User Reviews (1 - 11 of 21)

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I think about this game, when I'm playing other games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 18
Date: September 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is gaming perfection. This game is solid, it plays perfectly over a LAN, over the Net, and if you have 56K it plays GREAT! So if you're unsure of getting it because you feel you need a high speed connection to get good gameplay, that's not the case with this game.

The AI in the game is great. When you play against the computer you can pick what level of difficulty you want based on the AI player. Some are relatively easy and help you to get your feet wet, where as other AI is just down right ruthless.

This game is all about strategy, it is simple in its design, but it's complex in its application of said strategy. You would be surprised how indepth a game like this gets with only 18 units. I've played games that have lasted up to 2 hours, where as others have lasted 15 to 20 minutes.

The Game comes with a Level editor so you can make your own levels and have people play them with you. And Visa Versa you can play maps other people have created.

I don't care how old you are moonbase Commander is a game for you. Buy Moonbase Commander. And then have your friends buy Moonbase Commmander.

...not just a game. A way of Life

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: August 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

When games are reaching a level of banal uninspired sameness, it's refreshing to see such a unique concept put into a game. What's surprising about this game though, is that the concept actually works.

For everyone who finds strategy games appealing, yet cannot get over the problems of resource management and unit creation, for one, this game is for you. True, elements of resource management and proper unit construction are present, yet they are improved upon in multiple ways. Firstly, the concept of a tech tree is eliminated, allowing for more flexible strategies in a combat situation. Secondly, Energy management is not usually a problem. All you have to do is place one or two energy units on an energy pool and you're set for the game.

The real treat, however, is how much this game focuses on tactical combat. Instead of throwing hundreds of basic, AI controlled units at each other, resulting in little more than blood and pain, Moonbase Commander relies on strategic combat and well managed unit placement to obtain victory. The many new features, including the elimination of free-moving attack units and the ability to spawn multiple bases, make you rely on your ingenuity to survive. It is especially satisfying when you are being pummeled by two combat centers near your central hub, but due to a well placed ancillary hub in the beginning of the game, are successfully able to slip a missile in from behind their base destroying their central hub. The explosions across the map are just rewards for superior strategic effort.

On the whole, Moonbase Commander is the quintissential strategy game for all ages. Great for a child with his first computer, or for dominating all your friends at LAN parties. Basically, what I believe I am trying to say is: buy this game or your life is forfeit.

What a find!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: May 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I won't go into detail about gameplay. Others have done a fine job already. I would just like to say this is [great] for the money. The strategy, the graphics, the replay factor. This is an awesome game and a very well kept secret!

Great game but.....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: September 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I agree with what the other reviewers have said. The graphics are great. The simplicity of the game does not interfere with the strategic element of the game. For me, I like the turn-based aspect of the game. There are usually too many distractions when I game that hurt me in real-time games. I also love the replay theatre. It can be very satisfying to relive the final defeat of your enemies.

The only thing that kept me from giving it a 5 star rating was that lack of any save game function. Once you start a scenario, you have to play it through.

If you can deal with that, you won't regret the purchase.

great for gamers, kids, and adults alike

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: October 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

For twenty bucks it's hard to find a game with any real depth or replayability. Yet this game has both and more. The basic idea is simple: expand your base, and blow up the other guys. The genius of this game is how a simple set of weapons and buildings (18 in total) allows an incredible range of strategies and counter-strategies.

For parents concerned about violence, there's nothing to worry about here. The "buildings" are colorful and anonymous -- there's no indication of any harm being done to people. While there are weapons, e.g. missiles and bombs, these appear more cartoon-like than realistic (yet the graphics are great just the same).

Gameplay hearkens back to classic games like Scorched Earth and Worms -- you simply point your launcher in the direction you want to fire and hold down "Launch" to determine how far to shoot. Besides selecting power and direction correctly, no speedy reactions are required for this game (although quick thinking is).

At a time when most games cost alot or more, this game is a great value with broad appeal.

Chess becomes an Arcade Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: January 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Everytime I think I'm starting to understand the subtle strategies of this stinkin' game, along comes someone to put me back in my place!
God I love this game...!

