Mech Brigade is a simulation strategy game from the late eighties. It was both developed and released by what would become some of the most influential people in the video gaming community, Strategic Simulations Incorporated. It was a side scrolling game that also played from the top down perspective. Aside from its value as a DOS computer game, it also saw time on other older systems, such as the Commodore 64 and the Apple II. Along with being a good strategy game, Mech Brigade also offered the more creative or restless gamer a construction set or game editor so the user could create his own scenarios or missions.
Mech Brigade is a tactical simulation game that pits the forces of NATO against the Soviet Union. The game projects into the near future. The events of the game take place in the nineties, a few years following the game’s release. There are four scenarios to choose from, or as mentioned above, the user can create one of his own. Two human players can play at a time, or the computer’s AI can make for lack of human competition. At any rate, the game is turn based, and a single scenario lasts for a total of fifteen turns. The only possible way to lengthen the game is if there is an assault battle in the midst when the game
is preparing to end. In this instance, the game will be extended to twenty turns.
When the game ends, each faction will be awarded a number of victory points based on his performance in the game. These points will determine whether the battle will be considered a draw, a marginal victory, a substantive victory, or a decisive victory.
The units in Mech Brigade are all land units, making this an interesting strategy simulation for land based combat. It is very realistic and offers the user tomes of data to peruse, including combat ratings for almost every weapon of war available to the modern armies of the time. These armies included the United States, England, Russia and Western Germany. There were tanks, missiles, artillery, infantry weapons, and helicopters as the only air support. Combat is so detailed that it is resolved down to individual units, with a single unit sometimes swaying the course of a skirmish.
This is a really awesome game and SSI did justice to their name with the great realistic scenarios involved in Mech Brigade. The ability to make one’s own scenarios is very cool and really adds some depth to the possibilities.
