Z (1996)Absolutely definitely not one of the "Scrabble tile" games I bought at the turn of this year, no siree Bob...
This is an early RTS game centred around an intriguing intergalactic geopolitical landscape, and the themes explored within - such as the futility of war in general and the wisdom of Western cultural empire-building - are just as pertinent today as they were at the turn of the...nah, sorry, can't do that to you - this game is dumb as bricks and wears it like a badge of honour. There is no story, save for an army of red robots waging war on an army of blue robots because reasons. The cutscenes chart the antics of Brad and Allen, two low ranking but absolutely
raaadicalll! Red pilots who are tasked with flying their ship to various battle sites under the influence of a constant supply of cans of "rocket fuel." They often feel they are able to relax, only for the drill sergeant Commander Zod to kick their arses back into gear and into the next fight. Literally, that's the story. Every few levels you go to a different planet but otherwise that's basically it. It is stupid and pointless but it also gives a big nostalgia hit - the rendered FMV CGI takes you straight back to the 1990s. Just look at this playlist -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9JczCU ... ED7549F39EThe gameplay is a bit like Domination mode in modern FPSs - you have to go from your base to secure a number of control points across the map. Owning these control points gives you access to the factories, vehicles and buildings in that zone, which gives you more units, which gives you more territory ad nauseum until you secure the enemy base. It's basically one of those mobile games that has an advert between each level. You can change what each factory makes but you really don't have to. I've got seven achievements still to get on this game and they're all "Build a [Unit]" - I should have got these through the course of the game but I just whacked a few medium tanks around the map and annihilated everyone. I struggled more with the UI and lack of zoom than the actual enemy!
While playing this I am reminded of two contemporaneous games - Command and Conquer and Worms. C&C came out the same year as this and is basically a different species in terms of RTS gameplay and story. Worms also went for a more cartoony look in the OG videos, but the difference is their cutscenes were actually funny! I don't think this is a good game or a good story, so I cannot recommend it.
But I definitely didn't hate it!