Z
Z is a very cool, but not overly popular (as far as I know anyway), RTS from Bitmap Brothers. As far as I know, it was also their first RTS. However, Z was far from all the bad C&C-clones. It went its own way and behaved more like a classic strategy game than other RTS games.
The differences begun at a quite fundamental level. For starters, each level was split into sectors. You began with just the sector in which your home base was located and a bunch of units. Each none-base sector had a flag somewhere in it, and if one of your units touched that flag, you immediately gained control of the sector and any buildings in it. Not only that, production times in all your factories were also shortened a bit. There was no standard RTS base building either, additional buildings, like factories and radars, had to be gained by taking sectors. Finally, you had no resource-gathering to worry about, time was the only factor to consider.
The units were also a refreshing bunch, on par with or even above Warcraft II on the entertainment scale. Instead of normal soldiers you had control of quite talkative robots. They, as well as the mandatory female interface-voice, told you exactly what they thought about the situation and your performance. Win and all your units would cheer at you. Lose and everyone will take turns blaming you. Not only that, there were also all those comments in the heat of battle I always miss in other RTS games. The standard "We're under fire" could in Z be followed by a slightly annoyed "I said: we're under fire!" as well as a "For Christ's sake do something!" in case you didn't do something smart or quick enough. If you were close to winning, your units would say things like "Let's finish 'em off!", and when you ordered two grunts to attack a tank they'd say stuff like "No way!". Not only more entertaining, but also a lot more varying and gameplay reactive than most RTS titles out there.
The robots were the infantry, but they also actually controled the vehichles, another neat touch. You could find abandoned vehicles and board them to use against the enemy. Also, you could abandon heavliy damaged vehicles and continue on foot as well as kill the driver of a vehicle and capture it intact instead of destroying it.
Graphics were great too. Everything was cartoonish and colourful, and explosions came with lots of sparks and flying debris. There were even different life forms moving around the maps, life forms your robots blasted when they had nothing else to do. Attention to detail, simply, was excellent.
So, why wasn't it a big hit then, with all these things going for it? you ask. Well, there were a few problems of course. First, movement was slow and felt slower. It took time to get from A to B, a bit too much time many people probably thought. Also, many people probably got annoyed at the game balance. The sector system and the time-decrease bonus meant the side which gained the sector-advantage often could easily hold on to it and outbuild the opposition. That meant games could quickly reach the critical point, after which everything remaining for the winner was to wear down whatever forces the opponent had left. Another thing that probably put a lot of people off was that the AI really knew what it was doing. You couldn't fiddle around if you wanted to win, and many who played the demo were probably put off by being beaten the first few games.
Personally I think the problem was high difficulty level along with being a bit too different from C&C for people's liking. Now a sequel is coming up, let's hope it becomes more popular. Z deserves more attention!
