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!!
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