Universe at War
In the year 2012, humans discover we are not alone. This," according to the developers of Universe at War, "is not good news."
The Heirarchy, a powerful machine race bent on world domination, land on Earth and set out to ... well, dominate it. That's the bad news. The good news is that they have enemies, among them, the technologically superior, yet weaker Novus, and a mysterious race of beings who've lain dormant beneath Earth's' oceans for millennia, called the Masari. The even better news is that in Petroglyph's new RTS, you can play all three of these badass factions, and each one offers something unique.
First, I have to admit it's been ages since I've played an RTS. I also have to admit that Universe at War is the first one I've seen in a long, long time that makes me want to give them another go.
Universe at War is everything you'd expect from the developers' pedigree; it's beautiful, elegant, sounds great and is looks to be about as balanced as a ninja sword. Each of the three factions has strengths weaknesses and unique aspects that should suit almost any playstyle, and will provide hours of fine-tuning fun.
Petroglyph's motto: Easy to learn, difficult to master, and even just watching it was clear to me, after only a few minutes, how to best use each of the three factions' speacuial abilities. But I have no doubt I'd still get my ass handed to me by someone with a little more practice and skill.
"It's not game you'll know everything about playing in an hour," they tell me, which is part of why they're so proud of their latest trick: scaled achievements. The longer you play,. The better the Xbox Live and Windows Live achievements you'll get, and the awesomer you'll appear to your friends and foes online. Further, some achievements unlock resources that will make you even more badass. Meaning the acjhievements are more than just trinkets: they reward loyalty.
"We really wanted achievements to mean more, " they said. And for better or worse, these do.
Universe at War will be available in Q1 of 2008, for Xbox 360 and PC (Vista or XP).
