Battlezone: Combat Commander is out now on PC, and has already racked up rave reviews on Steam.
A remake of Battlezone 2, fans can expect the same blend of first-person shooting and real-time strategy, only with improved visuals, Steam Achievements, Workshop support and a ton of other mod-cons.
With 24 missions spread across six worlds, it’s your job to combat alien forces as part of an elite International Space Defence Force.You’ll have an arsenal of tanks, walkers and cruisers at your disposal, as you carefully plan your strategy and blast away your enemies.
With the game proving a hit on Steam, Express Online spoke to producer Steven Archer to find out why they changed the name, what makes it so timeless and if there’s any chance of a console release.
What made you decide to bring back Battlezone 2 as Battlezone: Combat Commander?
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After releasing Battlezone 98 Redux the dev team at Big Boat Interactive were already in place, and we had tracked down the project source code. Big Boat’s vision for the remake matched ours. Most importantly, though, we were being approached by the diehard fans for it. We’d learned a lot from working Battlezone 98 Redux so armed with that knowledge and the demand, taking on Battlezone 2 seemed both very doable and to make an awful lot of sense.
Why the name change?
It was originally released as Battlezone 2: Combat Commander, but under the Rebellion umbrella and with the release of Battlezone on VR and Battlezone 98 Redux we’ve seen Battlezone grow into a brand. Combat Commander is such a strong name and describes the game perfectly.
What is it about the game that has made it such a lasting hit with fans?
When it was released it was different to any other games out there, and even today the mix of RTS and FPS makes this really quite unique. You can play Battlezone: Combat Commander using many different strategies and playing styles and the game never really forces you down a particular route. Yes, there and missions and mid-mission objectives, but the approach you take is up to you.
Were there ever any plans to do something radically different like Rebellion did with Battlezone VR?
No! The fans wouldn’t have accepted it, but that’s not to say we couldn’t look at other opportunities in the future. We’ve concentrated our efforts on improving the visuals with the new renderer and shading, post processing effects, and art assets, as well as fixing issues that the original Battlezone 2 shipped with, along with other tweaks. We’ve also added Steam Workshop support, which is a great addition for creative community members, as well as cross-platform multiplayer and achievements.
Any plans to bring it to consoles?
We have it in our thoughts, but there are no plans currently. Perhaps if enough of the fans lobby us for it, that will influence our decision. That said, the game is very PC-centric with its expansive set of keyboard and mouse controls, but with some redesign I’m sure that could be addressed.
Do you think this will appeal to people not familiar with the original and why?
Hand on heart, until we started looking at remastering the game I had never played the original. But within moments of playing it I was drawn in by it the cross-genre mix of strategy, base-building, and full on vehicle combat. It’s an excellent, timeless game and I think that it more than holds up now.