Game: Universe At War: Earth Assault
Genre: Real Time Strategy
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC (Reviewed On Xbox 360)

 

In the tradition of Command & Conquer 3, Battlestations: Midway and Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II, Universe at War: Earth Assault is an old-school PC-based RTS trying to make its mark on the console world.  While there are certainly some compelling reasons to give the title a shot, its many technical and production problems keep it from being anything more than an also-ran in the genre.

Universe At War is an RTS featuring three alien races fighting for universal control on the battlefields of Earth.  Like in most real-time strategy games, you’ll control the military and resource-gathering powers of one of the three races in large-scale skirmishes with the other two species.  Responsible use of funds and strategic implementation of different unit types are keys to success regardless of which faction you choose.  

The three factions are distinct and diverse, with the evil Hierarchy using brute strength and superior firepower, the benevolent-but-indifferent Novus utilizing team speed and heroic abilities, and the mysterious Masari relying on their ability to adapt to different combat situations.  No other RTS, in fact, has factions and units as diverse and UAW – even the way the three races gather resources is totally different.  The Novus use recycling stations that send out auto-drones to collect materials, the Masari produce their own limited energy supplies, and the Hierarchy just take what they want with their massive, roving walker units.  All the factions have a huge variety of unique, well-designed units.

Controlling these alien armies is a surprisingly instinctive and streamlined affair.  Petroglyph has done an admirable job of bringing the deep and complex control scheme of the PC title to an Xbox 360 controller.  Selecting a unit is as easy as pressing A with the cursor over him.  Pressing X will select everyone on the screen, and pressing it twice will grab everyone on the entire battlefield.  Research trees and special abilities are mapped to the left bumper and trigger, respectively, and the right trigger gives you control over the action from the level map, letting you quickly move units across great distances.  The right bumper lets you get more specific with your unit selection, allowing you to select and deselect specific unit types and even make your own custom groups.  The scheme works surprisingly well, and many gamers, even PC gamers, may actually prefer the controller scheme to the mouse/keyboard setup - it’s just that good.  The only control hiccup comes when trying to use the “paintbrush” tool to select specific units.  Holding down A will bring up a green cursor that selects whoever you drag it over.  It works, but it tends to grab people you didn’t swipe over.  It’s a minor complaint, but a noticeable one, especially considering how tight the rest of the controls are.

The game’s campaign mode starts you off controlling the Novus, a race of mechanical entities programmed to halt the Hierarchy’s subjugation of the universe’s sentient species, but you’ll eventually take command of all three factions.  The first few missions are basically a tutorial, giving players a full understanding of the game’s control scheme and battle mechanics.  Sadly, as you progress through the campaign missions, you never get the feeling that the tutorial is really over.  First off, and most egregious, is the fact that there are game tips that pop up when you do pretty much anything.  You are supposed to be able to disable these tips by pressing Y when they show up, but this feature simply doesn’t work, and you’ll be watching the same tips over and over again. Most of the campaign consists of very linear missions wherein you have only a small group of units with which to complete specific missions, like gathering valuable technology or defending your base for several minutes.  For a game that’s all about massive battles, keeping things small and self-contained seems foolish, and doesn’t seem to play to the game’s strengths.  A world map serves as your staging area for battles, allowing you to invest in troops and set up strategies for upcoming battles, but you don’t get to use it for the first 2/3 of the campaign.  Overall, the campaign mode feels hollow and underdeveloped.

There is also a single-player skirmish mode where you can test your skills against the computer without the limitations of campaign mode, and while it’s certainly more fun than the campaign, and probably the game’s best mode, poor AI and a lack of story keep it from being great.  You’ll often see units from all three factions walking into walls, displaying some very weak pathfinding abilities, and the paper-thin story from campaign mode is nowhere to be found.

Multiplayer is a vital facet to any RTS, and while Universe at War has some robust multiplayer options, the gameplay just doesn’t live up to its potential.  Connecting to another player in any of the game’s multiplayer modes can be an exercise in utter futility.  Out of about 20 attempted connections, I was only able to secure 5, and 3 of them dropped out on me halfway through the game.  One of the games I did finish seemed to end arbitrarily.  Sure, I won the match, but since his base was intact and we only barely met in actual combat, I honestly have no idea how.  There is a potentially cool mode called “Conquer the World” which uses the world map in a Risk-like fashion, allowing you to attack and defend different held territories, but my attempts to connect with other players in this mode proved utterly futile, so I have no idea if it’s any good or not.

Visually, Universe At War is something of a mixed bag.  Friendly and enemy units all look great on screen, with some excellent art direction and great animation work.  Most units have special abilities, and these look fantastic as well, showcasing the 360’s ability to render particle effects and explosions.  Backgrounds are significantly less impressive, with lots of lo-res textures and a camera that refuses to zoom out more than 100 feet or so.  These aren’t huge problems, though, and when standing still, the game looks quite nice overall.  The real problem arises when you get into real combat.  Any time there are more than 30 or so units in combat on screen at once, the frame rate drops sharply, often dipping into the single digits.  The same result can be seen any time one or more Hierarchy Walkers show up.  While this is happening, you lose all control over your army, and the game devolves into a downright mess.  With the Xbox 360’s specs, there is absolutely no excuse for this kind of choppiness, especially when it hurts gameplay this significantly, sometimes rendering the game functionally unplayable.  

Despite the high level of character design, the game’s story and presentation border on laughable.  The campaign mode’s cookie-cutter plot is cliché-riddled and instantly forgettable, and the voice acting, especially that of the Novus leader, is downright awful.

It’s frustrating to see a game that has so much going for it fail so miserably on several levels. I can’t shake the feeling that if this game had just a bit longer to incubate, the weak story mode could have been beefed up and many of the technical issues could have been ironed out, making this a thoroughly enjoyable RTS experience.  In the end, though, the excellent control scheme and shiny units aren’t enough to save UAW from its own flawed code.  After the third or fourth massive slowdown you experience, you’ll probably eject the disc, trade it in and play something less glitchy.  As much as I’d like to recommend this one, for anyone but the staunchest RTS fan, I just can’t advocate purchasing it. 

 

 

 

 
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