Battlezone 2 is back and looks better than ever.

Battlezone: Combat Commander was provided by the developer.

I apologize in advance as I am partial to the ISDF side of the game, I have no photos as the Scion side. So for those who don’t know, you can play both sides, with each side having there own strengths and weakness. ISDF are your typical military, tanks, hovercraft, etc. and while the Scions have more/less the same thing, some of them can “transform” so they can either be faster and weak or tough and slow.

I’m personally proud of this shot, happened completely by accident. Was trying out the different views.

For those of you out there that don’t know of this game series, it was released back in 1999 (advertised as ‘The last game you’ll play’ thanks to the Y2K thing) and it was a hybrid FPS/RTS. You controlled everything from the start in first person from your vehicle (or from your character if you were out of your vehicle) then once a certain building was made, you could “hop in” to said building and take control of any building or unit from RTS view with all the classic things involved with that.

Well now, just like its previous remake (Battlezone Redux) it has been remade itself into Battlezone: Combat Commander. For those who know what it is (as both original games have been kept alive thanks to the modding community,) straight and to the point, nothing extreme about game play or anything like that has been changed. All the original mechanics are still there, the original commands (Such as “Play ISDF/PLAY SCION” for example, not really spoilers for people who don’t know what that is) are still there. Put simply, the game has simply been made to run on modern equipment without having to problems. My original game refused to install on Windows 10 because of…something…by default. Had to jury rig it, install it on a non-W10 version computer, then copy over all the files to W10 to make it work.

Everything you need in a modern game, and of course the lovely FOV slider thank you very much.

Resolution expansion is very good by the way.

But there is a major change to the game overall. Not only does the remake run on modern equipment, it runs with modern resolution, but uses modern rendering and shading, textures have been increased, and the game can support 4K resolution. A game, which originally showed vehicles and such with more detail than I’m sure computers liked at the time (tank tread movement, tracks reacting to differences in terrain) now look even better with modern rendering.

The minor original downsides are still there (*BEEP-DA-BEEP* BASE, UNDER ATTACK *BEE-DA-BEEP* *BEEP-DA-BEEP*) sometimes the AI deciding to take the long way ‘round in order for them to follow you and of course the odd way of resource gathering is still there (3 extractors at once, only one works at a time) but then it wouldn’t be a Battlezone remake if these things weren’t there. None of the original sounds have been taken out/replaced so you’ll see a new game but it’ll sound the same.
And for those people out there that don’t want to give up there original modded game for fear of mods not working, well this might be the time to consider the move since not only does the game still support mods, it supports the Steam workshop as well. So all those “original downsides” I mentioned previously, I’m sure will be taken care of.

Very intuitive menu system is still there. And yes the classic “maximum number of units is F1 through F10” is still there.

There are only two sounds in the original game I really don’t like, the “beep-da-beep” noise (mentioned above) whenever a building or unit was under attack. While you can turn that sound down, I’d prefer a completely different sound honestly. And the other sound is the ISDF Tech building that sounds like everyone in North American just turned on there cell phones and left them all on speaker so it just sounds like a cacophony of voices and static. I saw on the workshop an item for “HD Sounds” and I’m sure there are more to come so if you’re like me and don’t want a COMPLETE change, just something minor, just wait for the modders to get to it. As with the original mods, I have a feeling they’ll be moving to the workshop sooner or later as the convenience is just too much to pass up. So keep an eye out for original mods showing up in the “new” game.

I do love the new look of the ISDF Factory, especially with the spinning pylon?

Some minor downsides to the new remake, because I had everything set to max (still thinking it’s the original game that can comparatively run on a potato nowadays) and it would take a long time to load the game when starting missions as well once it’s done loading the game tends to stutter/freeze the first minute or so after loading the mission and from time to time the game would freeze for a second or two while playing.

NO this is not a loot box. For those who don’t know what a “power up” is, this “crate” is just a new weapon for your person. I called it in to replace my sniper rifle.

Overall, this is another great remake of a game that, while wasn’t huge at the time, but has deserved a remake since. It’s still a very niche game and not so easy to play but for the people that loved the original you’ll love being able to just press play without having your computer saying no or freaking out over the fact it is now a 19 year old game. (Windows: “What is this 3D 8-bit color you speak of?”)

If you’re interested in the game, it’s available on Steam and GoG.

I still love the customization system. Simple, quick, and other than having to get out of your vehicle and go to the building to customize said vehicle, no downside. Just don’t get sniped or your vehicle stolen while you’re doing this.

Written by: Ozzy

Dreamer, optimist, sci-fi lover, Trekkie, caring supporter, loves GOOD music, loves a good story, laid back, has a thing for Aussie accents, and an avid gamer for fun.