First Person Mode

Feetsies

Battlezone II provides a plethora of vehicles and buildings to commandeer, or you can also hop out of your vehicle and battle it out on foot. Controls are identical to any first person shooter - WASD maneuvers your ship (or your body if you're outside a vehicle) while the mouse controls the aim and elevation of your weapons. More buttons are added to allow control of computer managed forces and building management. With a bit of practice the default settings work out just nicely.

Floating on Water

What a sun!

Out of the car

As good as a place as any, we will start with the "person" mode. While not the most efficient means of transport in the game, a lone man can do much damage. There are two ways by which you can enter into this mode of play. Either hop out of your vehicle, or if somebody destroys your vehicle you will be forcibly ejected. Once outside, you can run around and fire two types of weapons.

The player is equipped with a gun and a sniper rifle. The gun is pretty much worthless, but the sniper rifle packs considerable power. One round fired through the windshield of any vehicle will kill the pilot, and render the vehicle useable by any player. It's like the computer version of carjacking! The sniper rifle is also perfect for taking out manned stationary turrets from a safe distance. At first, I thought I could just sit on some hill and pick people off at will, but there are large drawbacks to this mode of play. The sniper rifle does not allow you to walk around and fire, leaving you very prone to attack. Combine that with the extremely slow rate of fire, and you are dead meat if the first shot doesn't find its mark.

Don't look at the spot!

Lego carnage

I did find a quirk while running on steep hills - sliding down them. I can understand vehicles slowly sliding down the side of a hill, but a person? Last time I checked, I had no trouble whatsoever holding my ground while on a hillside. This really gets annoying when you dip into sniper mode thinking you are in a safe area. Then by the time you realize what has happened, your character has rolled down the hill into a rather precarious position.

Kevlar? I don't think so.

Body armor, in comparison to a tank, is a rather big disadvantage. Tanks don't have to shoot to kill a person; they can always opt for ramming speed and go for the ol' hit and run strategy. Of course, it is well within their means to launch a mortar round at you also. To prevent being flattened by your adversary the programmers provided a jetpack (Tribes anyone?). While not very maneuverable, it is rather useful for getting up the sides of large hills.