''Battlezone'' is an arcade game released by

Rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

in 2016. It is reboot/remake of the original 1980 arcade game. The game was one of the launch titles for

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. The headset works with the company's PlayStation 4 video game console and is forward compatible with PlaySta ...

in October 2016. As with the original, the game features first-person

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

combat against an AI-controlled enemy force, but includes

co-operative multiplayer A cooperative video game, often abbreviated as co-op, is a video game that allows players to work together as teammates, usually against one or more non-player character opponents ( PvE). Co-op games can be played locally using one or multiple in ...

and a campaign structure, together with being designed for virtual reality.

Gameplay

The game is played entirely in first person, from within a tank cockpit. The game was originally designed for

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

with gamepad control - there are a few HUD elements, such as targeting crosshairs, but most readouts are presented on display panels mounted around the cockpit, together with a holographic top-down radar display. One player starts a campaign by selecting a difficulty level and campaign length. Up to 3 other players can join the campaign, for a total of 4 players. Players can drop in or out at any time, including during gameplay. Each player chooses a tank that they use for the entire campaign, and each tank comes with an initial weapon loadout. The tank's loadout can be changed at supply points during the campaign. The objective of the campaign is to travel across the

procedurally-generated In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated content and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. I ...

hex map, ultimately to destroy the enemy's AI core in the volcano at the far end of the map. Each hex contains either a battlezone of one of multiple map types, a supply point, a shield generator, or a random event. Battlezones have different objectives — completing the objective and defeating enemies in the battlezone earns the players "data", and this data can be spent on upgrades or new weapons. Each shield generator destroyed on the map reduces the defences in the final AI core confrontation battlezone. Players have a shared pool of lives, starting with 3 lives. More can be purchased with data, but the cost increases rapidly. When all players are dead with no lives remaining, the campaign ends in defeat. To avoid spending lives, a downed player can be revived by another player. A post-launch patch added "classic mode", which recreates the original 1980 wireframe vector game in the virtual reality environment.

Release

The game was first released as an exclusive launch title for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

on 13 October 2016. A

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

port supporting

HTC Vive HTC Vive is a line of Virtual reality, virtual and mixed reality Virtual reality headset, headsets produced by HTC, HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with Personal computer, personal computers as well a ...

and

Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets, virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a virtual reality company founded by Palmer Luckey that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality indust ...

followed in May 2017. In May 2018 the game was updated and released as ''Battlezone: Gold Edition'', including a new

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

port. The Gold Edition added support for non-VR, and included all add-ons previously released as

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

. It was a free update for existing Windows and PlayStation 4 owners. A

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

port followed on 8 November the same year.

Reception

The game received mixed reviews upon release according to

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References

External links

* {{Battlezone 2016 video games First-person shooters HTC Vive games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Switch games Oculus Rift games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation VR games Rebellion Developments games Tank simulation video games Video game remakes Video games developed in the United Kingdom Virtual reality games Windows games