Universe at War: Earth Assault
Nov 26, 2007
Universe at War: Earth Assault
Universe at War has its work cut out for it. This ambitious real time strategy game features three very different factions battling their way across Earth. It doesn't have a movie license, it's not part of a long running series, and it doesn't fit neatly into any single mythos. None of the three factions is even human. This is a collection of aliens, robots, and weird divine beings. So will gamers be fascinated by this strange new world that has such creatures in it, or will they be befuddled?
We got a look at the latest multiplayer build, which includes all three sides, fully revealed in all their strange glory. And regardless of how people react, we were thoroughly impressed by the sheer amount of gameplay the developers have put into these factions.
On the surface, Universe at War seems like a simple enough real time strategy game. There's a single resource, and units are neatly divided into the typical categories of infantry, vehicles, and air units. There are defensive turrets and barracks and tech trees and superweapons. All the staples of the genre are here.
But as you dig a little deeper, the gameplay veers off in different directions based on which faction you're playing. The heart of each faction's gameplay is its unique tech tree. There are three paths, each with four levels of advancement, each unlocking increasingly powerful advantages. Naturally, you'll want to unlock all of them. But you only get six. This means you can max out one branch, and get half way through a second. Or you can get half way through all of them. Or you can get up to level three in two of them. Brace yourself for some tough choices.
How each side plays is affected by which techs you unlock. For instance, the Novus are a race of sleek white anime-inspired robots. Their three tech tree branches are Flow, Nanotech, or Computing. Each branch has a variety of effects and its own general flavor. Nanotech tends to include economic bonuses, Computing tends to affect their strange viral special abilities on enemy units, and Flow modifies how they move around the map, using beams of energy. With a high enough Flow tech, the Novus army can essentially ride a latticework of invisible power lines to dematerialize and almost instantly reform all the way across the map.
The Masari are a race of religious beings who can toggle at any time between Light and Dark modes, which has a variety of effects. The entire palette of the Masari army and base shifts as you change modes, as does the gameplay. For instance, in Light mode, some of their units can fly, but in Dark mode, some of their buildings are shielded. The three Masari tech paths are Light, Dark, and Balanced, so they can decide to favor one or neither mode with their research.
These techs also unlock a variety of customization options for each faction that can further differentiate how you play. For instance, the Hierarchy is an alien race with powerful walkers inspired by The War of the Worlds. These walkers aren't just combat units. They're also the factories that build Hierarchy armies. Each walker has a variety of hardpoints that can be upgraded with new components. You can add nodes to build special units, additional weapons, improved armor, or movement speed booters, for instance. The available upgrades are determined by what techs you've researched. Will you play the Hierarchy as a heavy assault force, as an economic powerhouse producing swarms of cheaper units, or from a formidable defensive position? It all comes down to how you customize your walkers, which is determined by which techs you choose.
Similarly, the Novus are allowed up to two "patches", which is the term for global boosts they unlock with their tech tree. These can be freely swapped after a cooldown period to allow the Novus flexibility for how they play. And, of course, the Masari can toggle between Light and Dark as the situation demands. And as if you don't have enough choices, you can freely swap out the technologies you've researched, opting for new ones to adapt as the game progresses.
If you don't like having to choose what to research, you can play a Defcon game. In this mode, one level of all three branches is unlocked at regular intervals as the game progresses. The stages from Defcon 4 to Defcon 1 are announced by an ominous voice as each faction's new powers are folded into the game automatically.
During our multiplayer matches, one player tried to sum up the different races: "The iPods, the tripods, and the...uh..." His voice trailed off looking for a pat description of the Masari. Suffice to say, this isn't a universe that fits neatly into any categories. Like Rise of Legends, this is a game in which universes collide and have to be carefully balanced. "We expect this will be like Starcraft and that we'll be balancing it for eight years," says lead designer Chris Rubyor, only half joking. Given our experience so far with the multiplayer game, we figure that should be barely enough time for us to learn all the nuances of Universe at War.