Battlezone 2

by ACTIVISION

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001R3XA
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: December 31, 1999
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,990 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Activision and Pandemic Studios' BattleZone series combines the first-person action of games like Quake with the real-time strategy tactics of Command and Conquer. Set in the late 20th century, BattleZone 2 places players in an organization built to fight a new alien enemy known as the Scion. Game play is mission based, where players complete a variety of objectives, including assault, defend, escort, and base construction, to propel the twisting story line.

BattleZone 2's beautiful landscapes only improve as the game advances; seldom do you see an action game with as many mountains, hills, and valleys to explore and hide behind. To repel the alien horde, you'll command a wide range of vehicles, all operated from a first-person perspective. The complex, but easy-to-grasp interface allows you to order other units into battle and construct new base structures with simple mouse clicks and single keystrokes.

Unlike its immediate predecessor, BattleZone 2 emphasizes action over strategy; most of the missions--especially near the beginning--center more on vehicular combat and rarely require you to manage resources or structures. Later missions provide more strategic game play, or you can opt for the multiplayer game, supported over the Internet or local area network, that adeptly tests the base construction and twitch-action skills of even the best gamers. --Doug Radcliffe

Pros:

• Spectacular landscapes
• Refined interface
• Unique blend of action and strategy
• Fun multiplayer game

Cons:

• Less strategic depth than its predecessor

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A much maligned game..., March 20, 2000

By 

David Lim "space_hamster" (Hobart, Tasmania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battlezone 2 (CD-ROM)

Having played the original Battlezone, I can understand why players of the first game are so critical. The original was the very first of its kind, it successfully combined first-person shooters with real-time strategy.

The first problem I encountered was a poorly written manual - only one-third discusses how the vehicles and buildings actually work. Once you can figure out how to play the game, BZ2 is a blast.

What makes BZ2 better than BZ1?

- You can enter buildings like the Recycler and Factory, and alter weapons loadouts. This is useful if you want all your tanks to have SP-Stabbers, or your turrets to have Lasers, for instance.

- It's much easier to build Gun towers now. Instead of being near a power station, they must be adjacent to a relay bunker. You can also use the relay bunker's console to access a top-down view of the battlefield. This means you can 'hop' gradually towards an enemy base, building relay bunkers and gun towers as you go.

- The graphics are better than the original. Unfortunately they do require a very powerful computer. I have a Pentium II 266MHz, with 128Mb RAM, a 16MB Viper V770 videocard and a Monster Sound MX300 soundcard - and I have to play the game with all the graphics options turned off.

The disadvantages?

- Pandemic has re-written the original story. In the first game, it was the Russians that created the Furies, not the US.

- EXTREMELY poor AI. It's possible for your units to be destroyed by friendly fire. Perhaps Pandemic should've cut and pasted the AI routines from the first game. Advice for new players - NEVER put any of your vehicles in front of a gun tower!

- The bland music soundtrack. The original game's music was quiet and tense. It added an atmosphere of excitement to the game. The new game's music ocassionally excites, but most of the time doesn't.

In summary, I wish Pandemic had spent more time tightening the code. The AI routines are poor, and I feel more effort should've been put into making sure Battlezone 2 runs on low-end computers (like mine). Other than that, it's a very good game. But I don't believe it exceeds or meets the standards of the original game. Perhaps the third time will be the charm?

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's actually a very cool game., January 22, 2000

By 

Marco Rispoli (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battlezone 2 (CD-ROM)

In the newsgroups and on some game magazine I read reviews that criticize the game. The bottom line of these people is that the game, compared to the predecessor 'Battlezone' is cheesy. Well, I don't know about Battlezone I becuase I never played it. This game though, is still very good. It's based on a very cool idea: you are a soldier and you can drive anything, from powerful war machines to buidlings (turrets and factories and such). You don't actually drive a factory: you just get in and configure it the way you want. You also can get in a turret (and it's damn fun to blow a bug up with one of those big plasma turrets! ). If you built it (and you have to) you can get into the 'Relay station' which is a building that uplinks to a satellite and gives you a satellite view of the action and lets you play the game in a traditional (almost) RTS fashion. The game is sci-fi and definetly arcade-ish. Do not expect a sim or the ultimate RTS game from it. It's still a very cool idea to allow you to switch from an RTS view to a first person view: you send your troops to fight and then you get in your tank and go with them to fight and suffer the consequences of your strategical mistakes or enjoy blow enemies up in person! I reccomend it to any action or RTS player: it's a game to try out!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars requires high-end system, January 10, 2000

By 

Jerry K (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battlezone 2 (CD-ROM)

Do not buy this game unless you have AT LEAST 350mz or more. The stated "minimum requirements" of 200mhz is nothing more than Activision's way of getting at your wallet. In one of the final levels of the game, a system of 200mhz will not even be capable of completing the mission. 350mz should get you through the game with all details off and resolution at the lowest.

I recommend you have a system of 450mhz or higher for satisfactory gaming. Anything less and some of the single player missions' low frame rates could get on your nerves.

If you have an AMD CPU (in the 300-400 range), you should probably stay away. The marketing folks over at Activision neglected to tell AMD owners up front that the game was optimized for Intel processors and that AMD chips may present buggy and slow games. You have to dig into the readme before you see that little surprise (so if you're going to try BZ2 anyway, make sure you get it from a place you can get a refund from).

Also, if you're looking for Internet play, make sure you have at least a cable modem or DSL connection. As with Heavy Gear 2, the claim that the game can play online satisfactorily on the required 28.8 connection is a woeful mistake.

The game itself is fun and definately above average. I would have given the game 5 stars if it had strong multiplayer support, but in this area, BZ2 is about average. So 4 stars for that. Still fun, decent sound and music, unique gameplay. 3 stars for the folks who are marketing the game.

if you're looking for a game with cooperative multiplayer support, where you and a buddy can take on the enemy AI together, look elsewhere. While most Real Time Strategy games support the feature, BZ2 left this out.

Be sure to check out the Pandemic website, message board, and BZ2 newsgroups for more customer reviews!