TITLE: Z, one letter that will doom them all... AUTHOR: Jim9137 DATE: 2/28/2005 03:36:00 ip. ----- BODY:

Remember how I told not so far ago about my dislike to the traditional, "collect command and conquer" (3C games anyone?), or those Command & Conquer clones. Well, the stereotype of RTS's anyway, á la Warcraft 3 and Starcraft and of course the numerous spawns of Command & Conquer... I still remember time when even the game reviewers shouted in pain after another exactly-like-the-month-old RTS tapdance in to their reviewing booths... Total Annihilation of course practically made that fashion die, I assume. It's a good game in my opinion too... Oh, sorry got carried away. Anyway, this blog entry talks about a game that doesn't only follow the ground rules of 3C games, but is at the same time tactically challenging and even interesting. The game I'm talking about is of course Z. NO NOT THE Z: STEEL SOLDIERS YOU LITTLE *slaps with walking stick* That game just abandoned everything good on Z... bloody sellouts... grumble grumble... Back to the topic again. Z, that simple letter hides under it's simple concept the extreme need for tactics and carefully planned rushing... I haven't played this game in a while, so don't take everything I say as a fact. The only non-3C features I can think of are the nonexistant resources and the unability to mass produce units. Which, frankly, I don't miss. Anyway, the game is basically simple capture and hold. INTERESTING, ISN'T IT? It is. Trust me. You'll be battling for those flags for the 95% of time. So why would I want a flag? Well, when you get the flag, you get the territory where it belongs to. Yes, maps are usually divided to 3x3 territories or more, depends on what kind of map it is. If the territory has factories or radars or something, you get them along the flag. And the factories are important since they produce units. Your stronghold can only produce basic grunts, but more advanced factories give you bazooka men, snipers and other evil things. You can of course shoot them if you wish, especially if it will give you edge over the opponent... Anyway, more territories means also lesser time in producing units. At shortest a grunt will only take few minutes to produce, but at worst it might take 30+ minutes or more. Especially with tanks this might get extremely long. This game is also quite unique in the way it handles the territory. Well, you can shoot trees in warcraft 3 but that is not in anyway necessary. In Z, you can for example in the first level punch through the canyon to get that middle flag, while your opponent is amassing it's jeeps in the sides. Grenades do this, and you can naturally throw em at your opponent. But you have to pick them up first. Tanks can blow stuff up too, without the need to worry about ammunition. Then comes the bridges, and then comes the factories and and such. Computer is one of the most cunning I have ever seen, I really have to pay attention to it's doings or otherwise it'll snatch 3 flags in a blink of an eye. It will too use the grenades at will, to make routes at your vulnerable areas. There are some vechiles left for you to take in the maps, you just need to order grunt to it. Heck, you can even snipe the drivers off from the vechiles and essentially steal them. It's quite annoying to lose 5 tanks you patiently build to your enemy. Well, how do you win then? Each of you, the red and blue, have a stronghold. You basically just have to drive a jeep in and it will explode. There is a slight but here, the stronghold is usually covered by various MG's and rocket launcer towers that you can build. Some factories also have these, but I can't exactly remember if they were only on the big ones. And now comes the thing that sets Z out of any other 3C/RTS title I have ever played. The feel, the atmosphere. Those two words might seem very little, but man in Z you're just crying out loud for more. The game's robots are very charming, yes, robots are always cool damn it. They throw oneliners at you, they have distinct personalities over other types of robots, and they will scream like a pig when they get shot to tiny bits. And the music, the music is actually switching according to different situations. It's not really anything new, even for it's time, but it certainly raises the atmosphere. You will know when they are knocking at your stronghold's frontdoor. Well. I might add more if I can think of it later, for now I'm going mobile and leave you to examine some screenshots... P.S: Sorry for the typos, lack of articles, lack of 's and for the general I can't understand what are you sayingness. I just got home, and my head is still mushy.

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