Battlezone

"Was this the first first-person shooter?"

Pros: Great graphics and animation; fun, easy action; smooth controls

Cons: Becomes repetitively very quickly; sounds are stock and generic

The Bottom Line: Fast-paced action games that don't utilize strategy can be fun, if only for a little while.

The “First-Person Shooter” is a popular video game genre today and has been for a while, but where did it originate? One might make a case for Battlezone, which was originally designed as a training device for the U.S. Army's tank drivers. I doubt anyone would be knowledgeable on the operations of a tank after having played this game, but they would get to experience the joys of shooting the enemy and the perils of being ambushed.

PRESS FIRE TO START

The game is played from the perspective of just above and behind a tank on a seemingly infinite, three-dimensional field of play. Enemies pop up out of nowhere every few seconds, and thanks to your trusty radar scope, you can determine how to maneuver in order to engage them. You can rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise and move forward and reverse. The weapon is simply a “point-and-shoot” cannon which is limited to only one shot at a time.

The enemies consist of tanks, planes and UFOs (which are actually more of a distraction than a true target). Each type of target varies in difficulty to hit as well as to avoid. They each score a different amount of points too. 1-Ups are awarded at 50,000 and 100,000 points, but actually scoring that high is quite a challenge.

PLAYER 1 – READY!

There isn't much to Battlezone other than driving around and blowing up enemies. Although there technically is a back story, the game doesn't have any long-term objective other than staying alive and scoring points. In fact, there's very little to do here as far as individual tasks. Simply shoot the enemy and dodge their fire - that's it, that's all there is.

Of course, this is easier said than done. This is an action-oriented game that needs next to no strategy to play it, only dexterity. Battlezone definitely delivers as far as a fast-paced action game goes. Some of the most fun games to play do not involve any inherent strategy, rather, reflex.

The only major flaw with this game is the slow speed by which your tank moves. When enemies come up from behind it is extremely difficult to turn around and engage them (a real tank would have the capability to turn its turret in the opposite direction of its movement). Many times you'll find yourself being blown up by the enemy because they came up behind you so quickly.

JOYSTICKING

As far as motion is concerned, the controls here are absolutely fluid. In fact, few games for the Atari 2600 had such smooth, responsive play control as Battlezone. But then again, there isn't a lot to do as far as movement anyway. The only bummer is the ridiculous delay (two seconds) between shots which can seem like an eternity.

SPRITES & PIXELS

If nothing else, Battlezone is worth its place in the VCS library for its graphics alone. So many games of the time were dark and blocky, but the opposite is true here. It has a very vivid, bright color scheme with crisp graphics. It really does give the sense of playing in a three-dimensional field of play.

Special mention must be made to the screen effect that occurs when your tank is hit. For a minute I thought the game wasn't working properly because it looks like you have a bad connection and the screen fills with random lines and static-like imagery. Even by 2008's standards this is impressive, so imagine how this must have blown gamers' minds back in the early 1980s.

CHIPPED TUNES

As great as the visuals are, the sound palette is very generic and full of the stock Atari effects. Thankfully, none are so low-tech that they are grating on the ears, but if you play this game for any significant amount of time you might find these bleeps and bloops annoying.

INSERT COIN TO CONTINUE

As far as the overall gameplay is concerned, Battlezone is pretty fun and challenging. I found myself playing it repeatedly trying to top myself, but in the process I realized the more I played it, the less fun it became. As I mentioned before, there isn't a whole lot to do here so the game is very repetitive. Not to the point of making it unplayable, but enough to make it fun for short sessions only.

GAME OVER

It's often difficult to appreciate the innovation of first-generation video games, but with Battlezone you can see how advanced it was for its time. It's still fun and challenging today, and that's what makes for a good video game.

Recommended: Yes

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/20/08

Game Release: Battlezone (US, 1983)