Description:
Based on the BattleTech tabletop board games, MechCommander 2 is a mission-based real-time strategy game in which you control gigantic mechanized vehicles (Mechs). While the focus is on strategic combat, preparation plays an equally vital part. How you prepare for a battle is often more important than the actual tactics you use during a fight. Your success will depend greatly on discovering new technology and implementing it within your Mechs. You can be victorious with the most rudimentary strategies as long as you've picked the proper weaponry beforehand. Between missions you're treated to entertaining full-motion video scenes that lead you to your next objective. Although the game makes some key improvements on the original, it has its fair share of problems. First off, it's totally linear. There's never a need to stray from the key objectives because there's nothing else to discover or achieve. The artificial intelligence, while greatly improved, has a tendency to jump the gun and attack enemies immediately, making stealth tactics difficult. Lastly, the system requirements are misleading--even on a 1 GHz machine with a GeForce3-based graphics card, there's plenty of slowdown when the screen is filled with units. On the positive side, the gameplay is tight, Mech customization is deep, and this is one of the few RTS games where 3-D environments factor into tactics. --Raymond M. Padilla Pros: - Nice use of 3-D for an RTS
- Great graphics
- Witty cutscenes
Cons: - Trigger-happy artificial intelligence
- Misleading system requirements
- Low replay value
| 