This is one of the very few games I've seen ( and I've been wargaming on cpus since I bought a TRS-80 many moons back ) that combines such cunning maneuvers and subtle nuances of play with well-timed ( don't shoot too far or too close! ) accuracy. And then there's the fog of war, and the wind...!
So you take a shot at the enemy. He puts up anti-air. You fire a cheap dumb bomb to keep his a.a. busy. So he makes a second a.a. unit. So you fire another dumb bomb to keep the 2nd a.a. busy...only to find his first a.a. is back online!
So you send a crawler his way, shooting it into place just short of his a.a.
So he hits your crawler with a reclaimer unit and gets energy indirectly from you!
Suddenly you realize you're outta reserve energy for the round...but he has lots of reserve energy still left...
So he hits you with a virus-bomb, then a spike bomb, and then...and then...all goes black...YOU LOSE!!!
Talk about a love-hate relationship!! Man, the guy who
invented this demonic sado-mashictic work of art must be one
piece of work: probably some kind of Doctor Strangelove fan lol...
So please, BUY THIS GAME! GO TO GAMESPY AND DOWNLOAD the 1.1 PATCH and JOIN US...we need more fresh blood to take out our frustrations on...okay? Please? I can't beat anyone WAUUUGHHH!!!

Brilliant Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: March 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is brilliant. A finely balanced set of units/weapons, terrain editor, team or free-for-all multiplayer games, clean (though simple) graphics, good sound, and IMMENSE depth of gameplay. We've been playing this multiplayer for almost a year now, and we're still not bored. Most games last around 30 minutes, with occasional hour-and-a-half games and the very sporadic 2-hour-or-more game. As a hardcore Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and Master of Orion 2 player, I'm not raving about this out of lack of experience with this type of game. It's just a solid game design. My gripe is that you can't save games and restart later. After a marathon 2 1/2 hour game on a huge map, we had to call it quits because it was 3 in the morning!

It's like the "Checkers" of RTS games.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: January 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game has a certain brilliance in it's simplicity that makes it stand out among all the RTS games I've played. It's kind of like the board game "Checkers". The rules are easy to learn, but you can really stretch your mind coming up with various strategies to defeat your opponent. I think of Moonbase Commander as a glorified electronic board game. It can be addictive, and it doesn't set you back a lot of money.

I would have given this game a higher rating if I was able to save a game in progress. It baffles me why this functionality was left out. That's an unforgivable oversight in my book.

However, if you're tired of all the expensive, realistic, intense, and resource-hungry games out there, and you want to try a game that's inexpensive, abstract, and relaxing, this might just be your ticket to gaming fun. Don't be surprised if you sit down for "just one game" some evening and look at the clock only to find that it's 2:00am and several hours have gone by.

Simple, yet fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 13
Date: August 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I am a hardcore gamer. Warcraft 3, Neverwinter Nights, and Freedom force clutter up my desktop. I literaly need 2 mountain dews a day to survive. SO HOW COME A GAME FROM THE SAME PEOPLE WHO MAKE "Backyard Sports" and "Freddie the fish" IS TAKING UP SO MUCH OF MY TIME!?!?! Very simple, very easy, VERY fun.

Superb "Computer-enabled boardgame"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

All right: Moonbase Commander is sort of a cross between Scorched Earth and, say, Command and Conquer, with a touch of a golf sim's reflex and risk factors thrown into the shots. It sounds like a simple combination, and a lot of reviewers treated this game as an offshoot of established "strategy" wargame genres. It's not.

MBC, to me, is essentially a boardgame - one that could never exist outside a computer. The units in the game are tied to "realistic" concepts for ease of use: bombs, force fields, buildings...However, their behavior and interactions with each other are highly abstract and tremendously deep. The nature of an opponent's defenses and attacks is intuitively clear. The trick lies in figuring out the weak point. The simple, abstract design and the purity of the mental contest feels somewhat like chess, but even more like the Oriental game of Go, with its focus on group strength, territory, connections, and "vital points."

In any case, like a boardgame, the single player's nothing but a training ground. The multiplayer, however, has devoured WEEKS of my and my buddies' lives. 6 months after I bought it, we haven't stopped playing. In 10 years of gaming, this is the only one that has kept me up until sunrise. If you have a friend to play against, there is absolutely no better bargain in the world.

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