It is the sequel to the 1998 game Battlezone, in which players pilot various futuristic vehicles across different planets, along with building and managing additional units and structures.

The game's story focuses on a conflict during an alternative 1990s period, in which humanity explores space for resources only to encounter an alien race in the process that they become locked in combat with.

The resource heightened tensions between the nations of the United States and the Soviet Union, as both formed their own space forces and eventually engaged with each on across several planets and moons in the Solar System.

30 years later, the advancement of science and technology through bio-metal led to the formation of two separate organisations to ensure that that Earth's countries are kept in relative peace and harmony with one another - the International Space Defense Force (ISDF), an international peacekeeping force that secures bio-metal for Earth; and the Alliance of Awakened Nations (AAN), who oversee the distribution of resources between countries.

Braddock orders the troops, including Lieutenant John Cooke and Commander Yelena Shabayev, to investigate the call, which had reported that the base came under attack from an unknown group of vehicles.

Cooke and Shabayev discover that the Scions are making use of structures and technology connected to the Cthonians, including a wormhole that links to another part of the galaxy.

Braddock focuses on sending the ISDF after the Scions in order to defeat them, suspecting that they are attempting to create a superweapon that could endanger Earth.

The AAN eventually determine that Braddock was acting without their authority, and was responsible for constructing Cerberus Base, as well as attempting to cover up information regarding the Scions.

The diplomat sent to oversee negotiations is killed in a surprise attack, with Manson and Shabeyev lost in the ensuing chaos when their dropship plummets and crashes.

Cooke continues to focus on missions assigned by Braddock, returned to duty, eventually assisting in the capture of the Scion's leader from the dropship's crash site.

Shabayev asks John to escort the Hauler towing the power crystal to a nav point where it can be carried away by a Scion dropship.

The second crystal is stolen from a base with a clever tactic: John lures the defenders into an ambush, then shuts down the defenses with a surgical artillery strike on the power generators.

After breaking the siege, Cooke counterattacks with Manson's forces, destroying the NR base and even intercepting a rebel convoy carrying the crystal which they are willing to trade with Braddock for bio-metal.

Action/shooter gamers can pick up just about any action/shooter game on the market and play it in short order, as almost all of them use the same control scheme and feature similar gameplay conventions.

"[23] Aaron Reed of GameZone similarly gave it eight out of ten, saying, "If you are looking for a fun game to play single player and you want to follow a great campaign story line – this is not the place for you.

"[24] Jim Preston of NextGen called the game "A fun and beautiful single-player experience for users with a high-end machine, but the multiplayer elements are still quite iffy.

As I said above [about why Battlezone III was never made], this tenaciousness can really backfire and hurt things – if the BZ1 fans hadn't bashed BZ2 for so long, then there might have been more people exposed to BZ2.