Conflict Zone
By Aaron "Spectre" Watson

Article Type: Review
Article Date: January 10, 2002

Product Info

Product Name: Conflict Zone
Version: 1.4
Category: RTS
Developer: MASA
Publisher: Ubi Soft
Release Date: Released
Min. Spec: Pentium 300, 128 MB, 3D Accelerator
Multiplayer: 2-8 Players, Internet, LAN.
Files & Links: Click Here

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MASA's Conflict Zone

There's a new 3D RTS out worldwide that takes a different angle on a now common theme: fictitious world organizations set in the near future that battle an organized terrorist group. It's not from any of the big software houses, though a company that seems to be cornering the games market publishes it: Ubi Soft of European ancestry has published Masa of France's Conflict Zone. First released in Europe, and more recently in the US, the twist in this game is the popularity factor. Let me explain.



War: Just A Popularity Contest?

Popularity? No, not some high school clique sort of thing, but the way your actions in the game are portrayed via the game's worldwide media coverage. You won't gather resources, although there are prices to things; no, your success all hinges on the way your deeds are portrayed in the media. When the media coverage of your deeds is on the positive side of the spectrum, the contributions flow in. The closer to 100 percent favourability, the faster those funds flow in. Approach zero, and funding will cease, or be taken away! Access to the newer, harder hitting hardware not only has a dollar price, but a Popularity Percentage (PP).

The premise of Conflict Zone is finds the International Coalition for Peace (ICP) squared off against the terrorist organization who call themselves GHOST. Winning the all-important popularity is derived by different means for each side.



Installation and Patching

There are only two install options: full install or minimal. With the full install requiring 500 MBs of your hard drive, the install takes a while. The install frontend will only place the game in a directory of its own choosing, thank you very much. DX8 and Ubi's own Game Service (version 4) are the only other installable options. It is recommended that a full install be done, as it is required in order to upgrade to version 1.5, which is MASA Group's final patch for Conflict Zone. The North American version, which was the last region to get the release, was at version 1.4 upon shipment.



Setup

There are many variables, which can be altered in the setup screens, accessible from the main menu, which is displayed after all the obligatory splash screen videos play. The intros cannot be shut off, but easily, singly, skipped by tapping the spacebar.

Choose your poison

The options after choosing setup are for player, preferences, display and sound. The player screen is simple enough, as you just create a new persona. Preferences bring up options for game and scroll speeds, mouse sensitivity, and some other items including a single page for keyboard configuration. Sticking with the default works, as there aren't too many. The sound can be altered to kill the music, and adjust the levels for voices and sound effects. 3D sound can be toggled on or off. The graphics have a wide variety of resolutions and either 16- or 32-bit, depending on your graphics adapter. I have found this to be a graphics intensive RTS, and a system with the minimum specs for 3D will not cut it. I installed the game on a laptop and a desktop with identical processor speeds and 8 MB video cards; one displayed naught while the other was missing the menus.



Test Run

As is my wont with a new RTS title, I jammed right over to the skirmish mode area after setting up for my gaming system's specifications. A goodly quantity of maps awaits skirmish or multi-player modes. Easy, medium and hard opponents await your provocations via the multiplayer menu option. There is no setting of start location, you just get a random spot on whatever map you choose, from 2 to 8 player sizes. I chose a single opponent and another ally to share the grief with so I could have time to just check out the build trees.

Barracks, fake command center and refugee center to start from the command post. OK, good, a lot like the demo which played well a month ago. Soldiers should help with defense until heavier equipment is available. Base defenses come up with machine gun turrets, fixed artillery, and air-defenses. as I'm building the vehicle factory, their first tank rush comes in! Hmmm…let's get another Ally so I can suss this out. Got all the way up to a helicopter pad before being over-run the second time, my Allies are seemingly ignored.



Graphics

The weapons systems look fairly good in the 3D environments where the ground and water effects are just this side of stunning. For a value priced title, even from its introduction, it has some respectable looking scenery and overhead clouds. The view traversal method is unique, and though a bit unwieldy at first, can be mastered and the visuals look good as the camera glides up and down the slopes.

Good looking multiple elevations

Campaign

OK, I have a feel for things, let me try an "easy" campaign. Briefings are by a Major (whose lips never stop moving even when he's not speaking) and a female Lieutenant.

Lt. Bergen with an update

Some schlock called "Frag Films" ensue in an effort to set the mood. Limited build tree for the first six missions, and ever-increasing quantities of invaders per level. Oh, but here on the sixth mission we are given an assistant. Great, I will utilize him to build the base and defend it. I can then grab a few units from him and run around a bit to see how to complete this level. The enemy is a bit more determined in this level than in previous ones, and sends more concentrated platoons of foot armor and artillery support in each successive wave.

Thankfully, the area to defend has good fields of fire to keep these waves at bay as I assist in the defenses. The veterancy capabilities are shown during this time as the mobile artillery goes from Rookie to Standard, on through to Trained and Veteran, then all the way to War Hero. Though the levels pop up when highlighted, there is very little else to indicate this rise in ability. The ability to take damage is seemingly unchanged, and the hitting capability is marginally increased from the bottom of the hierarchy to the top.

War hero Artillery

There are two directions from which the enemy approaches, striking out in either direction yields civilian villages and the non-combatants incur casualties. Popularity drains away after each announcement by the media of civilian losses. After securing the entrances to both areas, the PP again builds, but a lack of points decreases the type of assets available to me. By the time both enemy bases are vanquished, in a three-hour meat grinder, the enemy has taken almost 4,000 losses! Talk about attrition.

Debriefing

The next mission is a limited resource affair that may take a few attempts to complete, as the usually cryptic briefing is downright mystifying. It can, however, be finished with moderate losses as the enemy does not generate any replacements in this mission. With Phase One completed, you're out of the snowy climes and into the jungles of the Far East.

Even on easy mode, the remaining scenarios are practically not finishable in this pass/fail environment. The starting positions are less defendable, and civilian villages are just outside your compound. Picking up and moving is not an option, as the base can only be built on specific placement areas in small areas of the map. The villages outside you specified area make for a lot of innocent casualties, much to your detriment. Saving in skirmish or campaign seems to toss out the selected playing level and ratchets it to hard. Saving in a spot where only three or four tanks and supporting troops and artillery are can find dozens of each upon loading the save.

Saved game tank rush

As things are, the game is not just a challenge, but tedious and frustrating. More variation between the easy, medium and hard settings would make it at least somewhat playable. This does not look to be something to ever be implemented, as the folks at Ubi Soft say that this is as patched as it will get. I have had some serious hard lock-ups in addition to being unable to finish the later missions.



Community

In the North American area, it seems not to exist. I posted to the forum months ago when the demo was out asking for a release date in the US. A week later I answered myself, and another week after that a moderator said there would be plenty of traffic after release. To date, I count just 22 posts in the general discussion area after opening over two months ago. The only links at the forum are for four previews from the demo, which all looked very good. It's a shame that they tossed it all in at the end. It had amazing potential.



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