Z

"Zuperb!!!"

Z is a RTS game developed by Bitmap Brothers. I consider Z a true classic and despite its small number of sales due to bad advertising it IS indeed a great game with a small but hardcore fanbase. It's a shame that most people don't know it, many of which call themselves strategy game fans.

Story: N/

There's no actual story to say the truth, you are the Red Robots and under the command of General Zod you have win against the Blue Robots. There is a cutscene after each level that shows two robots going from battlefield to battlefield but the only thing they offer is some minor humor to the game.

Gameplay: 8.4/10
Replay Value: 9/10

Forget resources, forget building constructing, forget sitting around calmly, playing while you talk with your girlfriend on the phone, drinking beer and eating pizza. This game throws you in the battlefield from the very start of the game and you've got to think, think, think and move it, move it, move it!!! Instead of gathering recourses you've got to rush in order to capture various areas of the map that in order to use the buildings in these areas. After you touch the little flag, the area is yours and the factory in it is yours to handle. In factories you select what you want it to build, with certain unit built only in certain factories. In Z even milliseconds count! You've got to be quick AND play smart with the purpose of capturing the fortress of the enemy. In order to do that you must carefully plan what to train and when, which areas to capture first, whether it is better to destroy a bridge or factory and many more making Z a game where you truly must use strategy in order to win and not just be fast or built a larger army.

You can create various units that all have cons and pros. There is a nice variety of foot soldiers that range from simple troops and soldiers with rocket launchers, to snipers or soldiers with lazer guns. All these can ride vehicles and can do various tricks like shooting enemies of their vehicles without damaging the vehicle and many more. There is a nice variety in vehicles too, with small tanks to heavy tanks, fast jeeps, stationary antitank missiles and even vehicles that repair bridges. The enemy AI though is insane!!! I'm ashamed to admit that even in the Low Difficulty setting I have a hard time beating most of the game's levels. Yes, it's that hard! The only problem is that the enemy does some sort of cheating like making the first vehicles faster, having more units from the beginning and things like that, forcing you to micromanage the battle a lot, like lure enemies, surround them or avoid getting your valuable anti-tank missiles destroyed by sacrificing a measly soldier. Fortunately even if your morale gets low from the high difficulty playing against a friend makes the game even better and increases its replay value.

Graphics: 8.5/10
Design: 9.5/10

Yes I'm not kidding, I've given this oldie a high score in the graphics section. Z shows us that fancy 3D graphics aren't the only thing a game needs to be good looking. Pixel artists will simply love this game, everything is so small but oh, so detailed without a single little pixel being in the wrong place. Like Warcraft the units of Z have a semi cartoonish look that looks very good. There aren't actually many units available for today's standards and both Red & Blue have no differences. Some kind of soldiers, some jeeps, tanks and various artillery\missiles and that's it but all these have great design, especially the soldiers which have great animation despite their size… just leave them stand somewhere for some seconds and they will start doing all kinds of crazy stuff. The overall design of the interface is great too, with animated portraits of your current selected unit and a great radar\sonar-looking map. There are only a few areas, like the desert, the volcanic battlefield, the snowy place, the jungle and the city but all look great with good amounts of small details that greatly enhance the level design.

Sound: 7.8/10
Music: 6.5/10

The sound effects are very good but what is even better is the quality of the voice acting. While you fight your robots shout orders, inform you about some important events and shout funny stuff in many occasions like for example when you sent a soldier to single-handedly attack a Tank he shouts, “ARE YOU CRAZY!?!”. The voice acting was so good that I've even added language packs of various languages even though I couldn't understand a think, (oh, the Spanish version was so funny). The music themes weren't something special, just background music with only one good thing, which is the fact that it changes a bit when things get ugly in the battlefield.

Positives:
-No recourses\building, just base capturing and fighting!
-Quite good graphics
-Excellent voice acting and sound effects

Negatives:
-Very difficult, one of the hardest RTS games around
-The enemy cheats a bit

Also Play:
Command & Conquer (Series)
Dune (Strategy Series)

Overall: 8.3/10

Trying to beat such a hard game by trying to find the perfect strategy is what makes the game so addicting. The enemy AI doesn't forgive the slightest mistake and you must constantly be on the move with you eyes and ears open and your brain awake. Overall a great game that every true, RTS fan should play.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/09

Game Release: Z (US, 07/31/96)