Herzog Zwei for Genesis

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Herzog Zwei

Herzog was first but Dune is much better

Genre: strategy - rts

Publisher: Sega

Year: 1990

System: Genesis

Gameplay Score: 2

Gameplay Notes:

After about an hour of playing I finally figured it out. But man is this game confusing. I get that it's the first RTS ever made. So it's lacking any quality of life features. But the game is completely unapproachable until you figure it out. The key problem is that there are maybe 10 different units you can create with six or seven different orders that you issue them and the only way to do that is to pick them up, change the order and then drop them back down. But the orders are represented with just a small icon. So you have to memorize these icons both for the orders and for the units when you create them. The creation of units is also extremely clunky and the capturing of bases is strange. You have to send four infantry to the base using the capture base order before it becomes yours and then you can create units there. The difficulty is through the roof and not configurable. The controls again are clunky but the movement of your units is responsive enough. When you get hit, there's massive knockback and you run out of energy which causes you to explode and respawn. So in summary, the interface is difficult to understand, there's complexity that I don't care to memorize, the combat isn't particularly interesting, and the difficulty is insane. I know this game is regarded as some hidden gem but I didn't have much fun with it.

Level Design Score: 2

Level Design Notes:

Again, the design is obtuse. There are 10 or so levels but I only played the first one. I assume they get harder as you go and I have no chance of beating even the first level. The maps themselves aren't very large which is probably for the best. The only defining feature of each level are rivers or chasms, which separate areas of the map and restrict movements of land-based units.

Theme Score: 3

Theme Notes:

I like the robots and your Macross mech which transforms between a jet and a walking mech. Has a Transformers like vibe.

Art Style Score: 3

Art Style Notes:

Very simple sprites and backgrounds but the animate okay. Has a very early Genesis look to it but at least it doesn't look like an Amiga port.

Audio Score: 3

Audio Notes:

I enjoyed the music. It was lively and fits the theme. Sound effects for unremarkable

Overall Score: 45

Review ID: 970