Battlezone (computer game)
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| Battlezone | |
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| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Release date(s) | March 12, 1998 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter, Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E (Everyone) USK: 16+ ELSPA: 11+ OFLC: G8+ |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| System requirements | 133 MHz CPU, 16 MB RAM, 1 MB video card RAM, 2X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 5.0, 210 MB available hard disk space, Windows 95 |
Battlezone is a critically acclaimed remake (for Microsoft Windows) of an arcade game of the same name. It was released by Activision in 1998. Aside from the name and presence of tanks, this game bears little resemblance to the original. Activision remade it into a hybrid of a tank simulation game, a first-person shooter and a real-time strategy game.
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[edit] Overview
The game has two campaigns, the American campaign and the Russian campaign. The game takes place in an alternate version of the 1960s in which the United States and the Soviet Union use alien technology to wage a secret war across the solar system, fighting for control of the rare resource bio-metal.
The game starts in 1957 when a group of meteorites falls near the Bering Strait, which both the Americans and the Russians are able to recover. In these meteorites they find "bio-metal", and discover that with it they can build vehicles with amazing features, such as the ability to hover. Both the Soviets and Americans send forces to the Moon; the Apollo program is revealed to be a cover-up for the massive American military operation there. The American space military force is called the NSDF, for National Space Defense Force, and the Soviets' is named the CCA, for Cosmo-Colonist Army. The Soviets force the Americans off the Moon by destroying the main American outpost there, called Eagle's Nest 1. The NSDF relocates to Mars, only to discover that the CCA is already there. An alien artifact is discovered there by both sides, presumably by the same race who created the bio-metal. A weapons factory built by this civilization is also found on Mars. It is revealed that the race in question called themselves the Cthonians, and lived on a planet called Icarus that occupied the orbit of what is now the asteroid belt. According to the game, Greek myths were based on visitations of Earth by the Cthonians.
The Americans learn that the Cthonians were divided into two warring parties who battled throughout the solar system. Each side apparently pursued an ultimate weapon that would destroy the other. To follow the trail of this weapon, called a Fury, the Americans travel to Venus. Another artifact from a Cthonian city is recovered, pointing the way to a weapons research facility built by the Cthonians on Io. When the Americans arrive at Io, they find a relic from the facility and begin to bring it back to their base. However, one of the tugs carrying the artifacts is piloted by a Soviet defector named Arkin, who steals the Fury relic and brings it to the Soviets. Enraged, the Americans conduct a secret operation on Europa to steal a Soviet fighter and tap into the Soviet communications network to discover the whereabouts of the Fury relic. It is found that the relic has been moved to the main CCA base on Saturn's moon Titan.
At this point, the stories of the American and Soviet campaigns diverge. In the American campaign: After eliminating the Soviet presence on Europa, the American forces reach Titan only to find that the advance force has been devastated. The Soviets were able to build the Furies and unleash them against the American units. However, it is quickly learned that the Furies seem to have a "mind" of their own, and the Soviets quickly lose control of them as the Furies destroy the main Soviet base and then escape. The Soviets unconditionally surrender to the Americans, and they pledge to work together to destroy the Furies. After fighting jointly to destroy a Fury production facility on Titan, the Furies escape to a fictional moon of Uranus called Achilles. The Americans destroy the Fury base on Achilles and find that the base had tapped the moon's molten planetary core for power; destroying it had set off a chain reaction that would shortly cause the moon to explode. The Americans leave a small force to destroy the Furies' transport, trapping them on the moon as it explodes at the end of the game. The ending shows a piece of Achilles, presumably containing some Fury relic, drifting across the solar system to reach Earth.
In the Soviet campaign: The Soviets evacuate Venus after destroying an American Platoon and their base and proceed to Io and capture 1 of the 3 Fury Relics. They then take this technology to Titan to try to recreate the Furies.The Soviets reach Titan but find that the Black Dogs have destroyed their main base. They recover important units and re-establish a foothold there. Finally, they are able to build controllable Furies with which they overwhelm and annilhate the Black Dogs and the Americans and completely destroying their presence on Titan. These missions branch into the American campaign directly preceding "The Three Beacons", wherein the controllable Furies turn on their Soviet creators.
The American campaign is significantly longer and better orchestrated and is intended as the main game, with the Soviet missions serving as a more challenging diversion for those players who manage to beat the American game (although for advanced players, the Soviet campaign was easier to win due to jumping directly into the full technology tree.)
An add-on, called The Red Odyssey, was later released which featured a Chinese campaign contemporaneous with the events described above. It took place on Jupiter's moon Ganymede and a planet in another solar system (called Elysium, it was reached with a Cthonian interstellar travel device). This game is much harder than the original Battlezone, and the missions are only for very experienced players. The American campaign is much longer than the Chinese campaign (ala Battlezone) and there is no CCA campaign at all, even though they appear very often in the Chinese campaign, while all three factions never appear on-screen at the same time in any campaign.
[edit] The Red Odyssey
In 1999 Battlezone went gold to perk gamer's attention and make a tribute to the new release of Battlezone II: Combat Commander. This Battlezone: Gold included the original Battlezone CD, manuals, and the Gold Disc Expansion pack, which introduced a new area to the Battlezone lore.
The Expansion pack "The Red Odyssey" features the Black Dog Squadron (an elite unit that the Russians ran in to in the original Battlezone) who, during a regular patrol on Ganymede discover that the Chinese are also participating in the space race, but not necessarily on the side of the Soviets (as revealed through the Chinese single-player missions).
Red Odyssey focuses on a new storyline with the Black Dogs, and delves in to more about the hunt for the artifacts across the Solar System.
[edit] Multiplayer Overview
This game also has a unique multiplayer engine. The player may either partake in a deathmatch-type style of play, in which the tank they choose at the beginning of the mission will always appear again after they die. Or they may choose to play a strategy map where the player starts off with the key base building utility, the recycler, and must build a base and units in order to destroy the other player. Players may work with other players via the ally feature, or even trick the hapless victim into being their ally, only to turn on them when they least expect it.
[edit] Multiplayer Play Styles
There are many other styles of multiplayer playing, some more popular than others. The most popular within the small remaining community of players is bombing, where all players fly a large, slow, and deadly bomber that shoots very strong rockets at the opponent. Another popular style of game is MAGing, where certain tanks use a cannon called the Magnetic Acceleration Gun to completely decimate the opposing tank. This weapon is generally used in pairs, and will destroy a tank in one shot if aimed correctly. Another type of play is the free for all, where all types of ships are welcome. These are the most versatile games with each type of ship having its own advantages. There are many other styles of play including: sniping, where you snipe enemy pilots only and Blank1 vs. Blank2 type games, where the blanks are two different kind of ships. These methods of play all fall into the first of the two Battlezone online gaming categories: Death Match (DM) and Strategy (Strat). The second category (Strat) involves two or more players who compete in teams or against one another for scrap and map domination. Strat gaming, unlike DM gaming, requires more patience and a greater degree of strategic planning and thought. On some larger maps a strat game can easily run past the three hour mark.
[edit] Legacy
Activision released a sequel in 1999, Battlezone II: Combat Commander, which involved a war resulting from the incursion of a race of extraterrestrials known as the Scions.
The game was ported to other systems by Crave Entertainment. In 2000, Crave ported the game to the Nintendo 64 under the name Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs. Team Evolve made the addon pack for Battlezone, The Red Odyssey.
[edit] See also
- Battlezone, the original arcade game
- Battlezone II: Combat Commander, a sequel developed by Pandemic Studios
