Posted July 09, 2009
This game wasn't exactly a huge hit upon release. It came out at a time when the RTS market was filled and a number of larger name releases were hitting shelves. Those of us who tried it out found something different from the rest of the market.
An RTS without ore mining? For those of us who despise the initial 20 minutes of spam basic units as a defense, pile up tons of resources and climb up the tech tree this was a real treat. Plus this added the bonus of (for the time) pretty good pathfinding on top of full 3D terrain where true line of sight became all important (oh those anti tank infantry hiding in little ditches were a *$%^#!). So with your limited supply of units (who if destroyed are replaced, but the units gain xp and perform better if they survive) you engage in the single player campaign.
The story is solid, a somewhat cyberpunk dystopia where corporations and religions fight massive wars for control. Now as good as the story is, it is marred by the acting. Let's just say most of the voices are.. unconvincing. If you can ignore that you'll be content.
The gameplay is solid, your units don't spend much time lost, actually use the formations you tell them to use (at the time this was amazing), and if you play carefully and tactically you can dominate the battlefield while suffering very few losses of your own. I fondly remember using artillery strikes to lure the enemy into ambushes, and the pain of loosing heavy tanks to infantry with rocket launchers. Good stuff all around.
As a final note, yes this game was made available free in advance of the release of ground control 2, but you had to go through a bit of a pain registration process to get a free CD key, and the expansion was not included. In fact the expansion was released quickly, quietly, and can be a major pain to find. I would happily pay GOG's price for the original and the expansion, as a 2 for 1 I'm clicking the purchase button with glee.
An RTS without ore mining? For those of us who despise the initial 20 minutes of spam basic units as a defense, pile up tons of resources and climb up the tech tree this was a real treat. Plus this added the bonus of (for the time) pretty good pathfinding on top of full 3D terrain where true line of sight became all important (oh those anti tank infantry hiding in little ditches were a *$%^#!). So with your limited supply of units (who if destroyed are replaced, but the units gain xp and perform better if they survive) you engage in the single player campaign.
The story is solid, a somewhat cyberpunk dystopia where corporations and religions fight massive wars for control. Now as good as the story is, it is marred by the acting. Let's just say most of the voices are.. unconvincing. If you can ignore that you'll be content.
The gameplay is solid, your units don't spend much time lost, actually use the formations you tell them to use (at the time this was amazing), and if you play carefully and tactically you can dominate the battlefield while suffering very few losses of your own. I fondly remember using artillery strikes to lure the enemy into ambushes, and the pain of loosing heavy tanks to infantry with rocket launchers. Good stuff all around.
As a final note, yes this game was made available free in advance of the release of ground control 2, but you had to go through a bit of a pain registration process to get a free CD key, and the expansion was not included. In fact the expansion was released quickly, quietly, and can be a major pain to find. I would happily pay GOG's price for the original and the expansion, as a 2 for 1 I'm clicking the purchase button with glee.