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 Battlezone is an Activision release from 1998 for the PC. It's a unique game in that it combines both the first person shooter genre and real time strategy. Think Starcraft if you were playing from a Marine's perspective. It was rather popular amongst the critics and sold well enough to justify a sequel which I might tackle later as I also have that. One thing worthy of mention is that this was technically a remake of an arcade game of the same name from the 1980's that featured vector graphics and tanks. To be fair, about the only thing that ties both games together is their namesake and tanks. Everything else went out the loving window. The story is pretty engaging and is a conspiracy theorists wet dream. In the 1960's, a meteor shower over the Bering Strait peppered the area with a rare bio-metal not found on Earth. Both the Soviet Union and the United States obtained as much as they could and began producing new weapons and vehicles using it. Naturally, the small amounts that fell to Earth were not enough to satiate the appetites of the super powers and they ventured forth in search of more. This is where the real space race began and the cold war went hot. You get to play both sides in the war. I will be starting with the American National Space Defense Force(NSDF) and then moving on to the Soviet Cosmic Colonist Army(CCA). I have a physical copy of this game but because of it's age, it doesn't even run on a newer machine and you cannot get it on GOG.com or other sites of that ilk. However, you can get a full version of the game for free from https://www.battlezone1.com. This is the version I will be running. Even with all the updates to the software, FRAPs doesn't care much for anything that isn't gameplay, meaning it won't record menus or loading screens. I will do the best I can but I might have to go ahead and crop some of the loading screens or simply screen cap them for the thread. I am going to try and be informative with this LP but this also happens to be my first so I am certain to gently caress up along the way. Hopefully, you all find this game interesting enough to play yourselves and enjoy my first venture into the land of the let's play. I'm Corporal Kerberos and let's play Battlezone. NSDF Units  M60A7 Main Battle Tank "Grizzly" This is the work horse vehicle of the NSDF forces and is the vehicle you start with(if memory serves) in all NSDF missions. It is rather well rounded and fully capable of dispatching even the more powerful Soviet counterpart relatively quickly. It does have a full loadout of weapons but I really only find myself using two of them. M580A2 Scout "Razor" Summing this vehicle up requires nothing more than to say it is quick and prone to exploding when I pilot it. It is by no means something weak or useless with it's dual mini-gun setup but is quickly destroyed if you haven't mastered using it's speed to out maneuver enemy vehicles. I do like it but I rarely use it.  M47A9 Light Tank "Bobcat" My number one pick when it comes to filling out a platoon. It's low cost and decent weapon array makes it a good choice for making a decent fighting force quickly.  B74CT Bomber "Thunderbolt" Holy poo poo is this drat thing slow and it turns like rear end. It fires dumb rockets so it is no good against targets that aren't planted to the ground. I never pilot it because I hate it and it handles like an oil tanker. You are right hosed if you get hit by it though.  Medium Rocket Tank "Shafter"Comes with some decent rocket capabilities with lock on tracking. Overall, it is relatively squishy and explodes on contact with enemy projectiles. M173 Turret "Badger" Very handy for their low cost but a little underpowered as they only come equipped with one weapon slot filled and it's filled with a mini-gun. They don't need external power and are mobile which makes them good for hasty defense but a lot of them are needed to be effective. They are best used when first starting out and then recylcing them to upgrade to permenant defenses like gun towers.  AT9 Walker "Sasquatch"Slow as poo poo and ugly as sin. The go to unit for massive firepower and lots of armor. Useful in certain situations only.  VS3E Reclamation Unit "Scavenger" This is the scrap collector. Getting several of these in the begginning of missions makes your life a lot easier but defenses should always take priority after you get your first scavenger. They only collect something like three pieces of scrap at a time so I tend to at least make two if I have the scrap.  Cargo Utility "Tug" I have only needed this thing once and it has no defenses of it's own. I hope you like babysitting. If you do need something towed though, this is the unit for the job.  TU11 Mobile Bio-Metal Fabricator "Recycler" These are your life blood and losing it will result in a failed mission. They produce quite a few necessary vehicles, like scavengers, the armory, and factories. This should be protected at all costs as it is a structure that the AI will always target first if they can get to it. TU8 Supply Launch "Armory" If you need supplies in the field, this is the vehicle to have. It's also the only drat way I've been able to get my squadmates to get repairs or replenish their ammo. It's a pain in the rear end though because it is not instant with it's supply drop which means you are usually out of the fight until it arrives. It does have one very special use which we will see later on.  TU12 Advanced Bio-Metal Fabricator "Factory" Hey man, I got what you need. You need some Bobcat? I got that poo poo in spades. You jonesing for the Grizzly? I just so happen to have those too. All offensive vehicles come from this thing except for the Razor. Only downside is that it needs a geyser which might make you choose between it and something like the armory.  TU15 Construction Rig "Heaval" It makes gun towers. I mean, it makes more than just those but I really don't care because, well, gun towers. Videos                      
Kitty Burger fucked around with this message at 12:27 on Jul 25, 2014 |
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Jan 31, 2013 00:57
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Nice voice. Those vector graphics looked very familiar. I remember playing a game like that, where you're a tank that's trying to single-handedly wreck a base (soviet or alien, I forget) in the Artic? Man, that was years ago. This title should great nostalgic romp.
