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A good improvement to a great game

Customer Rating:
The new millennium saw the advent of the MechCommander series, a real time strategy version of the MechWarrior series of video games (which got its start in the early 1990s), which is based on the Battletech board game that came about in the 1980s, all of which take place in the same story. If you are familiar with any of that, you'll realize that the MechCommander universe is both broad and deep. And if you aren't, there is still enough info that you can have fun playing the game without having all the history dumped on you.

MechCommander Gold is basically MechCommander, but with a few extra features and a few new missions while eliminating some of the game's more annoying aspects. Think of it as the original game with an expansion pack built in.

The game is surprisingly harder than most games, but rather than being so impossible it leads to frustration it challenges the player to try something other than overwhelming the opponent (many missions make that impossible - the player can send no more than 12 units on any given mission against dozens of enemies). Every mission can be completed in more than one way, making sure there is no "golden path" to beating the game. MCG improved over the original in adding a "difficulty" option, which affects how well the player's 'mechs perform but keeps enemy numbers and positions identical.

Most of my complaints about the game are minor. The mission briefing gives you a map of the mission area, but then when the mission begins you have to explore to reveal the map - you no longer can access the briefing map. And when you explore an area, you can always see what is going on in that area, even if you're no longer there (unfair advantage: player). The load screen, while intuitive, could have been more informative (a bar shows you how full your battlemech's payload is, but a "current load/maximum load" readout would be incredibly helpful). Thankfully, this game fixed a few of my complaints from the original, like adding a "conserve ammunition" option (so you don't waste one of your 10 shots from the 20-ton autocannon shooting down a tree when a shot from your infinite-ammunition laser will do the trick).

Small things aside, this game is one of my all-time favorites. It's challenging, fun, and has a decent replay value.

Old but still very fun

Customer Rating:
This game really causes you to think and to manage your mech capabilities into teams that compliment each other. For example, having a faster, lighter mech squad that can intercept and stall the enemy long enough to have your slower and heavier mechs to show up and beat them down.

I enjoy the tactical aspects and each mission feels like it goes really fast. I recommend this game for all who want to sit back and watch their mech squads beat on the enemy while they enjoy a cookie or two.

Mech Commander Rocks !!!

Customer Rating:
Mech Commander Gold is an EXCELLENT game !!! , its one of the Bests of my collection , i never played the original so i dont know about it but this is It, my only complain is that it has not many missions ,only 42 ,including both planets where the fight is on, but this could be partly remedied by the included Mission editor , and also using it multiplayer is so much fun.
I recommend it ,and don't care about the difficulty you can Do the missions in many different ways, Play it.

Hasbeen strikes again!

Customer Rating:
They really should've stayed with board games. Their programmers all got straight A's (in retentive).

The hardest game you'll ever love

Customer Rating:
Oh, how I love this game, one of the most underrated RTS games I've played. Underrated because the original version of the game had major problems, and because the second game in the series seals the series' doom (it isn't very good).

I haven't played the original MechCommander (non-Gold) game. Apparently, complaints were aimed mostly at the interface and the fact that it was too hard, and there were no artillery strikes. As artillery strikes are my favorite single aspect of the game, I would recommend that you avoid the original and only get MechCommander Gold, but be warned: This is a hard game! Winnable, but hard. One reason is that there is no in-game saveability. Like the original Rainbow Six game, you play through from one scenario to the next with no way to save mid-game. However, there are some strategic tools you can use that most games don't afford. One is pausing the game. You can view different parts of the map, issue commands to 'Mechs and even send artillery strikes, all while the game is paused. You'll need to use this. Another strategic ace is the refit truck. If you have a refit truck available and it's a hard level, you'll do fine. The ability to restore damaged 'Mechs in-game with a refit truck is as close to cheating as you can get.

Some of the highpoints of the game:
Strategy. There is actual thought and timing required to win, whether it's scouting with a light, jump-able 'Mech with long range radar or just rolling through en masse, or burning your way through a forest to avoid bad guys. This is pure combat, no resource gathering and such like most RTS games where the economics are far more important in determining the winner than military might. Don't get me wrong, I love the economic side of RTS games, but MechCommander is a nice departure from that. Also, the look of the game is terrific. It's nice to look at. This game is two-dimensional with an isometric view. The second MechCommander is three-dimensional and looks like crud. Rise of Nations, while it has some three-dimensional elements, is two-dimesional and isometric. Please let that be the trend. Even Warcraft III, while three-dimensional, keeps a steady, non-rotating view of the landscape. This is the correct way to do it. The sound is pretty good, although you do get tired of hearing the same messages of acknowledgement and the fact that the MechWarriors have something on their radar. You kind of get used to it and ignore it. At least the voices are all different so you can usually distinguish who's talking.

It's a blast to customize the mechs with whatever weapons you find, and even better to salvage enemy mechs, which always have a slight advantage in firepower and speed. There's nothing quite like mousing over a storage bin and seeing the context-sensitive cursor change into a pair of pliers (or whatever they are, indicating that there's something to get in there).

Oh, and jump-jets are just plain cool! Man, I love this game! Plus, the cinematics at the beginning feature the same guy who starred in a fairly recent snowmobile commercial featuring the automatic jerky-extruder. The acting on both occasions is hilarious. A little bonus tidbit of trivia there.