Warzone 2100

Discussion in 'General Gaming and Hardware Forum' started by The Vault Dweller, Mar 17, 2009.

  1. The Vault Dweller

    The Vault Dweller always looking for water.

    Aug 24, 2004
    I recently finished Warzone 2100. It's an old RTS that at first came out for the Playstation then had a very limited PC release. The problem is since consoles aren't known for their RTS games and the PC release was very limited the game became unheard of.

    It's totally undeserved. The game has a very unique game mechanic for the tech tree that makes sense and is very fun to use. You find pieces of technology salvaged from locations and research it to be used. You can also apply the same technology to things you other techs you already have. The explanation for needing to find tech is that the setting is post-apocalyptic and much was lost during the "event" which destroyed most of the world and left the survivors to scavenge to survive. Best of all is the very unique game mechanic (and I think the only game with this) where you design your units from a variety of parts. You have its propulsion, body, and turret and each has many different types. All units even gain experience. However this wasn't very fulfilling since it takes forever to get a unit to hero (the highest of ten ranks of exp.) and a hero unit isn't even double what a normal unit's abilities are.

    It's a shame though that mulitiplayer is only possible by organizing a get together. There isn't a system to meet other players (like Blizzards battlenet) and it's a shame, because I think with the mechanic of having to find tech and building your own units would make for a very interesting multiplayer experience. I haven't played multiplayer so I have no idea what it's like, but I would hope that you start out with all the basic technology unupgraded and can search ruins or raid small settlements to find tech you don't have or better examples to upgrades the ones you do have. Then when you and your opponent actually engage each other you have very different forces depending on what you found (making it random would be awesome!).

    Oh and even if you think the game sounds barely playable and not really good let me remind you it's free.

    http://wz2100.net/

    I have one very big warning however. The game is quite hard. I play RTS a lot and most of my time is spent in multiplayer where you learn the real skills and playing this I barely finished the last few missions. I was playing on normal difficulty. If you have never played a RTS online competitively I would suggest you set it to easy. I just hope it's easy enough.

    Also there is one small exploit (yeah I barely completed the campaign and I used an exploit) is that the missions are timed and if you have the mission almost complete with lots of time left wait until the last few minutes to complete it so you can spend more time and resources researching and building. Everything you have from one mission caries over to the next...tech, buildings, and yes even units!

    Sincerely,
    The Vault Dweller
     
  2. The Dutch Ghost

    The Dutch Ghost Grouchy old man of NMA Moderator

    Jan 11, 2004
    Hey I remember this game, I came across it while looking for PA themed games.

    Man it really has been a long time.
     
  3. The Vault Dweller

    The Vault Dweller always looking for water.

    Aug 24, 2004
    Wow I honestly thought there wouldn't be a single person here who would have played it. Though the fact you found it looking for PA games doesn't surprise me at all. :wink:

    Sincerely,
    The Vault Dweller
     
  4. Eyenixon

    Eyenixon Vault Senior Citizen

    Apr 11, 2008
    I remember that the PC version got a pretty good critical reception at its release, the concept was intriguing as well.
    I have the PSX version, the controls were bothersome and the resolution was a rather iffy problem since you couldn't really see as much of the action as you needed to.

    I had no idea it was freeware, maybe it's better on the PC without the problems it suffered from on the PSX.
     
  5. The Vault Dweller

    The Vault Dweller always looking for water.

    Aug 24, 2004
    Considering that hard controls make it hard to play I'd say this game needs to be played on PC to be playable. Like any RTS really.

    Also one thing that I didn't learn until 1/3 the way in and that helped a lot is that you can zoom in and out with the mouse wheel. I was always zoomed out far so I could see as much as possible.

    Sincerely,
    The Vault Dweller

    P.S.

    Controls are odd since you use left-click only. To select units, then to move, and to build/research etc. you left-click the panel at bottom left.

    It will take about a few minutes to become familiar with it all.
     
  6. Eyenixon

    Eyenixon Vault Senior Citizen

    Apr 11, 2008
    Well the PSX one's controls sucked because it was an RTS on a console, no matter this one's control scheme I'll be able to catch on to it quickly, I've played more RTS games than I care to count.
     
  7. The Dutch Ghost

    The Dutch Ghost Grouchy old man of NMA Moderator

    Jan 11, 2004
    Some years ago I saw a big boxed version somewhere for sale.

    I was considering picking it up as I was a in PC game collection phase at the moment but it never happened.

    Its interesting how many RTS games have come and gone since Dune 2 and C&C.

    The Vault Dweller, do you know another PA RTS game called KKND?

    It also took place after a nuclear war and involved humans and mutants in the first part, a robot faction was added in the second game.
    If I remember well it took place in Australia.

    At least the developers were Australians.
     
  8. The Vault Dweller

    The Vault Dweller always looking for water.

    Aug 24, 2004
    I had heard of it and actually just looked it up. It is PA and came out around 1998. I don't remember how it was rated. The screenshots make it look like a C&C clone.

    You can buy it from EA games. I won't though. If I had a few high-rated reviews I would.

    Sincerely,
    The Vault Dweller
     
  9. Mord_Sith

    Mord_Sith Mildly Dipped

    588
    Sep 21, 2007
    Sounds like you would have enjoyed a game by Psygnosis called Metal Fatigue there Dweller.
     
  10. The Vault Dweller

    The Vault Dweller always looking for water.

    Aug 24, 2004
    I just looked it up. Sounds really nice, but I don't know how to get a hold of such an old game.

    Sincerely,
    The Vault Dweller
     
  11. Mord_Sith

    Mord_Sith Mildly Dipped

    588
    Sep 21, 2007
    Yeah, unfortunately Psygnosis/Zono folded and there is only some copies available to US residents and even then they're overpriced because of what the game is. (Check out Amazon.com if you're in the US TVD and if you're willing to shell out somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 bucks for it it's there...)

    A crying shame really, the game had so many good dynamics to it that modern RTS games still haven't been able to incorporate properly.

    Anyways, one other strategy game that's an all-time favorite of mine, once again only available in the US and maybe UK from what I was finding was Age of Wonders, stay away from AoW 2 or 3.

    It's Turn-Based Tactical, but somehow I don't think you'll have a problem with that, and the leader units (Heroes) are skill-customizable and you can equip them with items found in dungeons and whatnot. The neat thing about this one is even though you start with one race, that doesn't stop you from building units from other races if you have a city with the other race's population. It has a small construction system (builder unit can only build 4 things: Tower, Shipyard, Road, Rebuild Construction). The game is more unit-centric with a vast array of unit abilities and bonuses that can be magical, inherent, or learned (in a Hero's case.)

    One neat trick in the game, is to have at least one sphere in earth and give a boat free movement, that will allow it to travel on land, something I don't think the devs ever expected :P :D