Battlezone places you in the midst of the cold war--as it's being fought in outer space. Play either the Soviet or American side; command and create over 30 units, such as antigravity tanks, walkers, guntowers, barracks, and recyclers--all while fighting from inside your own vehicle in single-player or multiplayer skirmishes. Yep, anyone who picks up this Battlezone expecting a graphics-heavy retread of the original will be in for a big surprise - but luckily it'll be an extremely pleasant one. Simply put, Battlezone is one of the best strategy games I've wrapped my brain and trigger finger around in a long, long time.
And I've got three words for anyone who does complain that Activision stuck the Battlezone name on this product just to boost sales: get over it.
Hell, I wouldn't care if they'd somehow managed to call it Super Mario's Metal Mayhem if it meant more people would be tempted to check it out.
Battlezone has the look and feel of a futuristic shooter, but it's actually set in the late s and early s. Seems that a meteor shower a decade earlier left behind some other-worldly stuff called "bio-metal" - the product of an alien technology that can not only be used to craft weapons of incredible power and durability, but which also seems to be sentient.
Now that would have made a decent Pet Rock! Uncle Sam wants to use the bio-metal to bring the Cold War to an end, but - you guessed it - the Soviets found out about the bio-metal and are just as desperate as you to get their Commie hands on it first.
The quest for the miracle metal leads both nations into space to track down the mother lode - and hopefully uncover any other alien leftovers that could lead to ultimate victory.
Beginning on the Earth's moon, the Americans and Russkies start to unravel the mysteries behind the bio-metal, leading to a race that takes them from Earth's closest planetary neighbors to the harsh worlds of Jupiter's moons Io and Titan - and to the realization that they must unite to defeat a force greater than both of them.
It's a pretty good setup, if for no other reason than it means you get to enjoy seven types of terrain, each with its own distinct look and particular obstacles and hazards. And the narration between missions gives the whole affair a decidedly personal touch though it does get a bit too melodramatic now and then. But what really makes Battlezone so special is the way it blends the adrenaline rush of first-person action games with the strategy and resource management of Red Alert or one of its imitators.
Sure, you'll see plenty of combat from the cockpit of your tank, but personal victories mean little or nothing in the grand scheme of things. At the same time that you're on the lookout for roving Russians, you must launch an extensive construction program, starting by guiding your Recycler to a geyser where it can draw power. The Recycler converts scrap metal collected by Scavengers that's used to build everything from tanks and turrets to factories, armories, and power plants.
Once you've manufactured offensive and defensive weapons, they fall under your command: Although the game's AI means they'll always attack nearby enemies, you'll need to give them specific assignments to maximize their firepower and range. It's been said that you eat with your eyes, and if that cliche holds true for games then Battlezone is a tempting treat indeed. Direct3D support makes for some of the best outdoor terrain and detailed vehicles I've seen in a game, and it's topped off with special effects such as fiery explosions, missile trails, thick clouds of haze, lightning bolts, and other visual goodies.
This stuff isn't just eye candy, either; it all works together to create an intensely immersive experience. There are a few graphical glitches - white dots where textures weren't connected and a rapidly jerking plasma rifle are notable examples - but they were so few and far between I hardly gave them a second thought.
Not counting the tutorials, the single-player game includes 27 missions - 17 played from the US side and eight as the Soviets. Figuring that most gamers will want to saddle up as the good guys, the American missions progress so that you're given more to do as you get acquainted with the game; the Russian missions are supposedly aimed at "experienced" commanders, but by the time you've played four or five US missions you should be able to handle at least some of the Soviet outings.
There are a couple of cupcake missions, but they're compensated for by the inclusion of some real bears. The charm of the mission design, though, is that there's rarely a single "right" way to do things: Several options are open to you, giving you the chance to choose the one that best suits your skills and style of play.
And should you tire of the single-player missions, Battlezone's got some extremely intense multiplayer options to keep the good feeling going even longer. The strategy mode which gives you the same type of control as in the single-player game provides a distinct experience each time out because there are so many approaches each opponent can take.
