While the concept of piloting giant metal killing machines has been popular in the first-person combat genre thanks to the MechWarrior series, the attempt to transfer this concept to the strategy genre in 1998's MechCommander met with limited success. This is surprising, since the original game implementation of this universe was the BattleTech tabletop board game that was the epitome of strategic gaming. Almost exactly three years later, Microsoft has revamped its original mech strategy game in MechCommander 2. Yet, the more things change, the more they stay the same, because while the developers have clearly addressed key flaws in the original, the finished product still suffers from some of the same design drawbacks that plagued MechCommander 2's predecessor. Fortunately, MechCommander 2 also manages to capture enough of the spirit of BattleTech to make it enjoyable in spite of this.

The 3D graphics in MechCommander 2 bring its world to life.

While MechCommander 2 is a real-time strategy game, it often feels a little more like a role-playing game. That's because your ultimate success will depend on the experience and equipment you gain from mission to mission. In true BattleTech style, the game is all about improving your forces with new technology, equipping them with the right mix of weapons, and continuing to improve the skills of your pilots. It's this sense of accumulation and improvement that drives the single-player game forward, and it's also the main obstacle to the game's replay value.

The first MechCommander had some noticeable shortcomings. You couldn't set waypoints, and mechs had a tendency to stand still while engaged in combat. In addition, you couldn't select units without clicking on them, and you couldn't save during missions. Microsoft must have paid attention to the complaints, because these and various other deficiencies have been addressed in the sequel. You can now save your progress during missions. Waypoints can be set separately for walking, running, and jumping movement modes, and mechs engaged in combat dart here and there, generally firing on the run (though with odd exceptions). Units can now also be grouped, and you can select these groups using keystrokes. The waypoints help tremendously, as does the improved artificial intelligence of your pilots. Unfortunately, there are still some problems with maintaining a given distance from an enemy--even with orders to stay at long range, mechs tend to close in so that they can use more weapons. Whereas MechCommander's mechs were a bit too passive, the sequel has nudged them too far in the opposite direction. They'll engage enemies on sight, but this means that if you lose track of a battle, you'll often find some of your pilots wandering across the map, chasing an enemy you hadn't even noticed.

You'll look forward to the cinematic cutscenes between missions.

Otherwise, MechCommander 2 sticks to the same formula present in the original game: a linear campaign driven by excellent cutscenes. The story itself isn't that engaging, but its presentation definitely is. The full-motion video clips are quite entertaining, especially a recurring talk show, which is clearly a spoof of The McLaughlin Group. Some of the acting is outstanding for a computer game, especially that of Rick Deats, who gives an appropriately over-the-top performance as Colonel Renard. The result is one of those rare games, much like Command & Conquer, where you'll actually look forward to seeing the next cutscene.

Sadly, the actual campaign itself is much less interesting. The missions are strictly linear, with fixed objectives and enemies that are triggered by moving your units within sensor range. Objectives are numbered sequentially, and in most cases, this corresponds to a logical order in which they must be completed. This means that you don't even have the option of taking a radically different tactical approach to the battles on subsequent playings of the campaign (although you could try to win with different mech combinations). Some missions are so linear that straying even slightly from the script spells doom, like when you're given exactly enough resource points to salvage certain enemy mechs, which you then use to complete the mission with the help of some additional pilots that magically arrive to aid you. You also get plenty of voice-over advice, which helps to create a nice atmosphere the first time through but limits the replay value subsequently.