“From Earth, one can barely make out the star 6Hubley-21. Its glimmer is lost against that of much bigger and brighter stars. But 6Hubley-21 shines in other ways, for it is one of those rare stars that possesses an Earth-type planet – Natrolis.”

Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis, from Edgies and Ubi Soft for the PC, has taken three races, placed them on an exotic and distant planet and said may the best race win. It is a battle for domination of a planet, without all the niceties of diplomacy thrown into the mix. At its core, this is a civilization game, with real-time strategy overtones. Does it work? Yes, but it is hardly unique.

“From orbit, Natrolis is a shining sphere of rich greens and blues. The planet is lush with vegetation and rich in water. One third of the surface is a single, vast continent; the rest is comprised of oceans and small archipelagos.

“Planets such as Natrolis do not remain unnoticed forever. Like all treasure, there are those who would possess it. And, like all treasure, there are dragons to guard it.”

The most noticeable things about this program are the three races involved in the chaos on the planet surface. There are human colonists, Dreils (which are bug-like and like to wrap up defeated foes in cocoons as a resource) and Sorin (a lizard-like, extremely religious race).

The game begins with a tutorial – and there really doesn’t seem to be anyway around that. You learn the basics of the game, and then launch into the fray. But even the tutorial won’t take it easy on you. The first couple of missions are easy, get-acquainted with the game type of scenarios. Then you are thrown into a maelstrom of battle, resource gathering and constant haranguing from the two other factions. Hey, a lizard worker (known as a hammer) can barely pound up enough stone, or cut down enough wood to advance the race without some stinking human, with a big gun walking as bold as you please into the village and beginning to blow up buildings and kill other workers.

The solution? Gather enough resources, build a barracks, create warrior units to patrol and go on seek-and-destroy missions. Upgrade the temple (the town centerpiece) and, if you have enough resources, you can create a priest to go with the troops. The priest will rain down magic combat spells on the enemy, or heal damaged soldiers – though you will have to be the one to direct that action.

Each race comes equipped with a tech tree, which players are challenged to develop as quickly as possible in order to become the top dog on the block.

When it comes to the control elements – if you have ever played an RTS, you will be right at home here. The names of the races, and the buildings may have changed, but the concept behind the game is the same.

The sound is standard for the genre.

The game does feature a rotating camera, so you can get up close to the action. The animation is excellent and the new races are wonderfully designed. The environments are as lush as the manual promises, though there is a tendency for uniform motion when the treetops are moving. Part of the joy is in watching some of the native animals attack each other, before turning attention to the dominate races.

Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis is a typical RTS with some atypical races. It would be a nice introduction to the newcomer to the genre, and veterans of this mode or warfare will find it challenging.

However, if you are looking for a truly unique RTS experience, you won’t find it here.

This program is rated Mature for violence.

Install: Medium
Dark Planet has three install options: small (at 35 megs), typical (230 megs) and maximum (545 megs). The actual installation goes smoothly and reasonably quickly.

Gameplay: 7.5
The mapboards for each scenario, or level, are small and bordered and are initially mired in the fog of war. Once a scenario is loaded, the game moves smartly through to either victory or defeat.

Graphics: 8
The game is well designed. The animations are done well and the environments are nicely realized. The moveable camera affords some excellent views of the game action.

Sound: 7
Nothing truly unique here, but this aspect of the program does a nice supportive job.

Difficulty: 7
Anyone who has played an RTS will have no problem with the controls elements of this game. Dark Planet has the same challenge inherent in most RTS games – balancing resource gathering and development while fending off, or attacking, enemy forces.

Concept: 6.5
While the Sorin and Dreil are nice additions, they are variations on other RTS races. As for the actual storyline – it is old hat.

Multiplayer: 7.5
This program has the usual suspects in terms of multiplayer options – you know, skirmish, capture the flag and domination. It has thrown in a campaign mode, which tries to follow the same guides as the single-player campaign mode, only on bigger game boards.

Overall: 7.2
While not the most unique RTS on the market, this game certain does provide a nice gaming experience. The rating may be a little harsh. Aside from death screams and blood, this game does not seem to step over the boundaries of what is expected for an RTS.