Mech Commander 2

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable game
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Junk
Review: Installed ok, but wouldn't play. Probably something to do with MS copy protection. You can bet I won't buy anymore games from MS!

Rating:
Summary: It's Okay, But Just Okay
Review: Let's just put it this way, Mech Warrior 4 it's not. Microsoft needs to continue with the story they began in Mech 4.

Rating:
Summary: Its a good game.
Review: Mech Commander 2 is definetly worth the price. I have played through this game 3 times myself. The delicously fun mix of smashing other mech forces and building a personal army of trained killers is something that must be experienced. I enjoyed every moment and I would sit glued to my screen for hours. On the minus side a few niggles. Some of the great mechs of the Battletech universe are missing here, like the Nova and Enforcer III. Of course this is a problem with all the Mech Warrior games too so I can live. There is also a painful learning curve to begin with as one must get used to the strange line of sight and sensor rules. But once you have it anyone can be a mech commander. If you like small unit tactics and you like mechs, this is where your money should go.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Game! Everybody Must Buy It!
Review: Mech Commander 2 is one of the best Mech games to come out yet. The sound effects and graphics are great.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Game
Review: Mechcommander 2 is an awesome game. If you enjoyed mechcommander, you will like this one even more. You can add armor and heat sinks, and weapon choices are based on space(and heat). The only part I don't like is that not every mech can have jump jets. Another neat thing is that you sometimes need light mechs to complete missions. 5 medium and heavy mechs can complete a mission that 3 assault mechs can't. You have resource points for each mission and can capture more. These allow you to repair your mechs and gain control over defeated ones. If you like going around in big robots and destroying stuff, you will like this game.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Game
Review: Mechcommander 2 is an awesome game. If you enjoyed mechcommander, you will like this one even more. You can add armor and heat sinks, and weapon choices are based on space(and heat). The only part I don't like is that not every mech can have jump jets. Another neat thing is that you sometimes need light mechs to complete missions. 5 medium and heavy mechs can complete a mission that 3 assault mechs can't. You have resource points for each mission and can capture more. These allow you to repair your mechs and gain control over defeated ones. If you like going around in big robots and destroying stuff, you will like this game.

Rating:
Summary: Awsome
Review: Mechcommander 2 is awsome. I myself Never had the pleasure to expierence mechcommander. I bought it and played it all night. The graphics were stunning and the camera rotation angles were even better. the rich stroyline further enhances the gameplay as you play the mercenary commmander. Also the can also appreciate the ease of the mech set-up options. I have played maechwarrior 3 and expierenced many difficulties in setting up the weapon systems. So I give mechwarrior 5 stars for just the fun factor I had playing it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Game
Review: My friend got 2 Mech Commander 2s and gave 1 to me. I LOVE it. It's action packed, challenging (but not too challenging), better than any other game. If like Mech Warrior, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, or Mech Warrior 2, you'll L L O O V V E E this. Trust me. If you like any of these games, its a MUST BUY. If you don't like these games, you'll still enjoy it... just not AS much.

Rating:
Summary: Concept is there, but the game is lacking
Review: Ok, first go read some of the bad reviews which talk about problems with getting the game to run. They are right. I have 2 computers, and for reasons that escape me one of them will not run this game. As a result you may want to borrow it from a friend and see if you can get it to work properly before you buy it.

The Good:

The battle system is very intuitive, and gives a nice ammount of control over your units. You can tell them to aim for different mech parts, concerve ammo, or engage at a specific range. You can almost pick the game right up and start playing it, though you may want to go through the training missions just to be sure you know about some of the finer points.

The mechs are also very well done, though I don't like the customization freedom with them (sure with the clan mechs it is ok since they are all omni, but last I checked most IS mechs were not). They do look a little blocky, however it does not end up detracting from the game.

The actors hired for this did a very good job. Cut sceens are convincing and you actually get to the point where you feel like you know them. The plot is fairly transparent, however it is more than enough to hold the game together and avoids the pitfall of making things too complicated.

The Bad:

The game is much too short, and much too easy. First time I played through I played on normal and it took me 3 days. Second time I decided to play on the hardest difficulty, and I am sad to say I didn't notice any difference. Very few of the missions are truely hard (most that are belong to House Leio, and even they are just what I feel the average difficulty should be). This means there is also very little replay value.

Adding to the little replay value is the fact that the plot is 100% liner. Nothing you do ever effects what you are going to do next or where you are going. Once you have played through once, you have seen it all. This also makes it feel like you arn't really a merc commander. You don't get to chose your jobs or to weigh risk and proffit at all. The game just strings you along, and no matter what your proformance in the mission if you complete it then you move on in the plot.

Mechs come out feeling a little flimsy with few exceptions. This is mostly due to the fact that later on the head is much too easy to hit. My standard tactic became pulling along a few mechs with long range weapons and just targeting the head of the mech. It would kill the mech with little to no dammage to the rest of the mech, making it ready to salvage and giving me that much larger of a force for that mission.

Another thing that this game would have benifited immensly from would be some type of campaign/mission editor to allow players to make thier own games. This simple addition would have pushed this game up to 4 stars overall raiting and a 5 star fun raiting since the problems with the campaign could be overlooked with the addition of player maps and campaigns that would cater to differetn interests.

If you consider yourself a fan of MW I would give this a try, but don't expect the world from it. The campaign is good enough that you won't be appaled by it, and the multiplayer is good (though nothing too terrably special as far as I could see) if you can find someone to play with. If you are just a fan of RTS games you should look someplace else as this will leave you with a wanting feeling.