SunAge

Fact: The RTS genre has not seen significant genre upgrades in the past 10 years.

Fact: The RTS genre has not seen much resembling an innovative storyline seemingly since the dawn of the genre.  

While SunAge, from Lighthouse Interactive, treads much of what is familiar, the game does take a few variations in terms of gameplay that increases the challenge and entertainment factor – if the preview disk is any indication.

SunAge takes place in a future Earth, one that has been ravaged by war and has become a toxic wasteland (the game stated so). Three factions have emerged in the aftermath. The remain humans, known as the Federals, have taken to living in domes, but the Raak-Zun – a mutant race dedicated to destroying the Federals – have destroyed all the domes but one. Then there are the Sentinels, a mysterious and powerful faction that seems to care for neither the Raak-Zun nor the Federals.

The preview build began with The Blooding, a set of missions aimed mostly at defending this or that from hostile (read that as Raak-Zun) forces.

Ok, soldier, you know the drill. Left click units, right click the next unit to join them, move them in formation by clicking on the ground. Hey, look, there are some Raak-Zun with slavemasters (provide a buff to military incursions) heading for the East Gate of the outpost.

‘Drop to a knee, squad, become snipers!’ ‘How?’ ‘Press the A button.’

Wait a minute, these squads have alternate attack modes? You bet, and that makes the game a bit more interesting. Sniper mode increases the range of the attacks, and while much of the game  map has that pesky fog of war, you can hit them repeatedly before they can get in range to hit back.

The game, in addition to controls that should be familiar to RTS gamers, also has the rock-paper-scissors mentality when it comes to units. You have many different types and must use them to their fullest capabilities. Your snipers can take out incoming ground troops, but use the heavy launcher group to target the Raak-Zun Slingers (a dune buggy that is armed).

The controls are familiar and even the graphics have a familiar feel to them. The world has some nice environmental detailing (for a wasteland) and the units move well. But what is impressive is the sound for the game. Crank up that 5.1 system and hear the rumble. The voice acting is Ok, though it does stumble in a few places, but the musical score drives home the war theme well.

The single-player campaign is purported to have 24 missions, with each of the factions getting its share. The preview disk required going through the Federals missions before one mission for the Raak-Zun unlocked. The game will also have “old-school” multiplayer action, which means resource harvesting and building up an army to skirmish before your foes are ready.

The game’s AI seems rather intuitive and there is even a system in place called Indirect Intelligent Targeting in which units under your command focus on preselected targets.

When it comes to breaking clear of the pack of RTS titles, SunAge – at least from the preview disk – does not seem to have the legs to do that. It does have some interesting ideas (dual attacks), but this looks like it is shaping up to be standard RTS fare, more or less.