Ground Control

Reviews / previews

Preview: Ground Control

Real-time strategy games have entered the world of 3D and the race is on to see who will become the newly crowned king of the genre. Sierra just might have a contender on its hands with Ground Control, a 3D RTS with an emphasis on action.

The story, involving a feud between 2 rival companies (the technological Craven Corporation and the fanatical religious organization, the Order of the New Dawn) as they battle for domination of an undeveloped planet, may be the oldest story in the book, but Ground Control has enough new ideas to make it worth reading again.

The first thing you may notice about Ground Control that sets it apart from other games in the genre is the absence of resources to harvest-something that should please gamers who want to get right into the action. No longer will you have to scour for minerals, build drones to harvest them, and worry about balancing your building and research.

Each mission starts with a number of dropships (up to 3 depending on the size of the mission), each of which can be loaded with 4 squads, which include infantry, air support, tanks, and artillery, as well as your command APC. You can choose specifically which squads you want to use on the mission or you can let the computer decide using the Autoload function. Your squads are then dropped on the planet's surface and the battle begins.

Orders can be dished out by selecting individual squads on the map or by dragging a box around multiple squads. Additionally, icons representing each squad appear on the screen and can be selected so instructions can be issued to anybody no matter where they are on the map. Commands are given out to each squad, so rather than having to issue orders to dozens of individual units, you will only be controlling about 5 to 13 squads at any given time.

You can set the formations of your squads, as well as order them to hold their fire, shoot at will, or attack only if fired upon. Line of sight will come into play, as will the level of terrain- you will only be able to see enemies in your field of view and those above you will receive a bonus for accuracy.

The 3D world is easy to navigate with the arrow keys scrolling the map and the mouse rotating the direction of your vision. Also, gamers with a mouse wheel will be able to use it to raise or lower their viewpoint (non-mouse wheelers can still use the keyboard to control this function.)

The vehicles, from the Aliens-style military look of the Crayven tanks and artillery to the sleeker, more technologically advanced hover vehicles of the Order, sport smooth animations and nice details, like flying shell casings and visible damage. And the explosions are a sight to behold; you will stare in awe the first time you see artillery arcing through the sky and pulverizing your opponent. Likewise, the sounds, from the blaring gunfire to the radio confirmations of your orders, are first-rate and never overbearing.

So if you like RTS games, but really prefer the heat of combat to the sometimes tedious act of micro-management, Ground Control looks like it might be just the thing to satisfy your thirst for warfare when it invades store shelves in June.-- Brian Wright / GamePro

Review: Ground Control

Start with an intense action/strategy game, add a remarkably easy-to-use interface, and wrap it in one of the most impressive 3D engines ever seen in a computer game, and you've got Ground Control.

The story is a classic tale of two factions-the militaristic Crayven Corporation versus the technological and religious Order of the New Dawn-as they fight for control of a distant planet. While it may sound familiar, you won't mind the cliches once you enter the heat of battle.

For starters, Ground Control is simply one of the most beautiful games you are likely to see this year. Little touches will leave you with a sense of awe, like the way the clouds cast moving shadows across the landscape or the way your vehicles kick up dust and leave trails in the dirt. The amount of detail on individual troops and vehicles is nothing short of remarkable-from the treads on the Terradyne tanks to the spent shell casings that fly from the artillery. The weapon effects are an awesome sight to behold, particularly the smoke trails from torpedoes and missiles.

The sound effects are mostly good, with different motor and gunfire sounds for each vehicle, but if you get close enough to the infantry when they are destroyed, you'll hear a combination splat and scream that is both comical and disturbing. The voice acting is top-notch and the vocal confirmations of orders manage to avoid becoming annoying and repetitive. An orchestral score lingers almost unnoticeably in the background, letting the sounds of warfare take over, but in certain spots the music adds a definite feeling of tension to the game.

Managing combat has never been easier, with commands issued to squads as opposed to individual troops. On-screen icons make finding squads and issuing orders a breeze, while the rotating cursor gives you excellent control over the positioning of your groups. Even controlling the camera is easy, with the arrow keys in charge of basic movements (forward, backward, left, and right) and the mouse and mousewheel controlling rotation and zooming, respectively.

Of course, a few minor flaws appear throughout the game. The troop AI, although impressive, could be better, as individual units have a tendency to wander directly into the line of friendly fire. Some gamers may be put off by the lack of an in-game save feature, though most missions shouldn't take more than two or three tries to complete.

Essentially, Ground Control is a game that draws you in with its spectacular graphics and keeps you hooked with its intense action. Gamers who prefer the heat of combat to tedious research and micro-management should definitely check it out.-- Brian Wright / GamePro