Z: Steel Soldiers Review

The If we take the time to think back a couple of years maybe we could remember the long forgotten RTS game called Z. Many philosophical discussions had been lead among real-time strategists concerning the title of this game, yet to no avail. Most people agreed that Z was short for Zod, the name of the hero of this less then successful RTS.

Zod was always a robotic Dixie general and now he returns in the full glory of his half rusted metal plate, more stupid and square-headed than ever before ready to devote his energy and military skills to... well, whoever... Zod became a bit nervous as he lost the rank of a general and became a captain serving in the middle of no man's land...

The background story of this real-time strategy has hardly anything to do with the game. The most important thing to say is that Zod is the main culprit for the reemerging conflict between MegaCom and TransGlobal, soon after they reached a frail cease-fire. The only thing the player has to know in game is to use his robust robots to destroy the foul foe.

In the sea of RTS games, Z: Steel Soldiers tries to leave its mark by introducing strong action elements. With respect towards all principles and guidelines of its own genre, this game simply won't let you rest, as it will keep you in the state of constant suspense and frenzy by making you bring important strategic decisions in matter of seconds. In the last several RTSs that appeared you had a chance to plan your attacks carefully, and act like you were playing a game of chess. Well, there's none of that here... The entire system is based on a specific resource model. The entire map has been split into smaller areas marked by flags. When you capture a flag, you automatically gain control of the entire territory. The more territories you have, the more resources you will get, and furthermore, the more robot-warriors, tools and facilities you own. Luck will frequently change in this furious battle for territory. The AI is smart enough to use your every wrong or slow move to its advantage turning your near victory to a no-win situation.

As I already mentioned the AI routine, I have to say that it is substantially improved in comparison with the first Z. I am not only referring to the way your units act, but also to the way the computer opponent plans his operations. You can forget about the Geneva Convention when playing this game, and remember that it ain't over 'till it's over. If you don't get a victory notice - Annihilate further!

The control mechanism and its efficient usage present the thin line between victory and failure. In this respect, Z: Steel Soldiers is both very well conceived, and extremely demanding in hardware. If you own anything less than a 700 MHz CPU, 3D accelerator with minimum 32 MB and 128 MB RAM, you will either be constantly loosing the game because of slow scrolling, or you'll have to turn off some advanced graphics features and not enjoy the full visual glory of the multitude of different terrains and special effects in this game, which would also be a shame... The graphics do present an eye-candy of sorts and improve the overall game atmosphere. Robot textures are less than perfect, but what I found to be a bigger problem is the fact that the object design seemed a bit monotonous and blocky, especially concerning modern RTS standards. The robots look as though they were made from Lego blocks, and stick out of the otherwise visually perfect environments. The game engine is definitely intuitive, while still remaining consistent with the genre, which is extremely important for getting grips with the game controls. Line of Sight is practically perfect and utterly realistic, and the camera has been smartly solved and can easily be adjusted to your heart's desire. The interface contains the main screen, two mini-displays and radar used for quickly focusing on the desired sites.

It would be a shame not to say something about the music and SFX. The Digital Interactive Music Engine (DIME) is to blame for atmosphere and even playability. The becoming musical background, varying from ambient-sounds to hyper-aggressive industrial techno, will promptly warn you of all new situations or events in game as it consistently follows action.

It would be hard to give an overall mark to a game like Z: Steel Soldiers. I only had the impression that this game is unlikely to be too popular with hard-core RTS players, but I would also have to lie if I wanted to say that I did not enjoy playing this game. On the contrary!