Publisher: SSI

Developer: Topware Interactive

Real-time strategy (RTS) games are at an interesting juncture. They've passed the point where they were new and innovative simply by being (Dune, Command & Conquer, Warcraft), and they're past the adolescence where they were discovering new features, improved interfaces, and the use of 3D (Total Annihilation). They've suffered their glut stage and teen angst (too many bad clones to mention). Moving into adulthood, however, they've still not mastered the concepts of teamwork and delegation. Earth 2150 is a rich RTS, but if it is slick in bringing a smattering of twists to the genre, it is also as subject to some old concerns as its peers.

Earth 2150 steps into a ring loaded with competitors. Sierra's Ground Control and Activision's Dark Reign 2 are both solid 3D RTS entries with laudable features. Earth 2150, however, does manage to bring several cards to the table the others don't. Where they all feature battles on land, sea, and in air, Earth 2150 makes use of the underground, permitting construction vehicles to burrow tunnels for strategic and tactical considerations. The game also attempts improvements to the artificial intelligence (AI) by letting users modify unit behavior through a variety of different AI scripts. In addition, there's a fairly extensive technology research tree. The first factor separating Earth 2150 from the rest of the pack, however, is its campaign goal.

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