Herzog Zwei is a real time strategy game that was originally intended for the Sega Genesis and was both developed and published by TechnoSoft in the early nineties. It was later ported to other formats, which included the personal computer. It is the direct sequel to Herzog, which was only available on the Japanese MSX personal computer, and is considered to be one of the forerunners of the real time strategy genre. It features very light strategic play that is easy to learn, and combines it with some fast, arcade-style action.
The name Herzog Zwei is a German title that translates to Duke Two, with this being the second offering in the series. Because of its uncertain newness to the genre, it was not heavily marketed and did not attain a strong cult following until several years after its release. Even then, its most notable feature was its two-player mode, which featured simultaneous play on a split screen…another novelty for the time. Due to this split screen format, combat became very tricky, since it was quite possible to view the opposition’s moves and maneuvers, and likewise.
The basic concept of the game sees the user as the high commander of a large force during a worldwide war. All military decisions are yours. You must control and mobilize troops, select their
armaments, determine which territories are most important defensively and offensively, use the army to gain control of enemy bases, and defend taken territories from further attacks. The ultimate and final goal of the game is to destroy the enemy’s base camp.
There are a total of eight different land-based units, and a robotic mech warrior that represents the gamer. The user can issue orders to his units, such as: fight from a fixed position; patrol an area; go to or attack an area; fight in a fixed radius etc. These “programs” the gamer uses to control his units all cost varying amounts of money to activate. The game is always a head to head match, regardless of if the gamer is playing a human opponent or the computer’s AI.. The computer will recognize a total of one hundred units, fifty for each player.
Herzog Zwei is a challenging game that can be a lot of fun, especially if the player has a friend to play against. It is a forerunner of the genre, and the user will have to forgive some experimental quirks, but overall, it is a great game.
