E3 06: Genesis Rising: The Universal Code Impressions

LOS ANGELES--Genesis Rising: The Universal Code is a furutistic real-time strategy game from developer Metamorf Studios. And while the whole sci-fi RTS thing has been done many, many times before, Genesis Rising still manages to present some interesting concepts. We visited the DreamCatcher Interactive booth at E3 this year to see what the game is all about.

Genesis Rising takes place in the distant future, where humans believe that they are the one and only divine race in the galaxy. As such, humans believe that it is their divine right to control everything in the galaxy. This translates to lots of warfare, genocide, and conquest, which sounds like a perfect setup for a real-time strategy game.

The most unique aspect of Genesis Rising is the organic nature of the ships. The main resource in the game is blood, and in each map you'll have a space station that is full of blood. To harvest the blood, you have to send a specialized unit to gather blood from the space station and take it back to the mother ship, where it can be processed and converted to currency, which can be used to purchase more ships.

You can also purchase DNA, which you can use to upgrade your ships. All of the ships are genetically engineered, so they look like regular ships covered in flesh, and they can grow and change in real time as you battle. By inserting new DNA into your ships, you can give them special abilities, increased defense, new weapons, and so on. There are three different classes of ships, and based on the size of the ship, it will have a set number of DNA slots that you can fill.

Combat in the game is just like that in any other RTS game. You click on one or more of your units, then click on an enemy and sit back and watch or go about other business. In addition to harvesting blood and killing enemies, you can explore the far reaches of the galaxy in search of new DNA upgrades. You can either move around the map manually, or you can open up a star map and instantly warp around the large battlefields.

The mission structure in the single-player mode varies from escort missions to timed missions to seek-and-destroy missions. There are three different endings to the single-player campaign, depending on the path you choose to take. There are 30 missions in all, and you can play any of them cooperatively if you don't want to go it alone.

Genesis Rising also features a 16-player multiplayer. There are three different factions to choose from, each with its own unique ships and DNA upgrades. The humans are the basic race that you play in the single-player game, the Defiance is a race of aliens that is rebelling against the humans, and the Inquisition is a group of human outcasts who once fought to take control of the human race. There will be between 8 and 12 multiplayer maps built into the game, and it will also ship with a full map editor, so you can create your own maps.

The graphics look sharp and detailed, and the game looks especially cool when a ship explodes and a cloud of blood drifts away in zero gravity. The ships themselves look interesting, especially as they grow and morph before your eyes. Being a sci-fi game, there are lots of green, blue, and red laser beams flying about the map, as well.

Based on what we saw of Genesis Rising: The Universal Code, it looks like it could be an interesting take on the standard RTS formula. The game is scheduled to be released in the fourth quarter of this year, but in the meantime stay tuned to GameSpot for more updates.