Sure, nothing Microsoft delivers is going to be ground-breaking stuff. They have a pretty conservative approach, but within the well-established game genres they have brought us some fine entertainment. Consider the Age of Empires series, Combat Flight Simulator series, Close Combat ... they haven't always got on at the ground floor, but they generally know how to back a winner.

MechCommander 2 is the sequel to 1998's MechCommander, a tactical real-time strategy game set in the BattleTech Universe. MechCommander was published under the Microprose label. Microprose became part of French software giant Infrogrames, via their acquisition of Hasbro Interactive, and Microsoft snapped up the BattleTech Universe license off them in the process.

It needs to be said from the outset that MechCommander 2 (MC2) is a very fine game. But it also needs to be said that unless you have a computer that looks something like a BattleMech itself, you might find that the game delivers you just enough to get you hooked before your PC buckles under the pressure, leaving you with nothing to do but tear your hair out. More on that later, but for now be warned that this game is a total resource hog. Ignore the 'minimum specs' nonsense about running it on a 266mhz computer. That claim is practically criminal. Harsher critics would have knocked half a point or more off the review score as punishment. We decided in the end that with so much to like about this game it would be fairer to leave the score intact, but put this warning up front.

So with that out of the way, on to the game itself.

MC2 is set in the BattleTech Universe. This is one of the bigger sci-fi gaming properties, probably similar in its level of following to something like Warhammer.

In a nutshell, BattleTech is set in the next millenium and features various armies fighting across planets with a variety of weapons. The biggest and best ground-based weapons are the BattleMechs. BattleMechs (or just 'mechs') are huge armoured vehicles, piloted by a human, which are basically designed to be massive all-terrain weapons platforms. They generally either look like big robots or the Imperial AT-ST scout walkers from the Star Wars movies.

The BattleTech Universe first spawned the MechWarrior computer game, now into its 4th sequel, in which you actually pilot a mech in something like a cross between a first person shooter and a flight sim. MechCommander and MC2 are the real-time strategy version, where you control and give orders to a whole squad.

It's not a real-time strategy game that involves battlefield resource management or base building though. This is the sort of 'tactical' RTS where you command a more or less set group of units in each mission and have to complete your goals with what you've got. Think Ground Control and you'd have a reasonable comparison. But what makes MC2 so good, is that while there is no battlefield resource harvesting or base building, genuine strategic depth is brought to the game through between-mission resource management, pilot development, and the use of in-game support units.

In MC2, you play the role of commander of a mercenary force of mech pilots. You start out with a a number of fairly inexperienced pilots with average skills, and a few basic mechs.

The campaign storyline revolves around the struggle between 3 noble Houses for control of the planet Carver V. You start out working for House Steiner, but, being a mercenary, needless to say your loyalties tend to follow the cash. The House that you are working for will pay you to complete various mission goals. How you complete those goals is more or less up to you, and how you spend the money you earn will be a major factor in your ongoing success.

Before each mission you will need to decide which mechs from your army's hangar, and which pilots from your roster will best be able to complete the goals, within the total weight limit for the squad that you are allowed to take with you. For example the heaviest mechs are around 100 tons, while the lightest are about 30 tons. If you have a weight limit of 180 tons for the mission you have some decisions to make.

But it's not about weight alone. You also have the opportunity to buy and sell mechs. The range available will depend on which House you are currently working for. Once you have selected the right platforms for the job, balancing speed, armour, and jump-jet features, you can then customise the weapon load-out. There are a large number of weapons available, and this range grows throughout the campaign as new technology is captured from enemy weapons facilties. Weapons can and should be chopped and changed around. The default load-out is not always the best for any given class of mech. You may need a long-range specialist, a short-range specialist, fire-support, or whatever depending on the mission and the opponents you expect to face. Not all weapons can be mounted on all mechs - bigger mechs can take bigger weapons. Plus there are heat considerations - weapons generate heat, and mechs can only take so much heat before they would cease functioning.

Designing your perfect weapon load-out for your favourite mechs is one of the genuinely addictive elements of this game. Matching up your perfect mech to an ace pilot who you have nutured to be the mech's perfect match, is even better.