Conflict Zone

"Real-Time Strategy on U.S. Dreamcast!"

While Japan got Hundred Swords and Langrisser Millenium, we got nothing in the RTS (Real-Time Strategy) genre. And when the possibility of RTS on DC was fading, Ubi Soft decides not to cancel its RTS: Conflict Zone.

Story:
Really, this is just about the ICP (good guys) and GHOST (bad guys) fighting each other in the year 2011. The ICP is trying to keep the peace, while GHOST tries to defeat the ICP.

Graphics:
Now, you can't compare this game to something like Command & Conquer or Starcraft, since this is a 3D RTS.

Now, 3D-graphics-wise, this is a nice looking game. When you zoom in enough, you can see the soldier's faces. The gameplay sometimes has the infamous ''Stuttering-while-loading-enemies'' problem, but this isn't really a problem.

Sound/Music:
The voices are nicely done. The sayings the soldier says when you give commands to anyone are repetitive, but not a problem. The game gets its ''T for Teen'' rating, because of its violence, and 'Beeping' out any profanity.

The music is really the same song, but I really don't hear it that much.

Controls:
Now, I'm not sure if this uses the keyboard or mouse, even though it's not mentioned on the back, it may still be in there. Like how you can get the broadband adapter to work with certain games in some special way.

The controller is good, though. There is always a control help in the lower right, and it's tranparent, so it won't get in the way. The analog thumb-pad moves the camera, not the pointer, and it takes a bit to get used to. The A button is the OK button. The B button is the cancel button. The X button is the ''select-all-units-on-screen'' button, and Y resets the camera. The D-Pad selects any thing that's yours seperately everytime you push a direction.

You can fix the camera with the combiation of the R trigger and the pads and buttons.

The L trigger with a pad or button does some other misc. stuff.

Gameplay:
Really the same thing as any other RTS, but with some differences:

1. You get money automatically. The rate of speed depends upon your popularity.
2. You also can get some very good buildings and units if your popularity percentage is high.
3. The ICP gets pouplarity harder than GHOST. Remember this!
4. Throughout the campaign, you get commanders that can take control of a squad while you do the other stuff.

Replayability:
After the campaigns, there is a skirmish mode, where you can go against ONE CPU on different maps with certain rules.

Online capability was planned, but was scrapped. Don't blame Ubi Soft, though; blame SEGA for discontinuing the Dreamcast.

Buy or rent:
Buy if you really like the RTS genre. Rent if you want to see how the only DC RTS in America is.

Anyway, it's available for around $20.00 brand new.

So, if you like Real-Time Strategies, or MUST have every DC game, the only RTS for US Dreamcast, which is also the last third-party game for DC, this is fairly cheap and enjoyable.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/13/02, Updated 03/13/02