Massive Assault was a game that had a lot of potential but only partially realized it. Released last October, Massive Assault looked like a 3D real-time strategy game but played like a streamlined turn-based wargame. It featured some interesting gameplay ideas and was easy to learn but challenging to master. In fact, it was often too challenging, what with its nonadjustable artificial intelligence and imbalanced scenarios that were often so tough that they made the game more punishing than fun. Fortunately, you could also play against humans via hotseat, or you could engage in play-by-e-mail-style games, thus avoiding these problems. Now, developer Wargaming.net has released an updated yet very similar version of Massive Assault called Massive Assault Network. It tries to avoid some of the problems found in the original game by simply jettisoning most of the single-player component and only slightly upgrading the multiplayer options. With these changes, Massive Assault Network isn't so much a step forward as it is a step sideways--or even backward.

This guide is fine, but where's the manual?

One of the biggest differences between Massive Assault and Massive Assault Network is simply a new pricing and delivery scheme. The new game is available in a trial format as a free download and features a simple offline tutorial, three scenarios against the AI, and unlimited skirmish play versus the AI or humans on a single, small map. Paying for a monthly subscription grants you access to naval units and eight maps for online play--and more is scheduled for later release. A subscription also lets you play in tournaments, track your online stats, and rise higher in the posted rankings than players of the trial version.

Both the trial and full versions are compatible with the original Massive Assault, since the game engine and gameplay are essentially identical. It's a shame there are no new units or game modes in Massive Assault Network, but then again, the original Massive Assault gameplay was pretty well honed. The game is turn-based, and while you don't see hexes all over the map, Massive Assault Network is essentially a hex-based game. Whenever you select a unit, little circles light up on the map, revealing a grid of potential movement destinations. A large red circle also appears to show the extent of your selected unit's weapons range.

During each turn, you move your units in any order, choosing from their available grid positions. The game takes on a chesslike feel, since each type of unit can only move a particular number of grid spaces each turn; also, ground units can't move through an occupied space. This makes coordinating your forces and effectively blocking enemy units quite tricky. To make things more complex, only certain units can fire over friendly units.

After you've made your moves, you can instruct each unit to fire on the enemies of your choice, if the enemy units are in range. Then you click a button to end your turn, after which your opponent moves and attacks. You can watch the resulting animations at different speeds, or you can simply skip to the end to see the final outcome.

It's a generic yet pretty gameworld.

You'll get to fight with clomping mechs, sleek bombers, wheeled missile launchers and more. Vehicles break down into ground, air, sea, and amphibious units, and you also get fixed defensive towers. Each unit has just a few straightforward stats, and each side gets equivalent units that only differ cosmetically.

Massive Assault Network is about more than just the tactics involved with moving units around. There are interesting strategic elements, too, so you'll have to decide exactly what units to purchase at what point, since you get only limited revenues from certain territories. A major strategic twist that's a Massive Assault hallmark is the way you select your starting territories from a number of possibilities and then get to reveal secret allied territories as the match progresses. Your choices can dramatically change the ebb and flow of combat on each map, and they can turn your enemy's well-made plans around. This adds a lot of strategic interest and replayability to what's otherwise a fairly simple game.