They say the mech isn't a gimmick but it really is.

Wing Commander countered the "jousting" problem with the introduction of the Arrow and ships that "slide"; separating turn from flight direction and allowing ships more flexible strike options. And there are a lot of things they could have done besides "sliding"--they could have gone the Babylon 5 way.

But they chose a mech.

Now, if other parts of the game required the mech concept then that wouldn't be so bad, but why a mech in space? The gameplay change that mode introduces could have been handled other ways that would make more sense.