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Jan 31, 2013 03:55
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Added Space posted:Nice voice. Thanks. I've always been told I had the face for radio. If all goes well the first mission should be up tomorrow and with any luck, the second video come Friday.
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Jan 31, 2013 04:16
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Battlezone 2 was my favorite game as a kid. I'll be following this. If you decide to do any multiplayer, I'd love to join in.
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Jan 31, 2013 08:21
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I was a huge Battlezone 1 and 2 fan, too. I've never been good at RTS games, but the HUD, the 3D radar, and The Tanks were just so cool for the time. Best of luck with the LP!
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Jan 31, 2013 18:46
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Thanks for the support. Episode 1 is now online.
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Jan 31, 2013 20:54
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This game looks really really cool and I have no idea how I did not know about this. Thanks for the LP!
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Jan 31, 2013 21:05
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I'm amazed a game like this flew under the radar-I've never heard of this game before, but it's using mechanics that developers are still struggling with today. I can't believe how far ahead of its time this was.
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Jan 31, 2013 21:09
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Huh, its strange how the combination of your voice and the mic you are using makes your commentary sound just like most of the in game dialogue. That's actually pretty cool, dunno if you were going for that effect. Also, jesus Battlezone, I haven't thought about this game in forever. A nice little dab of nostalgia.
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Jan 31, 2013 21:18
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It really is surprising that this game didn't receive more of a following than it did. If there was a next gen sequel made only for the PC, I'd pick it up in a heartbeat.EvilUrchin posted:Huh, its strange how the combination of your voice and the mic you are using makes your commentary sound just like most of the in game dialogue. That's actually pretty cool, dunno if you were going for that effect. Also, jesus Battlezone, I haven't thought about this game in forever. A nice little dab of nostalgia. Funny story about that. My headset is actually a military radio headset that I tactically acquired and repurposed while I was in the Marines. The goons I used to play DayZ with told me it made me sound like a stormtrooper.
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Jan 31, 2013 21:28
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I used to play the hell out of this and the sequel in college, though the first is still the better one in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing the rest of this LP.
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Jan 31, 2013 21:32
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Kitty Burger posted:Funny story about that. My headset is actually a military radio headset that I tactically acquired and repurposed while I was in the Marines. The goons I used to play DayZ with told me it made me sound like a stormtrooper. It really does. At bare minimum, it makes you sound like you are actually transmitting from somewhere else (which fits this LP quite nicely, come to think of it).
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Jan 31, 2013 21:48
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My experience with the game consisted of getting excited, realizing the demo was fifty megabytes, saying, "that'll take days to download!", and then forgetting about it until it was mentioned in the C&C Renegade thread. I'm interested in seeing how this game compares.
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Jan 31, 2013 21:49
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Holy poo poo, we were just talking about Battlezone in the Renegade thread. Looking forward to this. Will you be doing the Red Odyssey missions later? And i thought you'd be interested that some people are actually working on a spiritual successor to BZ. It's on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/807779870/bionite-origins
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Jan 31, 2013 22:30
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Aww, you missed the Rave gun! It's the cannon off to the left of the Razor, and it is only available on that mission. I was thinking of doing an LP of this, but yours is better than mine would be. I played the hell out of this as a kid, and somehow beat both of the campaigns. This game can get tricky at times.
