Dark Planet goes gold

Ubi Soft Entertainment has announced the completion of Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis, its upcoming real-time strategy game. The game is set in a futuristic sci-fi universe that features deformable 3D terrain, realistic weather effects, day-night cycles, and ambient creatures with their own life cycles. Players can undertake three different campaigns, or they can compete against other players in four different multiplayer modes.

"The real-time strategy category has been around for a long time so we looked long and hard at what has worked and what hasn't in past games," said David Wightman, managing director of Edgies, the Scotland-based developer that created the game. "Gamers will find many familiar features in Dark Planet, but they'll also be pleasantly surprised by some of the first-time features, such as expanded multiplayer options and a full range of difficulty settings which promise to keep players engaged in the game for a long time."

Dark Planet has three distinct playable factions: the high-tech colonists, the magical Sorin, and the insectlike Dreil. All three sides use different combat strategies in order to succeed in the game, and they can all advance along different technology trees in order to gain access to more powerful units and abilities. In addition, each faction collects a different type of resource in order to power its actions.

We've posted some new screenshots from the game in the gallery above. Dark Planet will be available in stores the week of March 19 for an approximate retail price of $39.99. For more information, take a look at our previous coverage of the game.