This was one of the few games that I played with the default controls. Although there aren’t really many controls, since most commands can be handled through the mouse. Shortcuts can be bound to keys for most important tasks though, which I imagine most people will do to streamline their commanding process. The commands don’t have descriptions when you put your mouse on them, which I found odd because nearly every single other option does. Although most of the commands are self explanatory, I think it would be a helpful addition for new players.

Configuring video options were equally easy. Under the options menu all the graphic options were listed and could be turned on and off with the click of the mouse. Resolution and color depth are changed together through a pull down menu. There was no advanced graphic options, at least not that I could find. They seem to be combined with the regular graphic options. There are descriptions for every option, which should help players unfamiliar with some of the settings.

Along with video options and controls, you can set a few game play options. These include difficulty setting, unlimited ammo, and 'left-click/right-click mouse control.' I wasn’t quite sure what left-click/right-click mouse control, but according to the description it’s the opposite of the MC1 mouse control. Also you can change the color of your mechs, this is done by choosing a base color and a stripe color. The base color colors most of the mech, while the stripe color (duh) colors the stripes, which are in various places for various mechs. You can choose between 32 colors, which gives you quite a bit of selection.

Customizing your mechs doesn’t stop there of course. Once you actually play the game, you can add or take away weapons, jump jets, armor and heat sinks in the mechlab. This is done similarly to Mech Warrior 4, although the process has been simplified a bit. Each mech has a certain amount of space, represented by a box that is laid over the mech while in the mechlab. This box in broken into a number of smaller rectangles, and contains all the items the mech has (except sensors and jump jets which have their own special slots). Items are dragged in and out of this box, and each items takes up a certain number of rectangles. Any item can go into any rectangles, assuming there is enough space, and enough money (every item and every mech costs a certain amount of money). There are no ballistic slots, missile slots, laser slots or any of that stuff. If you’re confused, just know that it’s much quicker than the Mech Warrior 4 method, while still providing quite a bit of customization.

Game Play
A game of Mech Commander 2 starts with you first receiving your mission. You then proceed to purchase new mechs or weapons with the money you earned in the previous mission. After you select which mechs you want for the mission, you can customize them or leave them alone. Depending on the mission you will have a certain weight limit, so you can either have lots of small mechs or a few large mechs. Then you can pick which pilot you want to put in each mech. Each pilot has different skill levels and special abilities which improve the more you use that pilot. When pilots have seen enough action, they gain rank, which allows you to pick new skills for them. After you decide who will pilot which mech, you start the mission. Your mechs are dropped off together at the drop zone, and you must accomplish the mission goals without losing your whole squad. One of the cool things about the game is that very rarely is there only one way to do a task. Take, for example, if you run into a set a turrets, you can either destroy the turrets, capture them, or destroy their power source. Depending on the situation, one choice might be easier, but it might not be the best choice, and it’s up to you to decide what to do.