Many gamers will agree with the
following statement: “Real-time strategy games are best played on the personal
computer.” One of the biggest problems with a console RTS is the controllers
have a limited amount of buttons, so micro-management and giving orders is
harder. There have been many unsuccessful attempts at converting this genre, and
one prime example was Starcraft formatted for the Nintendo 64. With the latest
generation of consoles, developers have started to craft a control scheme that
truly works and makes the games fun to play. The latest RTS conversion is
entitled Universe at War: Earth Assault; however, the question on many gamers
minds will be: ‘does the controller scheme for this game hamper gameplay, or
will it remain fun and rewarding to play?’
The storyline for Universe at War:
Earth Assault is pretty generic. An alien force, known as the Hierarchy, has
descended upon Earth and is consuming all of its natural resources. The humans
were almost annihilated during the first attack, and are making one last stand
against the Hierarchy. During this attack a new force arrives called the Novas,
which claim they only want to destroy the Hierarchy. As the battle rages on, the
human’s retreat from both aliens when a new power arises: the ancient Masari.
This latest race has technology that dwarfs what both sides have available; and
their mission is to completely cleanse the Earth of all invaders. Humanity now
hangs in the balance as these three superpowers fight in order to determine the
fate of planet Earth.
There are several options available
once the game is loaded: Tutorials, Campaign, Skirmish Battles, and Multiplayer.
Tutorials are video-only explanations of gameplay basics for each civilization.
Since gamers can only watch them, but not participate in any fashion, it turns
out to be a waste of time. Skirmish battles are a single-player mode where
players try to defeat the enemy, and there are two different modes to choose
from: Annihilation and Conquest. In Annihilation, players must completely
destroy all enemy units and structures to gain victory. To win in conquest,
players must destroy the enemy base, their construction units, and their heroes.
Why are lasers only available in green, red, and
blue?
The Campaign mode is the real meat
of this game. In this mode, players will be able to navigate through the story
mode which builds the scene and really “hand holds” the player throughout the
game. This proves to be a better tutorial for the game than the actual Tutorial
mode. It is a gamer friendly mode that familiarizes players with the control
scheme and prepares them for more intense multiplayer modes. Another mode called
Campaign Scenario allows players to conquer the entire world, by expanding their
territories and defeating any enemy threat that comes upon them. In this aspect
it is very similar to Rise of Nations and Risk.
Lastly, there is multiplayer mode
that is only available to play online with up to four Xbox 360 or PC players.
The first mode players can participate in is Conquer the World, which is the
same as Scenario mode. In this mode, players can collect an assortment of medals
with the intention of reapingthe fruits of that labor … as in various
statistical boosts during multiplayer games. Other modes players can engage in
are custom matches. These allow players to select from a wide diversity of
options. Then there are ranked matches that allow players to see who is the best
gamer in the world
The last multiplayer mode is
entitled DEFCON. This is really fun to play because it is set up to give the
players extremely fast-paced matches. Instead of worrying about researching all
of the new technology upgrades, you are being clocked. Each time one of the five
intervals completes, one new research upgrade becomes available. Soon all of the
research upgrades become unlocked which allows players to come up with powerful
combinations with which to destroy their enemies! This frantic gameplay is
exceedingly fun and addicting. Many players will have a hard time adjusting to
normal gameplay matches after enjoying a ride like this.
Hate to be on the receiving end of this
attack
As stated earlier the controller
scheme is a serious concern for gamers, especially ones who prefer to play RTS
games on their computer. Thankfully the developers have made improvements on
some of the better control schemes, aka EA. One improvement for the players is
that they will be able to access any unit, and the special powers of that unit,
by a pressing a single button. This alleviates many frustrations of the other
control schemes that have players navigating through many sub-menus that do the
same thing. Another real improvement is that players can press the right-trigger
which will enlarge the mini-map, and even give various instructions on it. Also
the “find an idle builder” button is really convenient, as it is hard to find
them when they are mixed in with the army.
The only real issue with the control
scheme is when players want to create their own “groups” to fight enemies. The
game makes it easy to select an entire type of unit, but if players want to only
select half of one unit type and half of another, they have to select each unit
one-by-one, which makes creating “groups” a moot point. Why would players spend
a lot of time creating a group that will get destroyed easy, when they can just
send the whole batch instead?
The electric bill will be huge this month!
One of the biggest issues players
will have with this game is that they there are no advanced settings for troops.
Players cannot give “patrol, attack, and defend” orders to them. The lack of
these options really “dumbs down” the AI and will frustrate seasoned gamers who
are accustomed to having these options available to them. The lack of this
feature truly makes the gameplay a bit antiquated. Also the path-finding is
horrible. Many times units will get stuck behind various terrain types and
players will have to sell their units as there is sadly no way to get them
moving again.
The graphics for this game are not
as impressive as one might expect for an Xbox 360 title. The unit designs and
structures are very interesting but the main problem is that the textures look
very washed out and “muddy.” The only thing that looks appealing is the special
effect that this game has, and players will be able to view these the more
battles they participate. The biggest problem with this game is that the
performance is nowhere near where it should be. Players will be forced to deal
with slow down all the time; especially they are fighting enemy forces (even
smaller battles, 5 on 3 with one hero the game slows to a crawl). Slowdown is
never acceptable; but it might have been understandable if the graphics were
breathtaking.
Universe at War: Earth Assault is
rated Teen.
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Gameplay: 7.0
The game is pretty fun to play, with three
different and distinct races to choose from. The control scheme is decent and
gets the job done, but it is not as effective as a keyboard-and-mouse setup. The
only thing that really kills the gameplay is the constant slowdown players will
be faced with, especially during bigger battles.
Graphics: 6.1
The graphics for Universe at War: Earth Assault are really not that great. The
units and the buildings have a very washed-out look to them. To add insult to
injury with the graphics being subpar, there is no reason why the game has such
horrible performance/slowdown issues.
Sound: 6.9
The music to this game is decent but easily forgettable. The sound
effects are what players will except to hear, from the laser fire to massive
explosions. Just like everything else, the voice acting is decent, but doesn’t
capture players’ interest with their “humorous” one liners.
Difficulty: Medium
The learning curve for this game is pretty steep, thankfully the
campaign mode will slowly ramp players up to where they need to be, especially
when they go online.
Concept: 7.1
Each race plays really different from the other, and it contains a nice
paper-rock-scissor balance. Overall the game doesn’t bring anything new to the
table.
Multiplayer: 7.1
The multiplayer mode will keep players active for quite some time. The
ability to play versus PC players is a nice treat as well, or it will be once
this portion of the game is enabled. The only thing that keeps the score from
going higher is the slowdown players will get this game, which can be related to
the performance/graphic slowdown as well as lag.
Overall: 7.2
Universe at War: Earth Assault is a good RTS game that is held up by
performance and graphical issues. I think that the developers made a step
forward in their control scheme, but it is still far from perfect, especially
for players who are accustomed to playing their RTS games on a PC. If you are
itching for an RTS you might want to rent this game before purchasing it, but
underneath all the flaws you will find a fun game to play.
