Battlezone

Moby ID: 355
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/28 3:44 AM )
Add-on (official) Add-on (unofficial) Conversion (official) Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

The history you knew is a lie. There was no Space Race.

The real story is simple... In 1950's, American and Soviet scientists have discovered alien bio-metal that arrived via meteorites. The bio-metal can be quickly and efficiently be turned into amazing weapons and vehicles. Soon all the bio-metal has been "harvested", but neither side have "enough". So the space program is launched to gather MORE bio-metal from the other planets... And fight over the bio-metal deposits.

And now, you are in command of these advanced units. Can you stop the Soviet onslaught?

Battlezone is a first-person RTS where you both command your own vehicle as well as direct other units to fight with you or do other things. You send out harvesters to scavenge bio-metal scraps, which can be turned into units via your Recycler, Mobile Unit Factory, and/or Construction Rig. You then build offensive and/or defensive units that will help you accomplish your mission, all in first-person 3D.

The interface is very intuitive. Put crosshair on unit and hit "command" (defaults to "space"). You then get menu of that unit, with a default command already selected. If you want the default command, point crosshair to target and press "command" again. For example, if you want the tank to attack enemy tank, point at your tank, hit command, point at enemy tank, hit command again. You can issue goto commands the same way, as well as all the other types of commands with this simple and efficient command system.

You can bail out of vehicles that is almost destroyed. You can then use your rifle (with sniper mode) to take out the enemy pilot and hijack his vehicle for your own use. You can even order your own pilot to head back to base on foot so you can grab his vehicle.

You can't expand forever as you're limited by the number of pilots you have, the amount of bio-metal you have, and the number of thermal geysers you have access to. Thus, you have to balance speed, armor, and firepower when you decide what vehicles you should manufacture.

Spellings

  • 终极战区 - Simplified Chinese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (Windows version)

224 People (190 developers, 34 thanks) · View all

Director of Production, Strategy Group
Associate Producer
Production Coordinator
Production Coordinator, Technical Help Files
Programmer
Producer
Associate Producer
Senior Programmer
Programmer
Associate Producer
Localisation Project Coordinator
UK Product Manager
German Localisation
German Speech Recording
  • M & S Music
Creative Services
Senior Vice President International
Marketing Director Europe
Sales Director Europe
General Manager Latin America
Product Manager Latin America
Asset Manager
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 90% (based on 29 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 52 ratings with 3 reviews)

Mixture of first person shooter and strategy too early for its time

The Good
Easy to use strategic interface, even if it's only first person, plenty of action, decent graphics, good variety of units, good varietyof weapons, off-vehicle sniper mode, interesting premise.

The Bad
Action somewhat repetitive, still relies on a lot of jumping and circle-strafing, quite a few infinite respawn enemies in some scenarios (until you find the base), some hard scenarios really really hard (like the one you need to steal a Soviet flyer).

The Bottom Line
Battlezone is probably one of the few cases where the licensed name actually backfired. This Battlezone has NOTHING to do with the Atari classic coin-op at all. Instead, this game postulates a great cover-up about the true intentions of the space race... Man-kind have actually travelled all over the solar system, and found something we're not supposed to... It's the standard enemies unite to fight a common threat theme (just like Freespace). Instead of ordering units from the overhead view, you do everything in the first person view. Need that sentry gun to go over there? Point there and tell it to go there! You still harvest resources and you have limited pilots (which limits the number of units you can build), and depending on the objective you will have to organize a good defense instead of doing everything yourself. It's a great mixture of first-person shooter and strategy, as you have to consider resources, production, defense coverage, etc. There's even options to upgrade existing vehicles and defense structures! Definitely give this game a try. Just ignore the name, and you'll enjoy it.

Windows · by Kasey Chang (4598) · 2000

Battlezone: The Most Underrated Game of the Century

The Good
Battlezone's unique abilty to involve the gamer in base building, scrap collecting and enemy hunting made this one of the most enjoyable 3D adventures I have ever played. The action is intense, the storyline engaging and the graphics are first-rate.

