Rating: 
Summary: ...ITS NOT SLOW!!
Review: Ok...I don't know what you are all talking about but i have a CELERON 600 with 128 ram and a 64 meg video card and i have not had any slow down. It ran perfectly well on my computer and i don't see why it dosen't on other people's.
All in all it is a good game and sice you can make your own missions the short campaign is not really an issue.
Rating: 
Summary: A possible "Warning"
Review: Seems like all the reviews for this game are good, but a word of caution. microsoft has come up with a new "advancement" in CD security, "SafeDisc". This came make MechCommander 2 unusable by many types of CD drives. They list some in the readme file... but by then you have already bought it and are out the cash. And the readme list is also incomplete. I hope microsoft plans on patching this soon otherwise I have a pretty nifty coaster for my drink. Wish I could play this damnable game and give it another good review, thanks a bunch billy boy.
Rating:
Summary: 100 tons of pure destructive joy!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: 100 tons of pure destructive joy!
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Ignore the review above
Review: The 3D engine in MC2 works fine. The review above was probably playing the preview version, which was a beta. Before the two patches- incidently things that were NOT promised to us at all when we won the preview- the game was quite choppy and suffered from numerous bugs. After, it runs quite well. MC1 had a problem with the camera. Namely, you were either too far in or too far out. MC2 fixes that problem. As well, sometimes it is to your advantage to tilt the camera to get a better view, but it by no means required. The camera control is simple. Mouse wheel zooms in/out, right click tilts. If for some reason you manage to get disoriented, there is a key to restore the view to default. The terrain also adds true line of sight- no more seeing where you've been, you must have a unit there- and advantages to holding the high ground, namely headshots. You have the same amount of control as before. More, actually, since the aimed-shot feature actually works, unlike MC1. The mechlab is fine and isn't any more of a problem to handle than MC1s. Since you don't have to track pilot health, number of weapons available, or pay for mech repairs, it's more streamlined. The pilots have new "specialty skills", which means that you no longer just slap the best pilots in the biggest mechs. Some have skills like Sensors or Scouting, which extends to the view range, or Light mech specialty. All these mean you have to place the right pilot in the right mech. There are 8 Clan mechs, some of which only appear in multiplayer. Most people probably don't care about this detail, but since the game is set in the Inner Sphere (IS) it doesn't really make sense to have a large amount of Clan mechs. None of the Clan mechs are new for MC2, FYI. The actual gameplay is fine. I played through the campaign and never called in much of anything except a repair truck or salvage craft. Someone else might have done it differently. Unlike MC1, there are ussually several ways to complete each mission. The friendly an enemy AI is good, with a few minor pathfinding issues. The mechs automatticly move to the correct range for their weapons, cutting down on the micromanagement present in the first game. The addition of line of sight and sensors allows mission designers to put more surprises in the mission, ambushes where they would not work in MC1. More, the mission design is better. One mission, for example, has just one objective: get out in 10 minutes or less. On the way, though, you have options of completing secondary objectives for more cash, better weapons, and salvage. This sort of thing was unfortunately rare in MC1. The game has some issues, a small amount of lame acting, but is very good overall.
Rating:
Summary: Too easy - very buggy
Review: The campaign is too easy. The enemy AI is weak. The game crashed a lot for me.
Rating: 
Summary: A True Gamer
Review: The Copy protection is SO GOOD that I couldn't even play it. Microsoft has really outdone themselves this time. I think as a buyer you are mistaken for a pirate and there is no help to be found if the game is not compatible with your CD-Rom drive. So be warned, this CD may not work on your system. It's about a 50-50 chance you are taking (or worse). When it comes to your money, don't gamble. Try another title.
Rating:
Summary: Armchair strategy for the thinking Mechcommander
Review: The first impression of this game is the 3D environment and slick graphics. You get to feel responsible for your warriors and find yourself feeling guilty if you get any of them killed and have to play the mission again. At the most difficult setting it challenges any age. The moody music gives you a sense of expectation. If you are into Battletech this is for all thinking armchair commanders. Strategy plays a big part in the missions.The only critism is that it takes a long time to load all those graphics unless you have the latest hardware.
Rating:
Summary: Quite an improvement
Review: The first Mech Commander, while fun, had all sorts of problems. MC2 is superior in asbolutely every way. Better graphics, sound, gameplay, all of it. The interface is simple, the mechs are diverse. It is not without challenge, but not insanely difficult. The only beef I have with it (which I had with the original too) is that it's way too short. Lately it's been that way with all the Mech games since MS took over, but it will still occupy you for quite some time.
Rating:
Summary: Wait for the Patchs and driver updates !!!
Review: The game arrived with such agressive copy protection that it refused to execute on my system. A long phone call to tech support resulted in a 14 day wait for a replacement disc. The replacement was a little better. It crashes and locks up the system half way through the introduction unless the sound is disabled. Another Long toll call to Washington State reveild the following information. The game is broken under Windows 2000 direct x8.1 with many older sound cards. It will not run using the native VIA sound on the MB. I pulled out my trusty Soundblaster PCI128 andhad the same problem. I replaced it again with a Soundblaster PCI512 and again had exactly the same problem. Microsoft tech support informed me that my best hope to get it running would be to buy a new Audigy sound card. I have spent hours updating all of the drivers in the system to the most recent versions and have even flashed new firmware in the the CD Drive and updated the BIOS. IF YOU BUY THIS GAME NOW YOU ARE PAYING TO BE A BETA TESTER. Wait for either a Direct X fix, a game patch or perhaps better sound drivers.
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