Reviews / previews
Red Storm Entertainment, flush with the success of
Rainbow Six, is jumping into the crowded real-time
strategy market with Dominant Species. The game
features a true 3D engine more akin to the likes of
Myth: The Fallen Lords than to any of the top-down
RTS titles to date. But before we examine the look
and gameplay, let's take a glance at the game's
premise.
You assume the role of a Murian Mindlord, part of an
advanced telepathic alien race living on a war-torn
planet. Your character clashes with other Mindlords
(and their motley minions) over an invaluable
life-creating resource, Anima. Things look bad
enough, but when a strange, pink-skinned race
known as humans land on Mur looking for a piece of
the action, it gets capital-U ugly.
Before the Earthlings arrive, you'll play a few missions
against other Mindlords to sharpen your
unit/resource-management and combat skills-but first
and foremost, you must learn how to navigate the
vast environment. And Dominant Species' tricky
control system and multiple views make for a steep
learning curve. The left mouse is used to select units
and give commands; the right mouse, when held
down, rotates the view of the planet, as do the four
arrow keys, which swing the map side to side or up
and down. Other keys move the camera angle
vertically, among various other functions (see what I
mean?). After a while things become more intuitive,
but simultaneously controlling the view and the units
can be a precarious endeavor. And for newcomers to
the genre, well, forget it.
The 3D terrain is used for more than just scenery:
enemies can be bounced off cliffs by Rambeasts,
Arcwings can float over water, and it's highly
advisable to sneak a few Leaping Scorchers behind a
hill to attack unsuspecting humans and their hives.
Like the terrain, the creatures are in true
3D. There are dozens of animated
Murians at your fingertips, and three
kinds of Anima to reap (green crystal for
strength, blue liquid for speed, and red
gas for intelligence). The resulting Murian
units each have their own purpose,
fighting style, and overall strengths and
limitations. Every race, including the
humans, has similar unit types, resulting
in a fairly well-balanced game.
The single-player missions include all-out combat, defensive orders, escorting
assignments, queue-production goals, and locate-and-capture journeys, all
played out over primarily desert terrain (with some grasslands and swamps
thrown in). If multiplayer gaming is your bag, Dominant Species can be
enjoyed over a LAN or across the Internet (the Zone and Mplayer) with up to
four people, competitively or cooperatively-however, you're all forced to play as
the Murians.
Dominant Species is a good game, but
not a great one-there's a lot of charm and
creativity within, but I'm left a bit puzzled
regarding the developer's focus. The
game is quite tough, even for a seasoned
RTS fanatic, yet the graphics seem to be
aimed toward kids, with cute units and
animations (Rambeasts head-butting
each other, etc.). This dichotomy results
in a game that might not appeal to either
demographic. And sure, the rolling terrain
of the 3D worlds, watching the worlds change from day to night, and the
ability to set formations are all cool, but not enough to kick up your heels
over. RTS games don't have to technologically eclipse their predecessors to
earn top marks (just look at Blizzard's Starcraft), but gameplay shouldn't be
hindered by complexity or awkward control.-- Marc Saltzman / GamePro
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