Rock, Paper, Shotgun

By Jim Rossignol on September 12th, 2007 at 1:10 pm.

I’d like to interrupt this FPS-excitement to focus for a moment on the real-time strategy game, Universe At War. Now I’m well aware that, between C&C3 and Starcraft 2, this is going to have a hard time. But I was lucky enough to play it earlier this year, and I’m actually pretty excited about its mad verve. It’s a game that sits half way between Starcraft and Red Alert – it’s packed with madcap ideas and over-the-top sci-fi silliness. What I’m trying to say is: there’s a good deal of cowbell.

Thanks, Game Trailers, you big game trailering site, you.

Yeah, the engine looks pretty ropey, and that ugliness has put a load of people off right away. Do not be fooled: this could be one of the best asymmetric multiplayer games you’ll play in 2007 or any other year. The three races are pleasingly different, and one of them has a cow hoover for sucking up their resource: cattle.

I like my RTS as bombastic as possible, and Universe At War fits the bill. I just hope the delayed beta doesn’t mean there are more problems in the pipeline for this particular underdog.