Battlezone Gold Edition

Genre: Action / First-Person Shooter / Roguelike

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local Wireless, Online), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Following in the footsteps of the original 1980 arcade game of the same name, Battlezone is a First-Person Action game with Roguelike elements where players drive a tank across a digital landscape, fighting other tanks, as well as airborne enemies and stationary turrets. This reboot of the franchise originally released in 2016 on PlayStation 4 as a PlayStation VR launch title. This game was later ported to other platforms in a non-VR “Gold Edition” that included all previously-released DLC, and it is this version that was released on Nintendo Switch in 2018.

The presentation here is good, though it doesn’t push any boundaries. The 3D visuals here are largely blocky and untextured, but intentionally so. The world of the game is depicted in an abstract look that’s reminiscent of retro computer graphics seen in stuff like the Tron films. These visuals are accompanied by a robotic-sounding narrator and announcer, and a decent electronica-style soundtrack. Overall, it’s a look that works well for the games, and does a good job of gesturing to the game’s old-school roots while still making use of more modern visuals.

The gameplay here has players selecting their levels from a randomized hex-based map, with the player working their way to the enemy’s base at the opposite end, ideally hitting weapon shops and the enemy’s shield generators along the way. In between these, the player will encounter randomly-generated levels of a few different kinds, including simple enemy elimination levels, convoy escort levels, enemy facility destruction levels… nothing revolutionary, but the different missions do help to add some variety here.

Players will get their choice of tank ranging from a heavy bruiser to a speedy but vulnerable machine, and will be able to outfit it with a variety of weapons purchased at shops along the way. The weapons available are unlocked via the game’s Roguelike elements, and it can be really delightful to gain access to a fancy new guided rocket or chain gun.

As for the action itself, it’s mostly quite good, if a bit repetitive. Players will need to make good use of cover to avoid enemy fire, or they can opt to make use of a speed boost to dodge. This is a risky move, however – these speed boosts sap your shields, which means you’ll be worse off if you do get hit. There’s a decent variety of enemies here, and the different kinds of missions and maps keep things interesting.

I do have a bunch of more minor complaints, however. Firstly, the game shows its VR roots in having your simulated “head” move when aiming, and doing so obscures HUD information in your cockpit, such as the enemy radar and weapon info. Also, some of the limitations the game places on you are frustrating – not being able to drive over any moderate-sized bump in the road, swapping weapons taking a little while to load, reloading weapons happening often and also taking a while… this game is full of a lot of little annoyances like this, and while it doesn’t outweigh the good gameplay here, it does dampen it somewhat. Finally, while the game does support co-op play, be aware that you’ll need to bring your own friend, as the online servers are currently empty.

While it’s not without its flaws, Battlezone is still a solid Action game with some good gameplay, and its Roguelike elements keep things interesting. Player looking for a fun action game that has them driving a tank should find this to be a satisfying game worth playing.

tl;dr – Battlezone is a reboot of the arcade classic that has you driving a tank and blasting away enemies in a digital landscape. The Action elements here combine well with some Roguelike elements, and while the gameplay here has some small frustrations, this is overall a satisfying Action title.

Grade: C+

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