Mech Commander 2
by Microsoft
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Video Game Reviews of Mech Commander 2
Customer Review: An enjoyable game
Summary: 4 Stars
I've purchased this game thinking it the same as the first Mech commander from Microsoft, to my surprize it much improved. The graphics were much better than the first and the terrain is a factor in the game. What I also liked is that you can get new mech on the field without spending anything for them and reconfigure them as you wish. On the negative side the game does slows down when units are in combat. The story was intersting but linear and the AI does get trigger happy but it can be control as long as you keep eye on the units. But for the most part a very fun game to play.Customer Review: 100 tons of pure destructive joy!
Summary: 4 Stars
Since the original "MechWarrior" came out in the late-80s, I've loved each and every installment of the computerized-Battletech universe, including this one. MechCommander 2 puts you in strategic command of a "squad" of mechs (officially referred to as a Lance.) It's the difference between tactical (MechWarrior) versus strategic control (MechCommander), action (MW) versus strategy (MC)... but it all comes down to huge robots spewing destruction and mayhem.Pros: Good atmosphere, solid graphics, fantastic battle sound effects, an easy to use interface for customizing mechs, faithful to the original, adjustable difficulty.
Cons: Too few missions, frustrating limits on deployment tonnage
All in all, this is a fantastically enjoyable game. The acting and mission-briefings give a nice feel for the direction of the game and let you feel like you're a mercenary with a soul, but the plot is linear and there aren't any really surprising twists. As a whole, the gameplay is superb, enabling you to go right into the missions with minimal "training", and the camera is very well designed, letting you maintain an optimum view of the fight.
The graphics are very good... not quite excellent, but they certainly didn't skimp here. It would have been nice to zoom even closer to the Mechs and see battle damage, but to be fair it's a useless feature if you're really trying to wage war and would have taken too much processing power on slower systems. The sound is also well done, but left me wanting more. I miss the rumble and stomp of listening to hundreds of tons of metal stomp across the landscape. You get to hear all the sounds of the battle (weapons firing, explosions, etc) and those are very well done, but the game would have been much more immersive if you could hear your Mechs tromping the fauna.
The weapons were very nicely developed, with a good balance between the different systems (missles, energy, ballistic, etc.) You definitely have to strategize here and plan the outfitting of your Mechs carefully. If you have a bunch of 100-ton mechs, all with long-range weaponry, it'll only take a few 30-ton mechs with decent short-range weaponry to get in close and whittle your armor away like snapping, ankle-biting poodles. Planning is the key, and the interface for customizing your Mechs is well layed out for the experience and novice MechCommander alike.
Finally (and this is my only major gripe) the original Mech Commander was billed as Company-level combat: meaning you commanded forces of up to 16 Mechs, ranging from 30-100 tons each. In this installment, the number of mechs you can field is limited by the maximum tonnage you can deploy. The largest this ever reaches is the final mission, at 450 tons. In case you're counting, that means four 100 ton Mechs and a 50 tonner. Frankly, that's a huge waste of potential, especially when I had about 10 assault Mechs (each weighing 80-100 tons) ready and waiting for deployment by the last mission.
But that's my only real complaint. As a whole, this is a supremely enjoyable game, and I'll be playing it through again very shortly.
Customer Review: Short but to the point
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great game with great graphics etc.The only bad thing about this game is that it runs !!**EXTREMELY**!! SLOW !!**EXTREMELY**!! on all but the fastest of computers (you need about a 1.7 GHz 1GB of ram computer, and a 64 MB graphics card to run this without it being slow) Also 50-75% of the time when you click a button it does not register the clicks (i'm talking the menu buttons, not the in-mission buttons)
Customer Review: A better Force Commander!!
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, if you liked Force Commander, MechCommander, or any MechWarrior, just go out and buy this game. If not, read this review. This game is very fun and easy to play. The teaching levels teach you the basics and the manual fills in the rest.The campaign is very engrossing and the missions are fun and a good difficult. You even get upset if you lose a good pilot. You can't compare this game to Age of Empires since in the genre it is like comparing apples and oranges. So if you like what you hear, buy this game.Customer Review: A better Force Commander!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, if you liked Force Commander, MechCommander, or any MechWarrior, just go out and buy this game. If not, read this review. This game is very fun and easy to play. The teaching levels teach you the basics and the manual fills in the rest.The campaign is very engrossing and the missions are fun and a good difficult. You even get upset if you lose a good pilot. You can't compare this game to Age of Empires since in the genre it is like comparing apples and oranges. So if you like what you hear, by this game.