Warzone 2100 Developer: Pumpkin Studios Publisher: Eidos Interactive Category: 3D Real Time Strategy System Req: P233, 64mb Ram, 75Mb Hard disk space, 3D accelerator card, Win95/98 Might look like: Earth 2150 Date posted: 19 july '99 Written By: Geert - This game was reviewed on AMD K6 200 Mhz MMX, 72 Mb Ram, Voodoo2 (12 mb) card, Win98 - A little Introduction The year 1998 was a year full of RTS games. I'm not gonna name every company that released a RTS game, but there were plenty of them. Remarkable, after already several months in 1999, we couldn't find any new RTS games. Yes there was the add-on of the great Starcraft, and maybe some minor titles but there wasn't anything really bombastic. Perhaps because Westwood announced the release of Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun? Still, some companies had a couple of ideas to make the first C&C killer. There is Total Annihilation: Kingdoms, Dark Reign 2, Earth 2150 and, just arrived at the Playdevil office, Warzone 2100. Get ready for an in-depth review! The Story Warzone 2100 settles in the year... 2100 in a post-apocalyptical world. As many games, the story of the game is one of the future. In the year 2085, a space organisation, called NASDA (hmm...) produced a special project and the goal of this project was to 'nuke the earth'. (in fact they told something else to the people of course, but that was their plan). Enormous missiles reached earth and destroyed everything. Nuclear winter reigned on earth. The few survivors of this mass-attack tried to rebuild civilization - but not peaceful. At this point you come in the game, assemble an strong army force and start to search for hidden technology treasures. Beware, because you're not the only one who's in search for. One of the first with True 3D landscape! The story Pumpkin Studios (from Bristol, England) came up with, is not really an original one, but it is a good reason to fight! After the successfully Total Annihilation (a game by Cavedog which was semi-3D), Warzone 2100 is one of the first with a true 3D landscape. This results in a whole complete new approach to tactical planning in this mad world. A world that doesn't exist anymore out of green landscapes, trees, healthy water, blue air... Caused by the nuclear meltdown, the underground has a strange rust-coloured look. The landscape contains many hills and mountains, which offers players great opportunities to march up in the field of battle, having a great survey on the opposing forces. Steep mountains slow down your forces, but gives you also the chance to hide in the shadows of it. Of course this advantage counts also for your enemy. The integration of the 3D aspect in the game has been wonderfully accomplished, offering the player a realistic view on the game, and gives him a beautiful 3D-feeling.    Three 3D campaigns ... 34 misions Unlike other games, the build menu has not been placed on the right side of the screen, but appears transparent on the lower bottom of the screen (see shots). It gives you a greater look on the battlefield, something that is really necessary, because sometimes the fights really turn out to be frenetic. More about this later, first we've got to discuss further the build menu. This menu has been divided in 6 parts, with three really important options. The one with the world symbol on it gives you your mission task, the light blue button next to the world button, gives you access to the design departement. In the design department you can create your own units! This is one choice that I've never seen in another game, and I really appreciated it! As you advance with your technologies, you can create new units with higher strength, speed and attack power depending on your choice. Another real important button on the menu is the green button in the N-E of the menu. It's your research facility, and here you'll develop another technologies. There are 3 campaigns in total, which covers 34 missions. The three campaigns are played each in another environment. The first campaign in a desert, the second in a disturbed city and the last in the lonelyness of the Rocky Mountains. One of the fascinating parts of Warzone 2100 is how these campaigns are organized. Instead of the usual mission-based campaigns, the players begin the major campaign segments at a base area and all subsequent missions for that branch start at the base camp. You build up your forces, structures, and defenses of your base camp throughout the scenario. The individual missions begin after a briefing, however, you may play one mission after another within a single mission. After accomplishing a particular task, you can get new orders and so the game will continue. Next Page Up Previous Page If you want to review your favorite game, or if you work with a computer game company and want your products reviewing, mail info@playdevil.com. All contributions are welcome. Any problems and/or suggestions are always appreciated on webmaster@playdevil.com Nothing of this entire Site, animation & logo's included, may be reproduced, stored, saved, transmitted, in any form or means, electronic, written or otherwise without the prior permission of PlayDevil. Other Logos & Names are Copyrighted Material of its respectful owners. All Rights Reserved. PlayDevil Productions © 199/8-199/9 "rip your own stuff"