[Longplay, No Commentary] Battlezone 98 Redux (PC, 2016) Part 1/2 NSDF Very Hard Play-through

* As you may notice, I did not learn the more advanced tactics and controls in the game until I played The Red Odyssey, so you will only see higher level gameplay in my TRO play-through. *

Battlezone 98 Redux is a first-person shooter real-time strategy game released in 2016 for Windows. It is the remastered version of Battlezone originally released in 1998. The story revolves around the conflicts between the USA and Soviets during the Space Race in an alternate timeline, which will eventually turn into a better love story than Twilight. Part 1 of my play-through tells the story from the perspective of the American National Space Defense Force (NSDF) (Campaign name: Stars and Stripes) in Very Hard difficulty.

I have never played the original game, but I believe this remastered version, as the term suggests, just remastered the game visually. The rest of the game like controls and AI behaviour were true to the original. The FPS + RTS hybrid gameplay was definitely innovative and unique, especially when the original release date was considered. I loved that, until my platoon got too numerous to control properly. The single player campaigns would become easy to beat once the player have learnt the scripted sequences and enemy spawns, as well as using some smart (cheesy) tactics to win. Replayability is still there for players who wish to pass missions in a more efficient manner. However, I think the real fun was in the online multiplayer mode, but I will not be going into that.

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Specific mission timestamps:
0:00:00 Opening + Training
0:15:19 Mission 1: Red Arrival
0:19:57 Mission 2: Eagle's Nest 1
0:31:45 Mission 3: The Relic Discovered
0:45:52 Mission 4: An Unexpected Connection
1:06:28 Mission 5: Escape From Mars
1:21:00 Mission 6: Behind Enemy Lines
1:38:59 Mission 7: A Nasty Surprise
1:51:56 Mission 8: Wrangling The Fleeing Herd
2:16:51 Mission 9: The Race Is On
2:24:43 Mission 10: Bring It Home
2:31:01 Mission 11: Flying Solo
2:37:50 Mission 12: Total Destruction
2:58:35 Mission 13: The Three Beacons
3:19:25 Mission 14: United We Fight - United We Die
3:26:26 Mission 15: Strike At The Heart
3:35:30 Mission 16: Tapping The Core
3:59:01 Mission 17: The Ultimate Quake
4:11:07 Ending + Credits

[crazkurtz]

One of my favourite games of all time. We need another one

[uuamenator]

I dearly wish someone would reimagine this game with a deeper driving (slower, more emphasis on accuracy and choosing the right tool for the right job, more tactical less of 98's arcade feel), and a deeper strategy gameplay (for units to actually have a build time, with research, with more buildings and tiers of buildings, just like an actual RTS would) so that this game could truly shine and stand out.

The original game was mindblowing to me in how immersive the gameplay is, but after playing it a while there's just so much that could be improved that it makes replaying this game for nostalgia becomes a bittersweet feeling, always leaving me wanting for more and better. So many weapons and devices are vague and lack practical use that could be made more specialized in their own specific nieches, no flying units besides furies, so many weapons are practically useless because of how little total damage you can do with a full ammo load, the resource scarcity becomes an ever increasing frustration in later missions. Very short limits to pilots, resources, only one constructor and number of vehicles you can control force a very on-the-move hit-and-run or do-it-yourself gameplay rather than more strategic and build-up-your-base, defend and outmaneuver-the-enemy approach I wish for. The very nature of 'scrap' resource, just like in Total Annihilation always punishes the attacker and feeds the defender. Disasterous unit AI constantly leaves your offensive units half dead before they realize they should probably be fighting back while on the move to a remote checkpoint. The arcade feel of the game, and all of the mentioned before problems are an understandable compromise between how much you want and how much the developer of that time could realistically create, but i never stopped wishing for better and more.

[timbob]

Rebellion made two of the best games of all time in my opinion, this and the old pc alien Vs Predator, both games were so good and so ahead of the time. Good to see people still giving them some love.

[MrRepoman]

1:44:36 that part where Colorado gets wiped out creeped me out as a kid!

[cpt.rogers]

After re-playing both battlezones and the 'command' mod for BZ-II I must say that constant unit damage beeping sound has given me some form of PTSD.

[danielcuellaar]

Maravilloso, un clasico muy amado por los gamers de la vieja escuela :3

[deforesttappan]

Great as always. Here's some more 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[thRiflesOCI]

1:35 i remember this intro and thought how useless the gun towers were

[calmbeforethestory]

"The biggest invasion since Normandy" -- with four PLATOONS! LOL! A platoon consists of only a few dozen soldiers!

