The fictitious plot of Battlezone 98 Redux plays at the end of the 1960s, so in the middle of the cold war. Soviets and Americans are starting a race around a newly discovered substance called bio-metal. Obviously the product of an alien technology that promises incredible improvements in weapon technology. A fierce contest for the coveted bio-metal, which leads the two conflicting parties from the Earth Moon over several missions to the fictional Uranusmond Achilles.
Battlezone 98 Redux in the Test - The Gameplay
What makes Battlezone attractive as it is today is the successful mix of first-person action and strategy game. Not only does the player take care of resource management and command the units across the field, as is customary in strategic games. If necessary, the player jumps out of his vehicle and enters into the action in the ego perspective.
Battlezone 98 Redux in the test - The technology once and today
At the beginning, one decides between the American or the Soviet campaign. The course of the game in a total of 29 missions often follows this scheme: you send your scavenger unit to collect the valuable bio-metal scattered around the planet's surface. While doing so, look for a geyser to place the recycler - your assembly. It is only now that you can start building factories or producing weapons and units. In the game, the mission objectives are more likely to change unexpectedly: they need to protect a particular unit or rebuild a rebel.
Battlezone 98 Redux - Official Launch Trailer
Even if you are sitting in a vehicle, you can always take part in the battle. The production and units are controlled by means of key commands. Usually a sequence of numbers that are displayed via menus. Once the key sequences have been memorized, the control functions surprisingly well and is very practicable. Alternatively, the developer of the new edition has also donated a gamepad control. In order to keep an overview at all times, a regular view of the overview map is indispensable. In addition, there are several difficulty levels to choose from, so even inexperienced commanders do not have to throw the shotgun at once.
Battlezone 98 Redux in the test - Conclusion
The original Battlezone was launched in 1998. In the software mode, the game ran maximum in VGA mode, that is, with 640x480 pixels. More quality was achieved with a 3D accelerator. For today's users strange: such cards were inserted in addition to its 2D graphics card in the computer. A well-known example is the 3dfx Voodoo 2, which was also released in 1998. This then contained 800x600 pixels, or 1024x768 pixels, if you could afford two Voodoo 2 (from 450 DM).
In order to make Battlezone fit for today's computers and requirements, the developer Big Boat Interactive hired developer Rebellion had to adapt something. So the game was a shader-based DirectX-9 renderer. The 3D models also had to be completely revised. Stock of the Grizzly tanks in the original from only 300 polygons, it is now in the Redux version nearly 10,000 polygons. You can read more about the technical changes in the blog of Rebellion.
While the gameplay was largely untouched, the game was supplemented by Steam support, including multiplayer and mod support via Steam Workshop. So you can count on other game content from the fan scene.
The result of the reworking can be seen in any case both playfully and optically. An opulent firework of effects should not be expected. The graphics are more useful, but the classic looks very good.
A big thank you to the British publisher Rebellion for the liberation of the strategy action classic from its digital Sleeping Beauty sleep. Battlezone was then, as today, an action-packed strategy game for advanced players, whose fascination is now opening up to a new generation of players thanks to the successful revision.
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