful if I had been able to kick him....
3) It's cool that they have all five arenas...but to be honest, I'm not really impressed by any of the maps. They're just...underwhelming.
Anyway, those are my first thoughts, I'll keep playing it though. Hopefully I'll win a match eventually... XD