Herzog Zwei

"The Father of RTSs!"

The first real-time strategy game ever! The game basically deals with two armies, the red and blue, locked in a civil war to destroy one another.

The war is fought over terrains ranging from sand dunes to a futuristic city, from steaming jungles to an underground network of caves. Your arsenal consists of infantry in full-environmental armor to massive TAX-52 tanks and SAM-42 missile launchers. As you progress over the terrain, you take-over factories, while trying to defend your base, and destroy your opponents.

The main unit you control is a transforming mech which can land and transform into an armored soldier or remain in the air as a jet fighter or an air carrier. The game limits you you to a maximum of fifty units, so build carefully, as the troops can be expensive at times.

Each stage of the game consists of four difficulties listed A through D, for a grand total of thrity-two games set in eight stages, with A being the easiest and D being the toughest.

The game itself is set in an overhead, bird's-eye view. The graphics are very good and clear, allowing you to see the details very well, even on a small-screen TV. Asdie from what you can see on-screen, you are also given a radar to detect any nearby enemy units, as well as your own.

So what are some drawbacks? Aside from the occasional lag when the screen displays multiple units of thirty or more, one of the big disadvantages was the fact that you had to purchase commands for units. The AI wasn't so great at times, that it is quite common for many unitsa to be trapped behind simple obstacles. All units outside of infantry and supply trucks require fuel, so if a vehicle was stuck, you can expect it to run out of fuel soon. This can be tedious if you are unaware of the unit's fate, as you must now search for it and it reduces the number of units avaliable to you.

You could also only issue out commands one at a time, which severely limited the ability to attack your opponent in large forces at times. One reason, being units can get trapped as described as above. Two being the need to purchase commands could severely limit your offensive if you are low on cash. And third being some faster units would outpace your slower units, which gives your opponent time to form a defense or to attack your forces on their own.

Still this game is a classic, and its a shame it was never updated to the future Sega consoles.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/03, Updated 07/16/03