The DC doesn’t really have any real time strategy games. The PC has tons though. I bought this game thinking that it would be a good war simulation like command and conquer, sadly though it is not. It would be wrong to say that this is a terrible game, it’s bad but doesn’t have some good features. The basic story revolves around two fighting factions, you can choose to play as either, this doesn’t make any difference to the annoying gameplay though.

Gameplay: 5/10
The gameplay shown in this game is dull. The cut scenes are average but there are long loading times and even longer amounts of text to sit through. Then when you finally are allowed out into the conflict to are greeted by bad graphics, which I will go into more detail later on in the review. Playing through the missions can sometimes be tiresome, you are not given much info about your objectives or the enemy forces you will engage. Plus you cannot see other forces until you are right by them and the battle grounds and small and constricted.

The afore mentioned problems make winning a battle difficult, if you then add in tricky controls (like they have done) you get frustrated then fail. But I did find that after about half an hour of playing I was able to control my units well. Once you can master firing with single tanks at a selected target destroying the enemy will become easier.

Sound: 6/10
Another above average part of the game. You have the usual sound effects for guns, explosions and shells. You get orders over a walkie-talkie style radio, which is meant to be low quality. When ordering troops around you get confirmation from their commander, which is usually a ‘we’re in position” or “consider it done”. To start off with this is okay but then there is no variety so these phrases annoy rather then add to the atmosphere.

There are now real tracks played whilst you are fighting which is a let down, and something that should have been put in. Because of this there are times when you are wandering about where there is no sound at all. This game could never compare to Jet Set Radio in this area.

Graphics: 5/10
About as good as Evil Twin, except not so organic. The textures are okay and the mapping over surfaces is nice and smooth and the general quality of visuals is slightly above average. The normal camera angle is quite high up in the air, not vertical though. You can zoom right in to see the individual soldiers. If you do this though you have to control the camera manually. This is difficult as all the buttons have different functions when pressed normally or whilst holding down L or R. Then there is the problem of commanding the battle when the camera is pointing in the wrong direction. My advice would be just leave it to the computer, don’t bother zooming in. The graphics of the vehicles/troops aren’t that good anyway.

Final Verdict: 5/10
Conflict Zone is not great. It’s playable but unless you are a die hard Dreamcast fan who has to own as many games as possible, or you love real time strategy games then you should think before purchasing this. On the other hand it is a rare game a good conversation piece? If you don’t think it is your kind of game see if you can borrow it from someone just to try it out. Who knows, the more you play you could get into it and enjoy!

Rent or Buy?
If you are a fan or RTS games and you find this game for a good price then maybe, otherwise don’t get it because you will be disappointed.