Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs
Encyclopedia
Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs is a tank
based strategy game released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64
. Despite the name, it bears little resemblance to the 1980 arcade game
Battlezone, but is instead based on the PC remake.
Compared to the PC version released a year earlier, the game's multiplayer is very limited. The game features a standard Deathmatch mode where up to four players combat each other and a number of computer-controlled bots, a race mode where the objective is to navigate from one beacon to another for a set number of laps, and a strategy mode in which players choose three computer-controlled bots to assist them and simply attempt to eliminate all other players.
, the Soviet Union
, and an elite team of mercenaries known as the Black Dogs. The game takes place in an alternate version of the 1960s in which the United States
and the Soviet Union
use alien technology to wage a secret war across the solar system
, fighting for control of the rare resource bio-metal.
with the Americans
and the Soviets
discovering a substance called bio-metal in some meteorites, which can be used to build vehicles with previously impossible abilities. They use this new substance to start a war that is fought throughout the solar system.
During the war, the Americans and Soviets discover an artifact and a weapons factory on Mars
built by the same race of aliens that created the bio-metal. It is revealed that this race of aliens once occupied a planet sharing an orbit
with the asteroid belt
. They fought a civil war that raged throughout the solar system, until one side built an ultimate weapon to destroy the other side. The Americans and Soviets begin to look for this weapon.
The Americans find a piece of it on Jupiter’s moon, Io
. However, while the Americans are transporting it, the Soviets capture it. By the time the Americans find where the Soviets took the piece, the Soviets have already built a prototype of the weapon, called a Fury, and have begun mass production. When the Americans arrive at the Soviet base on Titan
, where the Furies are being kept, they discover that the Furies have turned on the Soviets and destroyed their base. The Americans and Soviets agree to join forces against the Furies.
The Furies escape the coalition forces and set up a new base on a moon of Uranus
. The coalition forces engage the Furies on the moon, which results in the destruction of the Furies and the moon.
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
based strategy game released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
. Despite the name, it bears little resemblance to the 1980 arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
Battlezone, but is instead based on the PC remake.
Gameplay
Battlezone offers three modes of single-player play in addition to a comprehensive set of training missions. Arcade mode harkens back to the original Battlezone, and consists of destroying every other vehicle on the map. Pilot and Commander modes follow the campaign, the difference being that in Commander mode, the player is responsible for constructing a base and can issue orders to fellow units.Compared to the PC version released a year earlier, the game's multiplayer is very limited. The game features a standard Deathmatch mode where up to four players combat each other and a number of computer-controlled bots, a race mode where the objective is to navigate from one beacon to another for a set number of laps, and a strategy mode in which players choose three computer-controlled bots to assist them and simply attempt to eliminate all other players.
Factions
Three rival factions come to play in the game: The United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and an elite team of mercenaries known as the Black Dogs. The game takes place in an alternate version of the 1960s in which the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
use alien technology to wage a secret war across the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, fighting for control of the rare resource bio-metal.
Plot
The game begins during the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
with the Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Soviets
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
discovering a substance called bio-metal in some meteorites, which can be used to build vehicles with previously impossible abilities. They use this new substance to start a war that is fought throughout the solar system.
During the war, the Americans and Soviets discover an artifact and a weapons factory on Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
built by the same race of aliens that created the bio-metal. It is revealed that this race of aliens once occupied a planet sharing an orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
with the asteroid belt
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
. They fought a civil war that raged throughout the solar system, until one side built an ultimate weapon to destroy the other side. The Americans and Soviets begin to look for this weapon.
The Americans find a piece of it on Jupiter’s moon, Io
Io (moon)
Io ) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of , the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus....
. However, while the Americans are transporting it, the Soviets capture it. By the time the Americans find where the Soviets took the piece, the Soviets have already built a prototype of the weapon, called a Fury, and have begun mass production. When the Americans arrive at the Soviet base on Titan
Titan (moon)
Titan , or Saturn VI, is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found....
, where the Furies are being kept, they discover that the Furies have turned on the Soviets and destroyed their base. The Americans and Soviets agree to join forces against the Furies.
The Furies escape the coalition forces and set up a new base on a moon of Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
. The coalition forces engage the Furies on the moon, which results in the destruction of the Furies and the moon.