Another Promise To Revolutionise The RTS

Petroglyph are making the same claims as every other RTS developer about their new title, Universe at War. I am always dubious about such things, and my cynicism is usually justified. I ruthlessly dissected the claims made on behalf of Shattered Suns but find my self reluctant to do so with Universe at War. Having read a few previews and seen the screenshots, I have to say that I’m convinced. By all accounts the three factions available are actually completely different from each other. Not for this game are the same units and mechanics simply given different aesthetics to denote the different sides, it actually seems that some effort has gone into making the game completely different depending on which side you play.

The two races that I have read reports of, the Novis and the Hierarchy, are as distinct from each other as chalk and cheese. The Novis seem to be some kind of hi-tech galactic environmentalists with all their structures connected by a network of lasers allowing units to be transported instantaneously from one side of the battle field to the other. They also have the neat ability to reflect an enemies attacks back on them, giving the player the satisfying result of their opponent destroying themselves.
The Hierarchy seem to be a darker more industrial race, using glyphs which they etch into the landscape to summon units which are cheaper the more you summon. This race also requires that you harvest cows as a resource which neatly ties them into the whole mythology of crop circles (the glyphs) and cattle mutilation.
The other thing which seems to be innovative about this game is the ability to destroy resources in order to thwart your enemies plans. For instance the Novis player can either choose to defend the cows or slaughter them to slow their enemy down.

This is also the only strategy game I’ve seen which is getting a control system designed from the ground up for the 360 rather than having the PC system clumsily ported across. Currently slated for Q1 2008 I’m certainly looking forward to this, and hope my optimism isn’t unfounded. (From Kotaku.)