It was originally released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation, and is now also available for macOS, FreeBSD, AmigaOS 4[5], AROS, MorphOS, Linux, NetBSD[6] and OpenBSD.

While most of the survivors form scavenger bands to survive, the player is a member of a group named "The Project", that is more organised and seeks to rebuild civilization using pre-war technology.

While gathering pre-war "artifacts", the Project fends off attacks from an organization called the New Paradigm, another major survivalist organisation, which is more advanced than the player's forces.

After the player defeats the New Paradigm, they are assigned to Team Beta, which is based in Chicago and under attack by a faction called 'The Collective'.

It is learned that the scientist Dr. Reed, who was bankrupted by the US military, transformed himself into the Nexus virus and was responsible for the nuclear holocaust by infiltrating the 'NASDA' systems.

At this point, the survivors of the Alpha and Beta bases arrive, and the three Project teams launch a full-scale assault on Nexus.

The game world is mapped by a grid; vehicles tilt to meet hilly terrain, and projectiles can be realistically blocked by steep mountains or buildings.

Units can all be customized according to: chassis (which, for example, takes weight and power into account); drive system (such as wheels or tracks); and mounted object (such as a weapon, or one of various support tools).

In Away missions, the player must select a limited group of units to transport to a territory completely removed from the original base.

Also, its resource system is quite different from mainstream RTS games; Oil Derricks are established over specific, scarce locations which constantly provide a slow, fixed rate of income.

On December 6, 2004 Warzone's source code was uploaded to Radiosity's FTP server by Alex McLean of Pivotal Games.

[22] The game's new additions to the real-time strategy genre were positively noted, such as its create-a-unit feature,[38][44] persistent world,[38][44] 3D environments with control over a zoomable and rotatable floating camera,[37][24][31] variety of terrain and environments,[37] animated units,[24] diverse colors,[24] night-and-day mechanic,[37] and numerous features.

"[36] In their PC review, the author expressed disappointment with the lack of innovation, but praised it nonetheless with the following comment, "Mostly it boils down to taking great ideas found in other RTS titles and combining them into one.