Gamestock: MechCommander 2

One of the many games being shown off at Microsoft's headquarters was the sequel to 1998's MechCommander, a 2D real-time tactical game situated in the BattleTech universe. At first sight, MechCommander 2 looks a lot like its predecessor, but on closer inspection, it becomes easy to see that the two games are markedly different.

In developing the sequel, the programmers at Microsoft designed a brand-new 3D terrain and unit engine for MechCommander 2. The 3D engine and camera system seem to be extremely robust, and players can rotate their views 360 degrees, pan sideways, and zoom in and out at will, giving them a better vantage points to survey their surroundings and find enemy units and bases. Dynamic lighting causes shadows to stretch away from moving light sources in a spectacular effect that resembles Nox's line of sight system. The units themselves are also completely modeled in 3D, and they sport an impressive amount of polygons, detailed textures, and fluid animation.

Aesthetics aren't the only improvements in MechCommander 2. Mitch Gitelman, the game's program manager, told us that his team learned a lot from players' responses after the release of the first game. One of the biggest concerns among gamers was the fact that MecCommander forced players to complete each mission by trial and error. That is, the game punished you for making judgement mistakes each and every time. According to Gitelman, Microsoft is getting around this problem by letting players call in reinforcements midmission. With the press of a button, a VTOL carrier can bring supplies and repairs anywhere on the battlefield, which means you can repair your Mechs after a skirmish with enemies, and you won't have to attempt to finish the mission while you are heavily damaged, as in the first MechCommander. Another addition to MechCommander 2's gameplay is the ability for players to recover destroyed enemy Mechs from the field and make them their own. If a member of the opposition overheats or gets damaged enough to force the pilot to eject, players can call in the same VTOL carrier to repair the enemy Mech and outfit it with one of their own pilots.

An experience-point system has also been built into MechCommander 2, and as your Mechs rack up more experience, they'll gain specialty skills like improved line of sight, faster speed, and so on.

MechCommander 2's plot, while still in the early stages, puts players in the shoes of a mercenary commander who takes on contracts from three different royal houses. There will be between 25 and 30 single-player missions in all, as well a number of multiplayer maps and options. Unfortunately, we won't be able to play the game this year, as Microsoft has already stated that MechCommander is a Q1 2001 release at the earliest. Gitelman did say that the game will be shown at E3, so we'll get a chance to better gauge its progress from the show floor this May. Stay tuned.