Universe at War was surprisingly good, shattering my low expectations.
Campaign:
The single-player campaign was interesting, introducing you to each of the three factions (Novus, the Hierarchy, and the Masari) in turn. Completing Novus unlocks Hierarchy, and Hierarchy unlocks Masari. Each time you start a new faction's campaign, you get slow access to the units and research, assisting with the learning curve. This is a standard RTS experience. I found the campaign storyline to be good. I enjoyed the in-game cut-scenes that gave depth to each of the factions. I normally do not enjoy playing the "bad guys," but the story that developed in the Hierarchy campaign suited me just fine.
Factions:
What really impressed me about this game is the variety when it comes to each of the three factions. They are totally different, two of which I've had no real experience with in other RTS games.
- The Novus are robotic and can travel vast distances in mere seconds with the use of special "power lines." They also have a "Patch" system that allows them to apply certain global abilities from your research tree.
- The Hierarchy are organic and build units from giant mobile walkers that have various hard-points for unit production, weapons, and various passive abilities. A certain number hard-points must be destroyed in order to actually destroy the walkers.
- The Masari have the ability to switch from between two different forms: Light and Dark. Each form has unique advantages and disadvantages. Light is primarily for attack with bonuses to damage and line of sight and Dark is for defense with the addition of an shield-like meter as well as health. And unlike the other two races, the Masari need no resource gatherers. They have buildings that accumulate resources.
A few gripes:
- Some may complain that the camera angle is too tight in the action and wish they could pull out more. This really depends on your preference; I had no qualms.
- Some units would not path correctly when grouped.
- Sometimes it seemed like units would not enter a control group correctly.
Overall I would recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of the RTS genre. It is not necessarily a ground-braking, but the elements are well worth giving it a try.