The Bad
The Artificial Intelligence of some of the vehicles under your command is decidedly weak, though acceptable throughout the majority of gameplay time.

The Bottom Line
You've likely never bought this game considering that it was a commercial flop, but it certainly didn't deserve to be one. It is by far one of the most impressive games made in the last five years. Blame its unpopularity on poor marketing --most people who haven't seen the game expect it to be like the dull vector graphic 80's version that is its namesake.

Windows · by lonewolf (11) · 2000

Criminally overlooked

The Good
Rather like Looking Glass' 'Terra Nova', this received lots of favourable reviews, but, whilst far from being a flop, was not as commercially successful as it should have been. Basically, it's one of the finest modern strategy / action games around, with an excellent user interface that successfully allows the player to control a tank, whilst simultaneously directing friendly units about and building a base. It's comparable to 'Urban Assault' or 'Wargasm', but done properly.

Other good things abound - the sensation of driving a hovertank swiftly over undulating terrain is entertaining enough to be a game in itself, the difficultly level is just about right, and the graphics, whilst being two years old, are still very effective. There are lots of clever things, too - you can hop out of your tank and capture enemy units, the plot is an amusing mixture of 'Alternative 3' and paranoid conspiracy theories, and there is a nice mixture of mission types. Top marks for an excellent ambient musical score, too. And best of all, radio transmissions have the famous NASA 'beep'.

Overall, Battlezone is the first and so far only game to combine action and strategy without messing up either element.

The Bad
On the other hand, it's frighteningly hard towards the latter stages of the game. Often, you find your base being obliterated whilst you are away, and both friendly and enemy AI is often suspect - enemy gliders tend to run straight into you, whilst your resource miners blunder into mines. And it doesn't have much to do with the original game, not that it matters.

The Bottom Line
A fascinating action / strategy game, owing almost nothing to the original Battlezone, but with an atmosphere and style of its own.

Windows · by Ashley Pomeroy (225) · 2000

Discussion

Subject By Date
Free to download and play online! Jack Torrance (30) Apr 22, 2009
Anybody wants to do a LAN party Tatar_Khan (676) Dec 18, 2007

Trivia

References

  • Distantly related to the original Atari arcade coin-op, you can see the a little bit of the coin-op as a part of the intro movie.
  • In the demo/tutorial, you can actually find the Lunar Lander (i.e. Neil Armstrong's Eagle) in the "vehicle park".

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 1999 (Issue #177) – Best Action Game of the Year
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #40 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
  • PC Gamer
    • April 2000 - #32 in the "All-Time Top 50 Games" poll
  • PC Player (Germany)

    • Issue 01/1999 - Most Undeserved Flop in 1998
  • Power Play

    • Issue 02/1999 – Best Action-Strategy Game in 1998

Information also contributed by PCGamer77.

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Final Doom
Released 1996 on DOS, Windows, Macintosh
E.E.R.I.E
Released 2021 on Windows
Ultimate General: American Civil War
Released 2017 on Windows, Macintosh
Restricted Area
Released 2023 on Windows
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Released 2020 on Windows, PlayStation 4, 2022 on Xbox One...
WipEout: Omega Collection
Released 2017 on PlayStation 4
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
Released 2021 on Windows, Macintosh, PlayStation 4...

Related Sites +

  • Battlezone 1
    Daily news, downloads, guides, technical help and other useful information.
  • Battlezone Community
    Community site with downloads, videos, guides, technical help and other useful information.
  • Wildcat's Battle Zone HQ
    Features maps, codes, downloads, and more for the game.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 355
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by robotriot.

Additional contributors: Kasey Chang, S H, CaesarZX, Jack Torrance, Patrick Bregger.

Game added November 1, 1999. Last modified January 23, 2024.