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Jan 31, 2013 22:35
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Unreal_One posted:Aww, you missed the Rave gun! It's the cannon off to the left of the Razor, and it is only available on that mission. I was thinking of doing an LP of this, but yours is better than mine would be. I played the hell out of this as a kid, and somehow beat both of the campaigns. This game can get tricky at times. I never even knew about the Rave gun but then again, I'm trying to be informative in what amounts to being a blind run seeing as the last time I played this game was back in 1998. At the very least, I am hoping this LP is entertaining for everyone and they get something out of it.
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Jan 31, 2013 23:05
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This is seriously one of my favorite PC games ever, and I've been wanting to see it again for a couple years now. Can't wait to see where this goes.
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Jan 31, 2013 23:19
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ArchWizard posted:My experience with the game consisted of getting excited, realizing the demo was fifty megabytes, saying, "that'll take days to download!", and then forgetting about it until it was mentioned in the C&C Renegade thread. I'm interested in seeing how this game compares. It completely owns, is what 
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Jan 31, 2013 23:20
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Kitty Burger posted:I never even knew about the Rave gun but then again, I'm trying to be informative in what amounts to being a blind run seeing as the last time I played this game was back in 1998. At the very least, I am hoping this LP is entertaining for everyone and they get something out of it. There are a couple of little things on that mission; supposedly the Apollo lander can be destroyed and a pilot will jump out, giving you a wing man. Also, it's a physics object, so hitting it with the mortar or rockets can make it move a little. Sometimes you can get weapons control of your character and hear him plinking in the background during the opening narration. Also, shift and the f-keys can be used to get various first and third person cameras; the only ones of any real use at the moment are first person and first person no cockpit. Until I played it on a modern computer, I thought the AT-stabbers were supposed to have a bright orange square at the point of the projectile, since my computer at the time always showed one.
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Jan 31, 2013 23:38
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Unreal_One posted:There are a couple of little things on that mission; supposedly the Apollo lander can be destroyed and a pilot will jump out, giving you a wing man. Also, it's a physics object, so hitting it with the mortar or rockets can make it move a little. Sometimes you can get weapons control of your character and hear him plinking in the background during the opening narration. Also, shift and the f-keys can be used to get various first and third person cameras; the only ones of any real use at the moment are first person and first person no cockpit. You are correct about destroying the lander. In earlier playthroughs I had destroyed it because it does generate an extra pilot but just happened to avoid doing it on that go 'round. I'll have to keep the various cameras in mind on future missions. I'm actually finishing up some work on mission two at the moment so I might be a nice guy and post it this evening instead of waiting till tomorrow. Triggsz posted:Holy poo poo, we were just talking about Battlezone in the Renegade thread. Looking forward to this. Will you be doing the Red Odyssey missions later? I will be trying to do all the official missions that were released for the game, so yep, I will do my best to make sure they get added here. Thanks for the kickstarter link too. I'm a little sad that it's already been funded though. I wouldn't have minded tossing 12 bucks at it. Kitty Burger fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Jan 31, 2013 |
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Jan 31, 2013 23:44
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I wish I knew more about BZ1 so I could talk more about it. I never actually beat it because I was seven in 98 and by the time I actually dug it out again and figured out how to play competently, Battlezone 2 was out and that's what I was obsessed with. To this day I haven't beaten the first CCA mission. Thinking about obtaining a copy of BZ2 to play multiplayer if anyone in this thread wants to make a go of it. I don't know if Gamespy Arcade is even around anymore, so the servers may be completely down.
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Feb 1, 2013 01:10
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 New episode dropping.
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Feb 1, 2013 10:13
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Wait, wait, wait, what? Mars!?
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Feb 1, 2013 10:51
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Perhaps it's just me, but maybe the sound effects could stand to be turned down a bit, and the voices up. It was almost impossible to hear the radio chatter over the Grizzly's shots.  Those turrets are quite effective, it seems.  To Mars, I guess!
