Well, we're now a few months into the second half of the year and the relative games drought still continues. Sure, we've had a few good games so far, but compare this year to 1998 and things just aren't as rosy (then again, any year with a game like Half-Life in it is going to be pretty special). Although there are a number of promising titles due out this year, the fact is that this year is no longer looking to be a great year for gaming, simply because so many of the promising games of this year have been delayed to next year. Still, there are a few gems nestled amongst the usual dross, and yet again I'm here to let you know what makes the cut and which games should just have been cut from publishing lists long before they were released.

The most recent addition to the ever-growing list of great strategy titles is Dark Reign 2. While it doesn't bring much that's overly new to the table, it's just so much fun that you won't care. It looks pretty class, too, thanks to a nice 3D engine. If you need something to hold your attention until Warcraft III (you might have heard of it) you could do far worse than pick up a copy of Dark Reign 2.

Starcraft remains king of the hill, though. As one of the Protoss characters amusingly uttered if you kept clicking on him "I know it's now 3D" but the unique unit art still remains attractive despite the low numbers of colors used in the game. You also won't find a more unique collection of races as the Protoss, Zerg and Terrans are each completely different from one another in so many different ways. The game has already sold an incredible number of units, but if you still haven't picked it up for some unknown reason, do yourself a favour and do so pronto. With the recent release of The Conquerors expansion, the already excellent Age of Empires: Age of Kings received a new lease of life. You can now toy with Mayans, Aztecs, Huns, Koreans and the Spanish and get a little closer to being a real general by playing on the real world maps.

The sort-of-sequel to Homeworld, Homeworld:Cataclysm recently went gold, but until it hits the shelves the original still remains an enjoyably fresh take on the whole 3D RTS thing. Most impressively, instead of playing like a 2D RTS with 3D graphics, it actually makes use of the third dimension by letting you move ships around in space with complete freedom. Besides that, as I said in the last guide it also means you can stop using your 3D card to push 2D sprites, which is always nice. Lastly,Star Trek Armada still comes recommended for the single player experience with a story that could have come straight out of a regular episode of The Next Generation, particularly as a few actors from the series did some voice acting for the game. Once you finish the single player part, multiplayer won't hold your attention for long (as I soon discovered) as the races don't offer much variety, but it's one of the better real time strategy games released so far and certainly one of the better Trek games.