상품 상세 정보

Amazon.com

Battlezone
places you in the midst of the cold war--as it's being fought in outer space. Play either the Soviet or American side; command and create over 30 units, such as antigravity tanks, walkers, guntowers, barracks, and recyclers--all while fighting from inside your own vehicle in single-player or multiplayer skirmishes.
Review

Some folks might accuse Activision of duplicity for naming its newest action/strategy game Battlezone, but aside from the fact that both games put you in the cockpit of a tank, it has about as much in common with that arcade classic as an IBM PC Jr. does with a full-blown Pentium gaming system.

Yep, anyone who picks up this Battlezone expecting a graphics-heavy retread of the original will be in for a big surprise - but luckily it'll be an extremely pleasant one. Simply put, Battlezone is one of the best strategy games I've wrapped my brain (and trigger finger) around in a long, long time. And I've got three words for anyone who does complain that Activision stuck the Battlezone name on this product just to boost sales: get over it. Hell, I wouldn't care if they'd somehow managed to call it Super Mario's Metal Mayhem if it meant more people would be tempted to check it out.

Battlezone has the look and feel of a futuristic shooter, but it's actually set in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Seems that a meteor shower a decade earlier left behind some other-worldly stuff called 'bio-metal' - the product of an alien technology that can not only be used to craft weapons of incredible power and durability, but which also seems to be sentient. (Now that would have made a decent Pet Rock!) Uncle Sam wants to use the bio-metal to bring the Cold War to an end, but - you guessed it - the Soviets found out about the bio-metal and are just as desperate as you to get their Commie hands on it first.

The quest for the miracle metal leads both nations into space to track down the mother lode - and hopefully uncover any other alien leftovers that could lead to ultimate victory. Beginning on the Earth's moon, the Americans and Russkies start to unravel the mysteries behind the bio-metal, leading to a race that takes them from Earth's closest planetary neighbors to the harsh worlds of Jupiter's moons Io and Titan - and to the realization that they must unite to defeat a force greater than both of them. It's a pretty good setup, if for no other reason than it means you get to enjoy seven types of terrain, each with its own distinct look and particular obstacles and hazards. And the narration between missions gives the whole affair a decidedly personal touch (though it does get a bit too melodramatic now and then).

But what really makes Battlezone so special is the way it blends the adrenaline rush of first-person action games with the strategy and resource management of Red Alert (or one of its imitators). Sure, you'll see plenty of combat from the cockpit of your tank, but personal victories mean little or nothing in the grand scheme of things. At the same time that you're on the lookout for roving Russians, you must launch an extensive construction program, starting by guiding your Recycler to a geyser where it can draw power. The Recycler converts scrap metal (collected by Scavengers) that's used to build everything from tanks and turrets to factories, armories, and power plants. Once you've manufactured offensive and defensive weapons, they fall under your command: Although the game's AI means they'll always attack nearby enemies, you'll need to give them specific assignments to maximize their firepower and range.

It's been said that you eat with your eyes, and if that cliche holds true for games then Battlezone is a tempting treat indeed. Direct3D support makes for some of the best outdoor terrain and detailed vehicles I've seen in a game, and it's topped off with special effects such as fiery explosions, missile trails, thick clouds of haze, lightning bolts, and other visual goodies. This stuff isn't just eye candy, either; it all works together to create an intensely immersive experience. There are a few graphical glitches - white dots where textures weren't connected and a rapidly jerking plasma rifle are notable examples - but they were so few and far between I hardly gave them a second thought.

Not counting the tutorials, the single-player game includes 27 missions - 17 played from the US side and eight as the Soviets. Figuring that most gamers will want to saddle up as the good guys, the American missions progress so that you're given more to do as you get acquainted with the game; the Russian missions are supposedly aimed at 'experienced' commanders, but by the time you've played four or five US missions you should be able to handle at least some of the Soviet outings.

There are a couple of cupcake missions, but they're compensated for by the inclusion of some real bears. The charm of the mission design, though, is that there's rarely a single 'right' way to do things: Several options are open to you, giving you the chance to choose the one that best suits your skills and style of play.

And should you tire of the single-player missions, Battlezone's got some extremely intense multiplayer options to keep the good feeling going even longer. The strategy mode (which gives you the same type of control as in the single-player game) provides a distinct experience each time out because there are so many approaches each opponent can take. I really didn't expect deathmatch to be as appealing - after all, you just run around and grab power-ups and kill everyone else - but after just a few matches I found myself enjoying it more than I'd thought possible. There's even a map editor to create your own multiplayer arenas.

There are two snags: Latency and the fact that you can start games before all players have joined (which gives the early bi