Rebellion announces Battlezone reboot

The original Battlezone , an arcade stand-up released by Atari in 1980, was built around a vector graphics-based wireframe view of a futuristic battlefield, upon which players piloted a tank that was neither fast nor tough enough to keep me from bleeding quarters at an alarming rate.

, an arcade stand-up released by Atari in 1980, was built around a vector graphics-based wireframe view of a futuristic battlefield, upon which players piloted a tank that was neither fast nor tough enough to keep me from bleeding quarters at an alarming rate. The updated version, announced today by Sniper Elitestudio Rebellion, has come a long way from those early days, but looks to be very much the same sort of experience.

The new Battlezone will make use of the Asura Engine used in Sniper Elite 3, and is being developed specifically for VR platforms. "It's our aim to deliver the same revolutionary thrill of the original for a whole new generation," Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley said. "We want to use VR to truly capture the imagination of today's gamers, just as the original Battlezone captured ours."

Oddly, Rebellion said the game has been confirmed for Steam and the PlayStation 4, but the only VR platform announced is the PS4's Project Morpheus. Other VR platforms are being "evaluated," while a non-VR version is "being investigated, but not confirmed." A Vive release would seem the most certain, based on that, but I'd be a little surprised to see the Oculus Rift passed over. A release date hasn't been set, but there's a website at Battlezone.comwith more information.