Warzone 2100

Warzone 2100 is a free and open-source real-time strategy game originally developed by Pumpkin Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in 1999. Set in a post-apocalyptic future after a catastrophic nuclear war, it combines traditional base-building RTS mechanics with a remarkably flexible vehicle and technology system.

You play as part of the Project, a group attempting to rebuild civilization after the collapse of the old world. The campaign takes you across a devastated landscape as you establish bases, research technologies, manufacture weapons, and fight rival factions competing for control of the remaining resources.

The basic RTS formula is familiar: collect resources, construct infrastructure, research new technologies, produce units, and destroy enemy forces. What makes Warzone 2100 stand out is how much of your military hardware you actually get to design.

Rather than simply unlocking a fixed list of tanks, the game provides a vehicle design system. You can combine different chassis, propulsion systems, and weapon technologies to create units suited to different situations. A fast reconnaissance vehicle, heavily armored tank, long-range artillery platform, or specialized anti-air unit can all emerge from the same underlying system.

That design philosophy extends to the technology tree. Research isn't just a straightforward march toward increasingly powerful units. New technologies can unlock entirely different weapons and battlefield approaches, encouraging you to adapt your military based on what you're fighting.

The campaign also makes good use of this flexibility. Missions can involve attacking enemy positions, defending installations, escorting units, capturing territory, or establishing bases in hostile environments. Your army carries forward between missions, giving the campaign a sense of continuity rather than treating every map as an isolated skirmish.

Multiplayer and skirmish modes provide a more traditional RTS experience, while the open-source community has continued improving the game long after its commercial release. Modern versions support contemporary operating systems, widescreen displays, higher resolutions, improved graphics, and a variety of community enhancements.

There's also an unusually interesting preservation story here. Warzone 2100 was eventually released as open source, allowing the community to continue developing a game that might otherwise have disappeared alongside many other late-1990s PC strategy titles.

Today, it occupies an interesting middle ground: unmistakably a product of the classic RTS era, but mechanically distinctive enough that it doesn't feel like simply another Command & Conquer or StarCraft clone.