The 1996 videogame Z, and the Men of War series have a lot in common, and I enjoy both

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 Z stands out. It comes from a time when command and conquer (following on from Dune 2) was busy setting the tone for RTS. Arguably until Ground Control again doing away with base building, and more modern touch points of the Dawn of War game bringing it solidly into the collective consciousness. These comparisons have already been made in the "have you played" series on RPS in "have you played... Z"

The above is a simple comparison making exercise, cherry picking examples of popular games, ignoring the melange of RTS ideas at the time and those ideas inherited from the board game or war game worlds. The prevailing narratives about which game first introduced what mechanic lack nuance and are most likely false. Like the histories of many other fields.

My own comparison is between Z and Men of War. 


I feel that the micro in Z resembles the randomness of Men of War quite closely. Several light tanks can sometimes destroy a medium, or just as well not.


Moments of Heroic feats are possible in both games. This isn't possible in the more fixed and predicable encounters in other RTS games.


In both games the map  contains elements of destructibility and funneling units into certain paths. Destroying ammo crates resembles the chain reactions in Men of War. 

A lot of player agency is taken away in both games, and I really love that, but I do not think it is palatable to many players.

Of course with this randomness comes some impulse to save scum.

I just love it though. Alongside its other innovations, it's simply prefers having a good time to overthought seriousness, and this is true of its overall explosiveness.









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