I really didn't expect deathmatch to be as appealing - after all, you just run around and grab power-ups and kill everyone else - but after just a few matches I found myself enjoying it more than I'd thought possible. There's even a map editor to create your own multiplayer arenas. There are two snags: Latency and the fact that you can start games before all players have joined which gives the early bird a definite advantage in strategy mode.
Some players on Activision's Battlezone server appeared to be completely oblivious to the concept of high latency, resulting in dropped packets which means vital stuff like missile hits might not be transmitted , so if you do play on the server, you probably should start a game and only allow players with latencies below ms to join.
Battlezone is dotted with a few minor blemishes. Perhaps most noticeable is that the AI for friendly units can be a little dicey: Scavengers will sometimes stop their task and park outside Recyclers, for instance, and some offensive units aren't smart enough to follow a Recycler you're relocating if you told them to defend it while it was stationary.
There's no way to order a scout or tank to follow a scavenger, tug, or transport unless the unit to be escorted is within your targeting range; there should be a way to assign an escort to any unit regardless of its location. So how critical are these problems? I'll put it like this: Ninety percent of the reason I mentioned them is because that's my job, not because they bothered me much when I was playing.
And I'm not saying that as a sop to Activision, or anyone else for that matter; I'm saying it because it's the truth. Listen, I see games every day; it's what I do for a living. When I load one up and start raving about it to all my friends after a few hours of play, I know I've got the real deal on my hands - and that's just what Battlezone is.
This might be the most perfect blend of two gaming genres since All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
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Battlezone - PC. Platform : Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows Rated: Everyone. Would you like to tell us about a lower price? Customer reviews. How customer reviews and ratings work Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
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There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Verified Purchase. My 9-year old son says: "The missions are challenging, unlike most computer games.
The game itself is really cool with the special effects. Don't forget to check out the original Atari "Battlezone" game that is also available on the Internet in emulation! I first played this game in , a few years after it came out. Since then, I have played countless newer, more advanced and supposedly "better" games. I can say without a doubt, this is the best video game I have ever played, and my favorite of all time. If you're looking for a game to get into because you've become bored with newer, modern games that suck up your system resources and have such simplistic objectives that it takes practically no brain power to get through them, buy this game.
Within the first hour of playing it, you will be hooked, and you will understand what we Battlezone fans mean when we say it's the best game we have ever played. This game is as close to perfect as one can get. I played Battlezone II first and it became one of my favorite games.
The origianl Battlezone doesn't have as good graphics but still offers great gaming. I was never a fan of the top down view of other strategy games so getting into the cockpit of one of the tanks and issueing orders on the fly can leed to some intense gameplay. One person found this helpful. The copy I received was from a video card kit and could not be made compatable on my computer. Explicly prohibited. Never could get this game to play on my windows 7 laptop.
After dowloading fixes and patches and changing registry entries,still never worked. Money wasted Won't run on windows computer. No idea why. I purchased this game more than a decade ago and it's still on my PC to this day.
That says a lot! I've played many games in different genres. Few have measured up to the high standard set by Activision's Battlezone.
I have fond memories of playing it until wee hours of next morning in my younger years. Words simply can't describe the feeling when you command a fleet of gravity-defying fighting vehicles on various extraterrestrial planets against bad-ass Russian space fighters. The pride, courage, and never leave one of your own behind emotions you felt in this Real-Time strategy game is probably the closest thing you can get comparing with real battlefield.
All the worlds are done beautifully and closely match their characteristics. Looking back, I am still amazed that they actually crafted such a wonderful gaming experience back in I've both the original game and its official add-on: The Red Odyssey.
The follow-up, Battlezone 2 is ok, but nowhere near the original. Do yourself a favor, buy a copy of this game, you won't regret it. Btw, there's still active online servers to play this game against other players, the official server had long gone, but fans have been keeping the online servers alive to this day as of December 2, This is simply amazing considering how old this game is.
This is the only game that is this old that I keep on playing, over and over again.