Battlezone: The Red Odyssey

Battlezone: The Red Odyssey is the official 1999 expansion pack for Activision’s groundbreaking 1998 FPS/RTS hybrid masterpiece, Battlezone. Developed by Team Evolve, this expansion took the brilliant alternate-history Cold War narrative of the base game and threw a massive, highly aggressive third superpower into the interplanetary Bio-Metal arms race.

The narrative shifts the conflict away from the inner planets and moves the battlefield to the treacherous moons of Jupiter. Following the devastating conflict between the US and the USSR in the base game, both superpowers are exhausted. However, Soviet commanders secretly defected and handed their Bio-Metal hover-tank technology over to the Chinese Red Army (CRA). China immediately establishes a massive presence on Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede, utilizing ancient, alien portal technology to rapidly expand their forces. To counter this massive new threat, the United States deploys its most secretive, elite, and highly experimental black-ops division: The Black Dogs.

Gameplay and Additions

The Red Odyssey retained the flawless, highly demanding first-person base-building and hover-tank combat of the 1998 original, but significantly upped the difficulty and introduced specialized tactical options.

Key gameplay mechanics and expansion additions include:

• Two New Campaigns: The expansion adds two massive single-player campaigns. You can play as the elite Black Dogs, attempting to secure the portal network and stop the Chinese expansion, or play as the Chinese Red Army, attempting to crush the American black-ops forces and secure total dominance over the Bio-Metal supply.
• Jovian Moons: The battlefields moved to visually distinct, highly treacherous new environments, primarily focusing on the icy ridges of Europa, the volcanic wasteland of Io, and the rocky craters of Ganymede.
• Portal Warfare: The inclusion of alien teleportation portals created brilliant new tactical choke points. Players had to aggressively defend or assault these portals, as enemies could instantly warp entire tank columns across the map directly into the heart of a base.
• Cloaking Technology: The expansion leaned heavily into stealth. The Black Dogs heavily utilized cloaking devices on their vehicles and bases, allowing for devastating ambush tactics and forcing players to rely heavily on radar and visual distortion to spot hidden enemies.

The New Factions

Rather than just painting the old tanks a different color, Team Evolve gave the two new factions entirely distinct combat doctrines and specialized arsenals:

• The Black Dogs: The United States’ rogue, off-the-books squadron (who would later star in their own N64 spin-off, Rise of the Black Dogs). They rely on highly advanced, experimental technology. Their arsenal is painted in stealth-black and features cloaking hover-tanks, highly accurate energy weapons, and specialized defensive structures designed to hold out against overwhelming numbers.
• The Chinese Red Army (CRA): Because their technology is essentially reverse-engineered, stolen Soviet gear, the CRA vehicles are slightly slower and less durable than their American counterparts. However, they make up for it with overwhelming production numbers and devastating, unique weaponry, such as the Red Tsunami heavy tank and terrifying plasma artillery.

Development and Legacy

Released in 1999, The Red Odyssey is somewhat of a “lost” expansion. While it was highly praised by hardcore fans for providing incredibly challenging new campaigns and drastically expanding the multiplayer meta, it suffered from severe distribution issues. It was originally only released in North America, and physical CD-ROM copies were notoriously difficult to find in stores, turning it into an incredibly rare piece of abandonware for over a decade.

Thankfully, this incredible piece of strategy history was fully rescued. Following Rebellion Developments’ stellar 2016 release of Battlezone 98 Redux, they officially remastered the expansion and released it as Battlezone 98 Redux – The Red Odyssey DLC later that same year. The remastered version finally made the expansion available globally, fully integrating the Black Dogs and the CRA into the modernized, high-definition multiplayer scene.

Key Features:

• Two New Superpowers — Take command of the stealth-focused American Black Dogs or the overwhelming might of the Chinese Red Army in two brand-new campaigns.
• The Jovian Theater — Fight across 23 new single-player missions set on the treacherous, beautifully rendered moons of Jupiter.
• Stealth and Portals — Master new strategic layers by utilizing advanced cloaking technology and battling over instant-travel alien portals.
• New Arsenal — Field over 30 new units and buildings across both new factions, completely shaking up the classic scrap-metal economy.
• Rescued from Obscurity — Play the expansion flawlessly today via the 2016 Redux edition DLC, finally making the rare 1999 classic globally available on modern PCs.

Release Platforms:

• Microsoft Windows (PC) — February 24, 1999
• Microsoft Windows (PC) — July 2016 (Released as official DLC for Battlezone 98 Redux via Steam/GOG).