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Feb 1, 2013 11:04
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Yapping Eevee posted:Perhaps it's just me, but maybe the sound effects could stand to be turned down a bit, and the voices up. It was almost impossible to hear the radio chatter over the Grizzly's shots. Yeah, it was a bit more apparent in this last video than last that the audio wasn't as solid. Mostly what it came down to was that I didn't want to have my voice clipping too much in Audacity but it seems that I should have just done what I did previously. I'm testing out different methods with each video to see what works best and makes my life the easiest when it comes to making them.
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Feb 1, 2013 11:40
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That large Soviet vehicle you encountered was an APC. It drives into your base and uhh...i don't remember if it actually drops any cosmonauts off or just sits there. If i remember correctly they are completely unarmed. Oh and there is a config utility/launcher you might find handy. It lets you run missions straight from the launcher and it has alot of other cool features, like increasing draw distance etc. Just take a look at the screenshots on the site and see for yourself. Note that it may contain spoilers in the mission names if you want to avoid that : http://www.battlezone1.org/spork-s-bzconfig-mission-launcher-t342.html
Amebx fucked around with this message at 12:38 on Feb 1, 2013 |
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Feb 1, 2013 12:21
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Seems I might need to dig out my old copies of these games so I can play along, right after I find an optical drive. Looking forward to hearing your commentary from mars,
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Feb 1, 2013 12:58
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^^ You should read the OP. You can download it complete with a patch for modern systems. No need for an optical drive
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Feb 1, 2013 13:04
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Both that game and Interstate '76 were two of my favorite games in the late 90s, great campaigns, awesome multiplayer. Too bad the sequels to both those games didn't manage to be successful. I always wondered why other game companies didn't copy Battlezone's numeric selection system more often, it's so efficient.
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Feb 1, 2013 13:12
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Dr. Snark posted:I'm amazed a game like this flew under the radar-I've never heard of this game before, but it's using mechanics that developers are still struggling with today. I can't believe how far ahead of its time this was. There were a bunch of RTS/Action-hybrids that came out during the late 90s/early 2000s like Uprising, Battlezone and Hostile Waters. They were all pretty well received, but it seems like the genre pretty much died down after that. I don't know of any similar games that came out between Hostile Waters and the new Carrier Command in 2012.
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Feb 1, 2013 14:06
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Huzzah, Battlezone! I just reinstalled this game! It's incredibly ahead of its time and tremendous fun. I am up for all Multiplayer ever! Battlezone is a lost classic. It made so many action-strategy mechanics work, and work well, years ahead of anyone else and it was totally forgotten on release. Plus the conspiracy plot, which is gleeful and full of 1950s flavour. And the best quasi-accurate depiction of the solar system I've ever seen. Okay, calming down now. This game came with an awesome "released classified documents" in-character manual. It had brilliant grainy recon photos of Soviet units, typed memos back and forth from various characters in NASA and the NSDF, faux-technical discussions of NSDF construction vehicles, talk on how to spin the space race to the public...it's incredible. It's also one of those rare games with an in-character installer ! I appeal to KittyBurger to show this off. The music and the voiceover give me perfect chills every time. Space in this game is big and dark and hungry, and the two sides use their ideologies to keep warm. Triggsz posted:That large Soviet vehicle you encountered was an APC. It drives into your base and uhh...i don't remember if it actually drops any cosmonauts off or just sits there. If i remember correctly they are completely unarmed. The cosmonauts/astronauts carry a single machinegun each. In large numbers they can be quite dangerous to structures or deny an area against light vehicles. It isn't really until BZ2 that APCs become worth something. Does anyone else remember the hilarious UK PC Gamer review and competition when this was released? They went 50s-McCarthy "Reds under the bed" and filled their pages with ALL-AMERICAN COMMIE-HATING RHETORIC. A pity none of all this cool stuff excited any public interest in the game. It was a damp squib on release, and the equally excellent sequel is one of the lowest-selling games ever. The expansion pack (which adds an entire new faction) is incredibly rare and I had to spend years scouring the world for a copy. A shameful fate for such a brilliant labour of love as Battlezone. Myron posted:There were a bunch of RTS/Action-hybrids that came out during the late 90s/early 2000s like Uprising, Battlezone and Hostile Waters. They were all pretty well received, but it seems like the genre pretty much died down after that. I don't know of any similar games that came out between Hostile Waters and the new Carrier Command in 2012. The sad thing is, they were all critical darlings but none of them sold. The genre died on the vine, and didn't really revive until the mid-2000s by way of tactical squad shooters.
