The mech's on-board computer provides feedback ranging from the proximity of friendly and enemy forces to system damage and ammunition depletion to the player, who must carefully manage heat buildup.

The mech's computer attempts to perform an emergency shutdown if heat levels rise too much but the player can override this.

The Clans are the descendants of the Star League Defense Force, most of which was led by their commander Aleksandr Kerensky into the unknown regions of space in an attempt to prevent the warring nations of the Inner Sphere from obliterating each other.

Ulric challenged the Crusaders to uphold his status within the Clan Council and, as a result, maintain the Truce of Tukayyid.

In the conflict, which became known as the Refusal War, the Jade Falcons fight to uphold the Council's judgment of guilt, allowing an immediate resumption of the Invasion against the still-weakened Inner Sphere.

The expansion pack allows players to play as Clan Ghost Bear and gives access to 14 new BattleMechs, some new weapons, twelve new missions and some new environments, such as outer space and underwater.

Maximum lauded the cut scenes, graphics, training section, customizable mechs, music, and sound effects, but concluded by saying: "If you put all this great quality stuff together, it's still hard to explain what it is that really makes MechWarrior 2 strut.

The reviewer complained at the fact that the initial release was single-player only, but noted that an add-on disk for networked multiplayer was due out by the end of the month.

[27][28] The editors of PC Gamer US wrote that "MechWarrior II has everything an action game needs—beautiful graphics; great sound effects; smooth animation, even at high resolution; lots of options; and tons of firepower—all set against the wonderfully rich background of FASA's Battletech universe.

"[28] In the third quarter of 1995, Activision reported up to an hour's wait time to talk to their game counselors, chiefly due to a flood of calls from gamers asking for MechWarrior 2 hints.

The magazine's Steve Bauman wrote: "While subsequent games, whether it's the seemingly thousands of variations Activision released in its wake, or the more recent sequel, feature better graphics and production, this is the still the benchmark.

[34] Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot predicted the game's PlayStation version "will receive decidedly mixed reviews.

For example, GamePro remarked, "The term 'PC port' often makes console gamers wince because many PC titles suffer severely in the switch.

MechWarrior 2 deftly avoids that pitfall, ditching the complexity of the classic PC sim in favor of gripping arcade-style mayhem.

MechWarrior 2 for PlayStation is a faithful recreation of the PC title, although a few modifications were made with the arcade-oriented console owner in mind.

The combat arenas have been condensed to prevent unnecessary wandering around, and a non-campaign mode has been included for some quick, no frills fighting.

"[10] Gerstmann himself, while criticizing the appearance of the exploding mechs and the music, concluded that "For those of you who want a quick-and-dirty combat simulator with a lot of things to shoot, and can get past the uninspired graphics, MW2 fits the bill nicely.

[20][12][36] Sega Saturn Magazine's Matt Yeo remarked, "Fans of the original PC game will find little to gripe about here, the game's much-heralded strategy elements having been retained ..."[12] GamePro stated that aside from "slight differences in graphics and control", the Saturn version is the same as the PlayStation version.

The soundtrack was composed by Gregory Alper and Jeehun Hwang, and was said to create a new standard in video game music when it was released.