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Audio:		6.5
Visual:		7.0
Gameplay:		6.0
Story:		0.0
Replay:		6.0
Score:		6.0

Platform:	X360
Genre:	Strategy
Players:	1
Release Date:	November 30, 2007
Rating:

This generation of gaming seems to mark the beginning of the massive migration to consoles because now you’re seeing an alarming amount of real time strategy games on the Xbox 360.  Yes I know it’s more suited for the PC and it’s keyboard and mouse set up, but I’m not here to complain about that.  So far Lord of the Rings II: The Battle for Middle Earth and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars are two noteworthy RTS games that have managed to make the transition from PC to console with little hang ups, but not all games can be as enjoyable as those.

Universe at War was developed by Petroglyph Games, which mainly consists of the people from Westwood Studios that didn’t take kindly to EA’s merger.  Now this studio is mainly nothing but veterans from the classic Command & Conquer franchise and the creators of Dune II, which is a game that helped to make RTS what it is now.  Now in theory this game should be like a gift from the almighty God and turn water into wine and all of that good jazz, but there is something missing in the end result.

Story:

The earth is being ravaged by this alien race called the Hierarchy, the earth tries to put up a good fight, but apparently it isn’t good enough and there’s barely enough people after the apocalyptic battle to put into a matchbook.  The only apparent aid comes in the form of the Novus, which is a race of sentient machines.  Ultimately the story isn’t that interesting nor is it that important because it’s an RTS and this is definitely a genre where the gameplay either makes or breaks the game.

Gameplay:

There’s nothing apparently wrong with the game, but on that front the game isn’t exciting.  The one thing I’ve always enjoyed about RTS’s are the massive battles.  There’s nothing like throwing wave after wave of men at a base or if you want to be strategic you can find the area where the enemy units advance. You can then fortify the hell out of it to create a choke point while you just bide your time and get your super weapons going, but I can not find the same joy in Universe at War.

I personally think it’s because the game and the layout of the units seem to be unintuitive.  I eventually got really really tired of the campaign and set out to do a skirmish battle so I can see what the game is like, but it got just added more rage and aggravation because for basic starters I didn’t know what created troops, armored vehicles or what salvaged stuff for money.  On top of all of this it’s nigh impossible to read what the units do because the lettering that explains everything is about as big as half a grain of sand and I am not willing to risk my 20/20 vision by squinting and putting my eyeballs directly in front of the television screen to read something.

And by the time you do figure everything out your still not sure what unit is best for what kind of battle and everything just seems to get rather confusing.  On top of this you have no clue what is going on during the battle.  One time I was being attacked by something, but I didn’t see what was doing it.  Next thing I know three of my buildings just explode.  The best thing I can do is say that Petroglyph at least did a decent job of handling the controls because they’re actually pretty good.  The interface is pretty good and allows for manufacturing to be made by clicking on the structure and holding down the left trigger.  Accessing the special abilities is also nicely handled as well.  The game uses a tab system where commands and abilities are accessed through it so you don’t have to do any finger ballet to do something simple.  It’s also nice how you can zoom across the map to get some place, but I still don’t like how there doesn’t seem to be a hot key button to get to your base.

Though they managed to do a good job on the controls they still didn’t get a good feel for the combat.  It doesn’t feel as large scale as something like Supreme Commander and there have just been so many excellently handled RTS’s that this game just can’t hold a candle to.  For any cigar-chomping armchair general out there I would just wait patiently for Supreme Commander or World in Conflict to hit the 360 instead of this game.  Universe at War is just not that accessible, if you could find the patience to dig into the game I’m pretty sure you’re going to find something worth your effort, but you’re not going to have any fun digging through the depth.

Graphics:

The graphics and unit design border on cool to completely bland.  The Hierarchy walkers remind me of the Tripods from Steven Spielberg’s remake of War of the Worlds.  Mirabel’s Viktor mech looks like either something that came out of a Gundam anime or Pilot Candidate, but the white blandness of the design of the Novus unit makes them sterile.  Granted they’re nothing but cold machines, but sometimes it’s just hard to tell them apart. the frame rate does stutter at times, but the game does look bad.

Sound:

The music is a cross between techno and orchestra.  It’s not too bad and some of the sound effects are nice.  My favorite being when a Hierarchy walker erupts out of the ground and comes to life.  The weapons effects are your clichéd sounding laser blasts.  The voice-overs are average.  Not laughable like Resident Evil (PS one version), but they can’t be taken too seriously.

Replay:

If you can get past the boring campaign and learn how to use the units effectively you will find a serviceable online component that even offers up cross platform play with PC owners.  But considering that the game is laggy and just plain boring, why would you want to?

Overall:

I’m capable of having fun with a lot of games I love RTS’s, but when something is done poorly from a talented bunch of developers I really have to shake my head and ask “why?”  In my opinion they were better off trying to port over Empire at War and it’s expansion pack.