Play Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs Online

Summary

Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs brings the 1998 PC classic to the Nintendo 64 with a few notable twists. The 2000 N64 version adds a brand‑new Black Dog campaign that runs alongside the original Red Odyssey storyline, giving players fresh missions to tackle. Multiplayer is modest but functional: up to four humans can clash in a standard deathmatch, each backed by computer‑controlled bots, while a race mode pits you against the clock as you hop between beacons for a set number of laps. The strategy mode lets you pick three AI allies and focus on wiping out the opposition, blending the series’ signature first‑person shooter feel with real‑time strategy commands. Overall, the port preserves the hybrid FPS/RTS core that made the original stand out, even if the online options are a bit limited.

Storyline

Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs drops you into an alternate‑history Cold War where the United States and the Soviet Union have taken their rivalry to the Moon and beyond, using alien bio‑metal to build hover tanks and other strange war machines. As a commander you pilot space‑based hover tanks in real‑time battles, choosing between three distinct game modes and playing as the American NSDF, the Soviet CCA, or the renegade Black Dogs.

The American campaign begins on Luna, where the NSDF is forced to abandon its base and regroup on Mars, only to find the Soviets already entrenched. The fight leads the player across Venus, Io, Europa and Titan, uncovering Cthonian relics and the terrifying "Fury" weapon. When the self‑aware Furies turn on both sides, the Americans and Soviets form an uneasy alliance, destroy the Fury production on Titan, then race to the fictional moon Achilles orbiting Uranus to eliminate the last Fury stronghold before the moon’s core collapses.

From the Soviet perspective, the CCA starts on Venus, is chased off by the Black Dogs, and scrambles to Io to seize a Fury relic. After rebuilding a base, they mass‑produce Furies, wipe out the Black Dogs, and just as victory seems certain the Furies betray their creators, forcing the Soviets into the same desperate alliance as the Americans.

The Nintendo 64 version adds a dedicated Black Dog campaign, giving players a fresh, unaffiliated storyline, while the three game modes let you experience the conflict from every side of this hidden space war.