This right here is the hidden gem of hidden gems. Set in an alternate 1960s where the space race is just a cover for a cold war turned hot, the United States and Soviet Union secretly deploy massive armies into space in pursuit of an extra-terrestrial substance, bio-metal, that can be used to craft amazing and powerful weapons of war. The National Space Defense Force (NSDF) and Cosmos Colonist Army (CCA) do battle over control of the bio-metal throughout the solar system using hover tanks crafted from the precious material. Battlezone has some of the best sci-fi lore of any game- don't skip over the briefings and debriefings! Battlezone has always had interesting gameplay because of the way it blends RTS and FPS elements. You primarily play the game from the view of the cockpit of your hover tank: you can hunt down enemy craft yourself and blow them away, OR, you can deploy your recycler (main production unit) at a nearby geyser power source and being collecting bio-metal using scavengers in order to build a base, defensive structures, and wingmen to take into battle with you. If you build a comm tower, you can take a satellite view of the battlezone and command your wingmen in traditional RTS style, but you don't need to have a comm tower to effectively command all of your units (in fact, most often it is better to NOT take this approach). Battlezone 98 Redux (BZR) has received many improvements over the original game. These include highly improved terrain textures, models, lighting, menus, and more, and these alone make the game worth a purchase and play through. However, because BZR is built on the code of the 1998 release, some of the baggage from years ago has made its way into this game. The net code, though improved, still struggles from time to time, and having a good connection can be important to having an enjoyable online experience. (Overall this is has never been a problem for me, though.) The sound system also struggles mightily when there are many units in play or in a battle- it will eventually just choke and cut out completely until there are fewer units. The sound cutting out is a scenario that you're for the most part unlikely to encounter during regular gameplay, however. Keeping these small qualms in mind, the game is absolutely a steal at its current price, and will buy you hours and hours of fun in space. I SAID FUN IN SPACE! If any 90's game deserved a Redux, this was it. Especially if you never played the original (but even if you have!), this is a must buy. 10 Grizzlies out of 10.