[SoilentGrn]

I knew about Battlezone but never played it back then. Pretty incredible games for the time.

I played through both Uprising games about a year ago and halfway through Battlezone on hard right now and having a great time.

[karol]

Just passed "Strike At The Heart " on very hard what a pain you made it look easy

[jrb]

Thanks I didn't realize I had to spend money on an old game I loved and forgot about 😅😂

[michaelandreipalon]

Just gonna watch this, even if it's not of the playlist variety.


0:18: Hehe, isn't that Battlezone 1980?


Hmm, the fast forward kinda bugs me, but I'll take it in stride.


15:49: Cue the narrations of one Grizzly One, real name Jason Bates. (Reminds me of Aken Bosch's narrations from FreeSpace 2.)


17:25: Guess you just declared war first.


38:53: As expected, first encounter on the red planet... sort of.


Though time consuming and risky, ejecting those captured Soviet vehicles sure is smart.


1:08:40: What a serendipitous find at that time. (Also, gotta love that Star Wars reference.)


Am always surprised that the NSDF and CCA (also the Black Dogs and the CRA) can handle Venus' extremely rough atmosphere.


Nice work with the Golems on "A Nasty Surprise".


(In mission chronology, the NSDF - Stars and Stripes missions "A Nasty Surprise and "Wrangling the Fleeing Herd" are set almost simultaneously with the CCA - The Red Brigade missions "The Golem Ambush" and "Precious Cargo" respectively; all four are also almost simultaneous with The Red Odyssey's CRA "Red Storm" campaign.)


1:51:30: The human experimentation will foreshadow future developments, especially in Combat Commander.


Destroying those artillery units in "Wrangling the Fleeing Herd" sure felt like playing Worms.


If the Cthonians are basically the Greek gods, who exactly are the Christian/Jewish/Muslim God and the Aztec, Mesopotamian, Chinese, Japanese, Viking, and other civilization deities then?


(Back to mission chronology: The CCA mission "The Evil Battalion" is set sometime during the NSDF's "The Race Is On" and "Bring It Home"; the next mission, "Io's Bridge", is set before the NSDF's "Flying Solo" and "Total Destruction", which are implied to be set during the last four CCA missions. Oh, and TRO's Black Dogs campaign, Dogs of War, is set between all the aforementioned missions.)


Ah, Wilhelm Arkin. One notable example of why Operation Paperclip was a bit of a bad idea.


Am a bit irked at the outcome of "Total Destruction" here, though it feels fitting.


(Mission chronology again: Assuming the Rise of the Black Dogs campaign for the otherwise shoddy N64 port is still canon, it's set sometime during the final missions of the NSDF campaign and maybe even afterwards.)


And so, like the Galactic Terran Alliance and the Parliamentary Vasudan Empire from FreeSpace, the NSDF and the CCA start making an uneasy yet surprisingly long-lasting alliance, and what that will lead to a united international front in the years to come (although said front were forced to fight against rogue elements like the Black Dogs; the aforementioned FreeSpace factions were even forced to fight against Galactic Terran Intelligence and the Hammer of Light, so it's a pattern).


If anyone asks, *no.* Uranus doesn't have a moon named Achilles, and even if it has, then it'll be off putting with the Shakespeare theming of its other moons.


4:13:40: Gods, Steve Blum is EVERYWHERE!!!

[Cyberdactyl]

Probably the most underrated PC game of all time. I must have put in 4000+ hours in BZ multiplayer and the BZE (enhanced) mod.

[csudab]

25 years later I can still play that drum riff

[camfg]

Which key do you press to self destroy a vehicle? I tried to find it when I was a kid and never found it

[eddieholly]

Anyone ever play the full size cockpit cabinet of this? I swear it's the same game but I remember the tanks being more alien

[jonathanj.]

Sadly, people don't make video games like this anymore.

[fabianernestopacheco]

Espero que lancen un nuevo remake con calidad de 2023. Creo que los gráficos no tienen una gran diferencia con la versión original de 1998. Nunca lo he jugado pero me parece que tiene una excelente dinámica.

[АнтонКоломин-им]

Одна из крутейших игр своего времени, жаль подобного нет сейчас. Вторая часть хуже была. У меня два постера из журнала сохранились)