To be fair, about 66% of the time they functioned fine on their own. Then use the "jump" command to move your boys/girls around to keep them out of trouble. Most of the UI and AI issues are partially offset by using nothing but mechs equipped with jumpjets and medium or long range weaponry, and giving them a permanent "hold" command.
It would have been nice to have been able to edit/identify all of the game's keyboard commands from within the game itself.
#MECHCOMMANDER 2 OMNITECH STRATEGY DOWNLOAD#
The missing keys were listed on the game reference card included with the game (and included in this download as a PDF). Oh, one last gripe - the in-game "key bindings" list does not include all the key binds. Finally, the mechs themselves had a tendency to be really dumb sometimes, with long range equipped mechs running towards an enemy unnecessarily, and jumpjet-equipped mechs never using their 'jets without specific orders to do so (no matter how obviously useful they would be). Next, the reviewer found that if he had selected a "repair vehicle" it was sometimes an exercise in frustration to deselect the repair vehicle and re-select a mech during combat, as the selected repair vehicle would often just try to repair the mech I was trying to switch too unless I did it "just so".Īnother issue I found was that the act of left-clicking to select a mech could be a pain, as you had to click the pilot's portrait (or close to it), not just the much larger box the portrait is in. First, there was no "group" shortcuts, which was annoying. Mechanically, the game played well however there were several UI issues that marred gameplay. Indeed, many of the missions become very easy or very hard depending upon what loadouts your mechs carried with them into battle. The ability to customize your own mechs really added a fun element to the game, and the discovery of new weapons systems as the campaign progressed helped the reviewer through the rather unremarkable storyline.
#MECHCOMMANDER 2 OMNITECH STRATEGY GENERATOR#
The "solo" missions included in the game are all campaign missions that the player can replay and, while this is fun for a short time, a random mission generator would have been appreciated. Unfortunately, the missions are linear in nature, and the player is completely unable to affect the plot's outcome. The storyline sometimes feels forced, and actors won't win any Oscars - but both are of acceptable quality.
Naturally, this will be an added bonus for fans of the franchise. It is quite easy for anyone familiar with the tabletop game to ID the mechs used in the game by sight alone, especially the (in)famous Atlas, Mad Cat (aka "Timberwolf"), and Catapult designs. The reviewer has played the Battletech board game, and found that the various "mechs" in the tabletop game transferred very well to the PC. The game's graphics aren't bad by today's standards they still get the job done nicely. Set in FASA's Battletech Universe, the game chronicles the military campaign(s) of a mercenary "MechCommander" on a planet torn apart by civil war. Mechcommander 2 by Microsoft is an intriguing RTS game released by Microsoft in 2001. Designers made a special effort to pay due homage to that impressive history. At the time of the game's release, the BattleTech universe had already existed in the hearts and heads of gamers for over fifteen years. Three factions compete in MechCommander 2: House Steiner, House Davion, and House Liao. The game comes with a sophisticated mission editor, which should allow players to create maps that are as dynamic and complex as the missions included in the game. The game also features customizable Mech pilots that gain experience and carry over from mission to mission. Instead of adding support vehicles to the main squadron, air support and salvage vehicles can be called out in the heat of battle. The "fog of war" has been replaced with a line-of-sight system of reconnaissance and targeting, making unit placement on the new 3D maps an extremely important consideration for offensive and defensive maneuvers. Several enhancements have been made over the original, some relatively minor and some with potentially huge effects on strategy and gameplay. Like the original, MechCommander 2 is a real-time strategy game based in the BattleTech universe of warring factions and giant combative robots.