Mechanical Commando - Flash-Based Action Shooter

Mechanical Commando is a Flash animation action shooter created by Newgrounds.com crew BerzerkStudio and sponsored by Kongregate. More specifically, visuals were done by El Gros, and programming was done by Lachhh. All music was credited to music obtained from shockwave-sound.com. Song titles and authors include: 6th Gear by Dougboss, A Diplomatic Crisis by Bjorn A. Lynne, Slam Dunk by Bjorn Lynne, Heroes Might by Pierre Gerwiglanger, Sciophobia also by Pierre Gerwiglanger, and Alice's Worst Dream by Nery Bauer. Special thanks for the project were given to Chris Hughes and the team at FlashGameLicense.com. This shoot-and-run adventure was submitted to Newgrounds.com on Christmas Eve, 2008, and received a Daily 2nd Place award on Christmas Day, 2008. A sequel, Mechanical Commando 2, was submitted to Newgrounds.com on February 4, 2010, and also won its own set of awards.

Game Background

You are in control of a mechanical combat suit and are sent on a series of missions that will take you through the enemy's territory.

Gameplay

The objective of each stage in Mechanical Commando differs and will be spelled out to you by your commanding officer, who appears in a video cast at the bottom-left hand side of the screen. He will relay messages and mission objectives to you as the game progresses. In fact, even within a stage, you may get a series of messages letting you know what you need to accomplish next in order to advance to the next stage.

To control you mechanical warrior, use either the arrow keys on your keyboard or the WASD keys. Use your mouse to aim your weapon, and fire your weapon by clicking the left mouse button.

At your disposal is a number of weapons that can be used against the enemy. Weapons available to users playing on the Newgrounds.com site include: rocket launcher, mortar, and homing missile, as well as the basic machine gun. For players playing on the Kongregate.com site, available weapons include: the basic machine gun, rocket launcher, mortar, flamethrower, homing missile, and the distinguished golden commando status that turns your mechanical warrior gold, with appropriate weapon upgrades to boot.

At the top left hand corner of the screen, you can view the percentage of the enemy that you have killed in that stage. Below this, you can view the type of weapons that you have picked up and that are available to you for use. You can also view the status of your armor, with 0 meaning you have absolutely no armor to speak of. Throughout the game, not only will you be able to pick up weapons for use, but you may also see health drops that can be used to increase your armor. But, of course, avoid bullets to avoid taking damage in the first place.

At the end of each stage, you will be accessed based on how long it took you to complete the stage, the percentage of the enemies that you were able to kill, and the damage taken.

Game Review

Mechanical Commando is a fun game if you like to run and gun. The game does get rather repetitive, but there some story plot that acts as a backbone for the game that can reduce the repetitiveness. What is interesting about this game is the different battle modes that the game switches between. For instance, at some points in the game, the camera will zoom out to give you a wider view of the landscape, in which you are enclosed and must defeat all enemies before continuing. This gameplay style adds a little more flavor to the game.

Overall, Mechanical Commando scores a 7/10 for a good level of entertainment value.