System Requirements: Pentium II 300 MHz, 64 MB RAM, Win95 Battlezone 2 succeeds in offering a few inspired twists on an old formula, but overall can’t significantly surpass the greatness of the original. The original Battlezone managed to transcend its silly plot and suspect AI due to its balanced gameplay and brilliant interface. The original version was also plagued by an army of bugs, though subsequent patching eventually fixed most of them – hence the suspicion that Activision forced the game out before it was really done. What was once an interesting and even balance of action and strategy has become grossly unbalanced in favor of action.
The strategy aspect of Battlezone 2 has also been dumbed down – good news for twitch gamers, bad news for anyone who wanted more strategic depth with their hover-tank sim. At least the locales are varied: the action starts on Pluto, proceeds to a mysterious dark tenth planet, then to the Scion universe to visit a swamp world, ice planet, and desert planet. Overall, the campaign’s puzzle-based missions frustrate as much as they challenge. Highlights of the campaign include using a sniper rifle to disable an enemy ship, placing satchel charges, reconnoitering the enemy without being seen, and a harrowing walk through an enemy base in an attempt to reach safety. Your troops must be babysat to be effective, and in a game with mission parameters so stringent and narrow, this can be horribly frustrating. But the game’s AI seems to have been dumbed down. The Scions even have the ability to morph their bio-metal vehicles into new vehicles. Like its predecessor, Battlezone 2 contains a wealth of innovative and cool weapons, from TAG lasers that mark a victim and then spray a stream of rockets at them, to simple mortars and fire-and-forget missiles.
Nobody cares, but then again there’s no story to really distract from the action, or the new engine’s rendering capabilities for that matter.
A race called the Scions declares war on humanity. The final product is an above average shooter, but one that reeks of early release.īattlezone 2 pretty much abandons the silly-yet-cool “Cold War in Space” plot of the original and drops in its place the most cliched and hackneyed alien-invasion story imaginable. Activision gave the nod to developer Pandemic Studios to go ahead with a sequel, even though the original failed to ignite at retail. Mixing real-time strategy (RTS) and 3D action was a bold concept, and one that paid big dividends in terms of gameplay. Instead, it brilliantly refined a genre-melding that begun with 3DO’s Uprising. Activision’s Battlezone bore almost zero resemblance to the old Atari classic.
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