I've sunk at least 2000 hours in the original Battlezone 98 and another 5000 hours in the original Battlezone II: Combat Commander. Those games are a family treasure that we all played and loved. It was really nice to see them remastered. Among my favorite additions is the in-game mod changing, but most importantly, the internet servers worked, so I could actually play with my family members that live in other states. Before then, I could only play over LAN because the original battlezone servers died a long time ago.
Here is a list of pros and cons, compared to the original Battlezone II (aside visuals):

PROS ---
- in-game mod support, easy and convenient instillation process, and tons of mods are available on the worksop
- working internet servers & the ability to invite steam friends
- some crash conditions in the original fixed in the remaster
- easy to write mods for

CONS ---
- Pathfinding AI not only didn't improve, got a little worse with some units going in a small circle for no reason instead of moving straight to the ordered position, and constructors more commonly get stuck in a spinning pathfinding loop
- Can only run one mod at a time, and there is no mod on the workshop that includes all of the features from the original Battlezone II 1.3.6.5 Public Beta and other old game mods at the same time, as well as some great mods for the original that weren't ported to the remaster

This is another one of those times I wish there was a neutral option. Battlezone II is a completely functional, competently designed game. The fusion of FPS and RTS works well, the interface is useful once you get used to it, the campaign is lengthy and there's a multiplayer suite, and it's generally stable and bug free. What the game lacks is soul.

I grew up playing Rise of the Black Dogs on N64, unaware there was a PC version out there. I was able to snag a copy of the Gold Pack years later, and played through the OG game as well as the Red Odyssey. I thought (and still think) that a secret interstellar war between the US and Soviets was a great premise. The story, unit designs, music, and level ambiance were all excellent and very unique. I found out much later that Battlezone II existed, and got a copy of it on a 4-pack CD from Empire.

Battlezone II shares little with the original game. The NSDF (US) and CCA (Soviets) are now the ISDF (Earth) and the Scions (Not Earth...mostly). The unit designs feel straight out of generic 90s/2000s Sci-Fi, and lack the soul and interest that the OG units had. The music is similarly forgettable and the title theme in particular is the weakest, most uninspired noise I've heard in a game. The story is fine, but the main protagonist who voices the between-missions war diary entries has zero charisma. I love the opening narration in the first game, it hits all the right notes. There's nothing remotely compelling in BZ II on that front.

Regarding gameplay conventions, I have more a objective gripe. Resource collection has shifted almost entirely from scrap field hunting to a reliance on zone control. Scavengers deploy on pools of molten bio metal and provide a steady, fixed income. Instead of building scrap silos to increase your max scrap storage, you have to deploy scavengers on these pools. Once you do that, you can hold more scrap and your scrap automatically 'regenerates' up in units of 20. I think the lore implications are silly, given how Bio-Metal was created in the OG game, but it also means games have a ton of down time. Rush to scrap pools, deploy scavenger, wait for scrap to refill. Build scavenger to grab scrap from destroyed vehicles, get immediate resource boost, build unit or structure. Fight over next pool, repeat. Wait. Build army, attack enemy base, lose army. Wait. Rebuild army, try again.

So many campaign missions are stop and go, to the point of tedium. Without the charm and soul of the previous game, it's hard for me to want to closeout the campaign. 3 missions away and I'm running on fumes with a very well designed but empty game.

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