Customer Reviews
Old but still very fun 
2007-05-20
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 !!! 2006-03-11
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! 
2005-01-05
They really should've stayed with board games. Their programmers all got straight A's (in retentive).
The hardest game you'll ever love 
2004-09-15
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.
My Thoughts 2004-01-19
even though this game will never quite be able to grab the top spot of my favorive RTS game it comes very close on many levels.
Now I like Red Altert and Red Alert 2 more than I like this game but thats not to say that this game is bad, you have to get up preety early in the mroning to get the drop on those 2.
In fact Mechcommander: Gold should be perfect for those people who don't want to waste time building up a strongly fortified base and just want to go doestory stuff.
(With glourious Special Effects and great sound)
That may not be my style but I can relate and if this game sounds like something you might even be remotly interested in I would highly recommend it.
very fast dilivery 2003-09-11
Giant walking tanks return to the battlefield in this award-winning real-time strategy masterpiece. MechCommander Gold lets you take command of up to 12 MechWarriors in the heat of battle. Issue real-time tactical commands as you designate the target, attack range, and movement orders. With new controls and difficulty settings, MechCommander Gold will let you know what it means to command.
Mech Commander and Me 2003-01-05
Mech Commander Gold is a fun game offline and even better online with my homies over on the zone
Mech Mech Mech, where is the Mech? 2000-11-11
For me, MechCommander Gold is pretty good. I really like the sound effects (Autocannons, lasers etc.) and the way the soundtrack reacts to whatever you're mechs are doing is really good. Some of the components, like the Rail Gun and ER laser and Large-X Laser are pretty cool. Some weapons are damn good, like PPC and Gauss Rifle. The interface for buying and repairing and the `mech bay are pretty sucky. The campaign editor is damn hard to use, and the units you use for putting stuff on the screen and the little map are damn annoying. The salvage option is pretty cool. but sometimes, when you blow off a `mechleg, arm and most of the body id green and doesn't explode, you DON'T GET THE ... MECH AS SALVAGE. The campains are really good, especially the Cermak one. I would have put the rate at three and a half. But o the little drop-down tab where you selct the rate? It only offers full stars, not half stars. Most of the buildings are cool and the `mechs are beatifully animated for such small figures. They named some of the `mechs' names wrong. "Thor" should be "Summoner", "Vulture" should be "Mad Dog", "Masakari" should be "Warhawk". And I'm probably forgetting a few. There should be a Clan campaign.
Why ... does it take up so much memory? I don't know if it's better than the original because I haven't played the original. Only buy this game if you really like Battletech(Which I do) Or if you ... want some good squad action. But it's pretty good.
In the eye of the beholder 2000-08-24
I love this game. It has a mission editor and believe it is far richer than Mech Commander, since it allows you to create new scenarios. But I must tell you, I am in the minority as far as Mech Commander players go. In a way they are right. With the mission editor hackers are able to gain access far more easily and create invincible mechs and reak all kinds of havoc. The main problem is the creators never addressed the bugs in the game; they went straight into production of MechCommander 2 which to me is a sin. I guess the only Gold in MCgold is in their pockets. If these people cared at all for their audience they would have addressed some of the problems in gold. (And they should do so in the future!) They should make some sort of patch which makes any hacking impossible, at least to those who have the patch, and should have dealt with the jump cheat as well. You see many people who play Mech Commander play it in leagues, just as other people play pool, darts, bowl, etc. It is imperitive cheating is something which can be caught easily or it destroys the fun for those people whose free time revolves around these games. All said and done with more people are laying Mech Commander than Gold, simply because it is harder to cheat. I prefer this game though, only wishing the creators had dealt with the bugs instead of just leaving it there for us, imperfect, with all its flaws, and not dealing with them.
I've played the original... 2000-05-04
...and it totally kicks a**, however the game play can be very difficult and take a while to get through. That's not neccessarily a bad thing though, too many times these days games can be beaten in a weeks times. So it's nice to have a game I can keep returning to and continue my challenge. If the 'Gold' is the same as the original only better than you'll be pleased with it for sure. I play on a 450hz AMD-K2 ProStar laptop w/ only 4mb of video power and the graphics are still awesome.
