Before each match, you choose which model of MEK to take into battle. Each MEK has its stronger and weaker points, and each has unique and powerful weapons and defenses. All MEKs have a few things in common, however.

The two control sticks move your MEK through the arena. Your MEK hovers above the ground, so you may slide left and right as well as forward and back. By pushing one stick forward or back, you travel in a curve. By pushing one stick forward and one stick back, you will spin in place. Pushing the stick a small distance causes a small acceleration; a harder push makes you move faster. Skillful pilots use the control sticks to produce a wide variety of maneuvers.

The right trigger fires your long-range plasma cannon. The glowing hot plasma does heavy damage to MEKs and arena structures. Your plasma shot automatically curves to track the player registered in your lockon cursor. You may fire your plasma cannon with no limitation.

The left trigger fires your two short-range blasters. Your blasters fire rapidly, but do not travel far before gouging into the ground. An individual blaster hit does light damage, but their cumulative effect is deadly. You may fire your blasters with no limitation.

The right thumb fires your MEK's special weapon. To fire a special weapon, you must have at least one offense powerup (shown on the right side of the control panel). To get more offense powerups, go through the blue light beaming down from underneath the floating reload platforms. Each MEK has a different special weapon.

Holding down the left thumb activates your MEK's defensive system. The defense varies from MEK to MEK, but all have the same basic effect: your MEK is impervious to weapons. Your defensive charge is measured on the left side of the control panel. When this charge runs out, your defense will no longer work. When your defense is not active, the charge slowly builds up. Use this sparingly when in crossfire or when being attacked from behind. As an added benefit, while your defense is active you can turn faster than usual. However, as long as your defense is active, your conventional weapons will not work--your MEK's power is being diverted toward saving your butt.

Your MEK has several systems to help you track your opponents. When another MEK is near your sights, your weapon systems automatically lock on to that player--a secondary target bracket follows that MEK. When locked on, information about that MEK appears near your central target sight: the player's name (written in that player's color), and the point value of that player (see scoring tips below). The darker the color of your opponent's name, the less shield power that MEK has. Your plasma cannon and some special weapons will automatically home in on whoever you have locked onto.

Your radar, in the center of your control panel, is a top down view with yourself in the center. The large colored dots represent your opponents of the matching color. Dots at the top of the circle represent MEKs in front of you; dots in the right part of the circle are MEKs to your right, and so on. These dots are not fully accurate and may jump around as your opponents' MEKs resist your detection. MEKs with high defense ratings are more difficult to track on your radar. The LurkerMEK is nearly impossible to pin down!

The bar at the top of the screen represents your remaining shield power. If your shields are gone and your MEK suffers additional damage, your MEK explodes impressively. You lose precious seconds and points before you re-enter the battle in a new MEK--and in fights to the death against arena bosses, you may lose your last hope of survival!

The small screen in the right part of the control panel shows the current rankings of all players in the match, sorted by the points they have earned.

The small screen in the left part of the control panel shows your current score and the time remaining in the match.