BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge is a real-time tactics game based in the FASA BattleTech universe. It is a direct sequel to BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception, though the gameplay is considerably different from that of the first title, which was primarily an adventure/role-playing game. Developed by Westwood Associates for Mediagenic, and produced by Scott Berfield, the game serves as a prototype for what later became Dune II, the first real-time strategy title on the PC.

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge uses a proto-real-time strategy engine[clarification needed] that allows players to pause the game every time orders are issued to a unit. Players can also speed up or slow down time, allowing them to play the game at any desired pace. The combat is modeled modestly well after classic BattleTech rules, much more so than the later MechCommander, making The Crescent Hawks' Revenge one of the few BattleTech games to closely follow the rule set of the board game.

The main part of the game is a linear campaign of missions, where the player is presented with a tactical battle that can last anywhere from 5 to 50 minutes. The first mission involves a simple battle between a Jenner 'Mech and a Locust 'Mech, serving as a tutorial and story kick-off. Later missions give the player control of four 'Mechs in their "command lance" and two additional lances.

The 'Mechs in the command lance can be controlled individually or given orders together as a lance, while 'Mechs in the two other lances are controlled by issuing orders to the entire lance only. This is another major strategy milestone, as The Crescent Hawks' Revenge had the concept of allowing the player to control both individual units and groups of units using the same control scheme.

The campaign is noted for its variety, where the player is tasked with objectives ranging from defending a crashed dropship, to stalling enemy units for a set amount of time, to protecting a convoy that is attempting to load up with ammunition. Campaign missions sometimes have multiple endings, and the outcome of a battle can influence the following missions.

However, the campaign is also noted as being very difficult, with some early campaign choices making subsequent missions much harder without the player realizing it. While the game attempts to present the player with multiple ways to complete some missions, the methods often vary wildly in difficulty, and the player would not know this until after trying all options.