Conflict Zone - PC Games

Though it's a real-time strategy game like many others before and after, Conflict Zone dispenses with the fog of war, so there's no sending token scouts out to get slaughtered by the ready-made PC opponent until you build your radar. Sadly, the tracking alternative is the line of sight of your units, meaning the enemy merely pops up ready to fire when your vehicle moves near enough--so moving any lone unit is out of the question. There are also frustrating moments where your force is slow to respond to intense attacks. All this means Conflict Zone isn't as carefree as the two-dimensional Command and Conquer range.

The 3-D camera is badly implemented, using not the cursor key and mouse controls (which rotate) but the function keys assigned to the viewing angle--it's a major irritation to set them then try and survey the land and find that the computer has dumped you back in the soldier's eye view. Not a great help if you're under heavy attack and can't coordinate your units effectively.

Conflict Zone's a potentially great game made average by its control system; it doesn't beat Ground Control, despite the more moral overtones of the proceedings. --Kenneth Henry