Herzog Zwei

1001 Video Games

Herzog Zwei appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Real-Time Strategy

Herzog Zwei is credited by many to be the first real-time strategy game, and is rumored to be the template for that part of gameplay in the more widely known Dune 2 game. But contrary to popular belief, Herzog Zwei isn't even the first real-time strategy archetype. That honor arguably goes to Stonkers and The Ancient Art of War, both released in 1984, five years before that game seen its' spotlight in Japan. In addition, many people who consider Herzog Zwei to be the first RTS ever made, know nothing about the extremely obsucre prequel of this game, titled just Herzog.

Title Translation

The words "Herzog" and "Zwei" are German. A direct translation of the game's title to English would be "Duke Two".

Hidden message in password system cipher

"Herzog Zwei is the work of Gan-chan" is the cipher for all passwords and "Gan-chan" is likely the nickname of programmer Takeshi Iwanaga: http://www.eenerd.com/HerzogZwei.html

Awards

• Electronic Gaming Monthly
  • November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #43 (Best 100 Games of All Time)

Additional information contributed by Katharian Berg and IndieJones.