ar never changes. It's the 25th century, and mankind is still striving
to destroy itself. Since the nuclear
exchange of 2093, at least Mother Earth is to be spared, for war has been outlawed planetside--but that doesn't stop the
unending firefights throughout the galaxy. Long gone are the city-states
that shaped history. The combatants are now mega-corporations, and the
umbrella religion of mankind is The Order of the New Dawn. Such is the
universe of Sierra Studios' science fiction real-time strategy game,
Ground Control.
Unlike other real-time strategy titles that flood the market, Ground
Control eschews the tried and true production model, instead providing a
fixed number of units for each mission. The units given represent tank
platoons, armored infantry squads, mobile artillery batteries and flights
of aircraft. The weaponry is exotic: high-tech, plasma-spewing
hover-vehicles, power armor infantry and conventional tracked tanks.
Ground Control has it all.
Gamers control this weaponry through a 30-mission campaign. The first
15 missions play from the viewpoint of the mega-corporations' security
forces, specifically through the eyes of Crayven Corporation security
officer Major Sarah Parker. But the story twists, turns and folds back on
itself, placing the gamer in charge of the folks heretofore known as the
enemy, a.k.a. The Order of the New Dawn.
But there is more here than a single-player campaign. Ground Control
includes a rocket-load of multiplayer maps and missions. New to the usual
multiplayer gruel is the ability for gamers to drop in on an ongoing battle,
and lend their hand in the fray. Additionally, the game sends reinforcements
to replace warriors and weapons destroyed in the battle, so skirmishes can
take on a life of their own as the tide of war ebbs and flows.
Military SF worthy of David Drake
To warp a phrase, this is not your father's real-time strategy game. The
absence of resource management forces gamers to focus on tactics rather than
unit production, and it's a welcome change. Better still, it's as well
implemented as it is refreshing. Infantry squads can hide in tall grass,
springing an ambush on enemy vehicles, hover-tank armor is thicker on the
front than the sides, so flanking enemy forces is a significant tactical
boon, and combined arms--that synergy of mixing all weapons, including
artillery, infantry, armor and aircraft--works just like a chapter from
David Drake's Hammer's Slammers, pounding the enemy into submission.
And a beautiful submission it is. Ground Control's battles are
rendered in lush 3-D. Clouds drift through orange-brown skies, aircraft
contrails lace the air above the battlefield, and jet missiles streak
toward hapless enemy tanks. Not surprisingly (after all, it's a 3-D engine),
the battles can be viewed from any angle and level of magnification. Zooming
in is an optical joy. Up close and personal, the infantry's assault rifles
spit shell casings, while tanks rock with the booms of their cannons. Heck,
the plasma even splashes on impact.
It's hard to find fault with this gaming tour de force. Yeah, some of the
missions are seriously challenging, and mastering realistic small-unit
tactics--as opposed to the "tank rush" gimmicks of real-time strategy games
gone by--can throw some real-time gamers for a loop. There is, however, an
excellent tutorial, and none of the missions present more problems than a
bit of patience can conquer. If Drake or Heinlein ever quickened your pulse
with their futuristic battles, Ground Control is the game for you.
The add-on to this excellent game, Dark Conspiracy, is in stores now, and
it promises to play as well as the original.
-- Mark
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