Mech Commander

The Good
I like Mech games, and an RTS game with Mechs sounds pretty darned good to me! There's huge potential in this concept.

The Bad
Everything else.

Mech Commander really isn't an RTS game at all. RTS implies a degree of tactical and strateigc freedom to find solutions to problems; in Mech Commander, levesl are designed so that there's only one way to win, and you pretty much just keep playing until you can solve the puzzle. The puzzle-like gameplay is supremely frustrating and just completely unsuited to the whole concept; if I wanted to solve puzzles I'd buy a puzzle game. It doesn't help that, like most Mechwarrior games, the game comes with one linear campaign with a backstory about as exciting as double-entry bookkeeping. I'll be darned if I can understand why the Battletech line of games is so cursed with the "let's give 'em nothing but one lousy campaign to play, and let's make sure it's boring!" mentality.

There is no real impact in Mech design; if you have a bigger mech, you'll beat a smaller one.

The Bottom Line
Worth playing around with if you can borrow a copy. I hope the sequel's better.

The Good
The game is a fresh new way of gaming in the BattleTech universe. Instead of piloting a single mech, you are now commanding a lance (sometimes more) of mechs...

Mech Commander works like any RTS game out there, select some units, tell it to explore under the fog of war, or tell it to attack...However, there is no building in the game, nor is there mineral harvesting...You get resources from completing set objectives, and receive reinforcements from salvaging them, picking them up mid-mission and buying them...

The game has a huge variety of things to customize from, from choosing what mechs and vehicles to buy, to choosing the weapons to fit the mech with, to deciding which MechWarrior should pilot which mech...

The effects of each mission carry over to the next and your mech warriors can gain exprience and improve in rank and skill...Ranks are required to pilot mechs, and if a mechwarrior doesn't have a high enough rank, then the mech suffers a penalty...

The visual effects of the game are stunning...explosions look so beautiful that you might find yourself drooling, and the effects of weapons are realistic...your mechs limp when they are shot in the leg, and they leave foot prints when travelling...

The detail of this game is amazing...almost everything can be blown up...when your mechs lose an arm, it flies off, and you can see it lying on the ground...each mechwarrior has its own voice, and it makes the game more alive, as you feel like the warriors have a personality...

The commands that you give to you units are also very detailed...From the range to the attack to the location (ie head, leg, cockpit), you can specify it all...

The Bad
The linearness of the game is one huge flaw...even the missions themselves are extremely linear...You have to finish a mission before you go on to the next. The missions are very restrictive...there is one mission where if you do not use a mine layer, there is no way you can beat it...this saps the creativity out of being able to plan your mech battle tactics...

Also, your mechwarriors level up way too slowly...there are only so many missions in the game, and sometimes if the warrior is injured, you can't put him/her in...at the rate of them leveling up their skills, you become very hard pressed to find an ace pilot for that Atlas assualt mech that you have, but have a swarm of new green recruits that can pilot the only light mech in your inventory...

The Bottom Line
Very fun, but sometime you can't help but get frustrated at the linearness of the game

The Good
Mech Commander was a lot of fun and a great RTS. This is a strategy game, except most of the strategizing comes prior to gameplay. Purchasing warriors and mechs, arming mechs and conserving funds make for a complex game.

I found that most levels could be solved in various ways, usually one route was easier than another. This game also took terrain into effect which is refreshing. Interesting combo of mechs and standard battle units- loved them minelayers.

I also found that the mech warrior actors did a great job. I was bothered when I lost one and would often replay a level if I sustained casualties.

The Bad
Fog of War- doesn't work in a tech heavy game- sorry.

Linear design- branching levels would have been incredible. Hope MC2 features this.

The Bottom Line
Awesome addition to RTS world. Great Mech game featuring challenging gameplay.