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Feb 1, 2013 14:38
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Disregard.
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Feb 1, 2013 14:39
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^^ They want my money? If i can't noscope enemies in my tank then what's the point?
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Feb 1, 2013 15:09
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Myron posted:There were a bunch of RTS/Action-hybrids that came out during the late 90s/early 2000s like Uprising, Battlezone and Hostile Waters. They were all pretty well received, but it seems like the genre pretty much died down after that. I don't know of any similar games that came out between Hostile Waters and the new Carrier Command in 2012. Relic tried it out with The Outfit for the Xbox 360. I thought it was fun, but after a year or so the multiplayer servers died out. It also didn't compare to Battlezone.
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Feb 1, 2013 17:04
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Wow, Battlezone! I'd completely forgotten about this game, it was a real forgotten treasure even when it came out as I recall. I didn't even know there was a sequel! I only played this when I wasn't even in my teens, so I never got very far and quit out of sheer dumb frustration. I should definitely check out the freeware version! One thing that strikes me immediately watching you play this is how fluid and elegant movement is - your tank behaves very much like I'd imagine any kind of hover vehicle would in space and looks really cinematic and graceful, for lack of a better word. I'll also echo the sentiment that the tinny quality of your voice recording adds a lot of atmosphere to the commentary, though I would like if you could try to boost your recording volume a bit. I'm only on the first video so far though so if you've already done that, ignore me! Hoping to see this game played all the way through! It appears to be in quite capable hands. EDIT: Voice recording volume already addressed, disregard my prattle. murphyslaw fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Feb 1, 2013 |
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Feb 1, 2013 18:34
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Yeah! Battlezone! Let's take all those darn commies to Pluto! NSDF for life! Loved the game when I played it as a kid. I really thought it was the start of a new genre and we would see plenty of games followign in its footsteps. I got sorely disappointed. The only feel I truly regret was the lack of proper air units and no mention whatsoever of space-faring fleet as far as I remember. The sequel is slicker in appearance but it lost that Cold War gone hot on the dark side of the moon feeling of the first one. Althought I completed the sequel, I'm not sure I ever finished the first one. Things could get hectic, managing your base while fighting off the commie hordes. I may still have the CDs somewhere if some goons are up for some MP shenanigans.
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Feb 1, 2013 22:24
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Ah poo poo, so many posts to reply to. Let's just say I plan on making a bonus video or two while I do the LP which will show off some of the cooler things the game did like the in-person installer and some of the first missions secrets as pointed out in the thread. I'm going to spend a bit more time on the next mission than these last two since I want to have a bit more time to do the game justice and not just slap something together for the sake of getting it done.
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Feb 2, 2013 00:28
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This was one of my favourite games as a kid -- between the music, voice acting, and (for the time) cool graphics, the atmosphere was amazing. That I never got to play The Red Odyssey is a major regret of mine -- I tried https://www.battlezone1.com when I found out about it, but could never get it to work with my graphics card.
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Feb 2, 2013 01:27
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Myron posted:There were a bunch of RTS/Action-hybrids that came out during the late 90s/early 2000s like Uprising, Battlezone and Hostile Waters. They were all pretty well received, but it seems like the genre pretty much died down after that. I don't know of any similar games that came out between Hostile Waters and the new Carrier Command in 2012. Battlezone was probably one of the best ones. I was expecting Renegade to also be Battlezone-style in multiplayer. I played the new Carrier command and it's kinda bad. Savage and Savage 2 also fit into this mold.
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Feb 3, 2013 07:48
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 15:48 |
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Also coming in from the C&C:Renegade LP. Nice job so far, Kitty Burger: keep up the funny commentary.  Loxbourne posted:The cosmonauts/astronauts carry a single machinegun each. In large numbers they can be quite dangerous to structures or deny an area against light vehicles.
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Feb 5, 2013 01:43
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