This RTS challenges players to a race to acquire energy and create new homes for themselves in a newly discovered galaxy. Featuring strategic terraforming to acquire resources, the game lets players manipulate the landscape to extract energy, expand their base, increase covered territory and limit their opponents' options. In turn, energy extraction provides power to units, buildings and protective force shields, making energy management and environmental awareness the key components to successful gameplay.
In addition, Perimeter's use of a feature called nanomorph technology allows units to be transformed into different strategic elements directly on the battlefield. Teamed with a wealth of missions, structure types, maps and factions, Perimeter delivers unparalleled tactical opportunities ready for adaptation in any gameplay situation.
This game has been patched to the latest official version: 1.01
Age requirements: ESRB Rating: EVERYONE with Fantasy Violence. PEGI Rating: 7+ with Fear, Violence.
Minimum system requirements: Windows XP or Windows Vista, 1 GHz Processor (2 GHz recommended), 256MB RAM (512MB recommended), 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 8 (ATi Radeon 8xxx and above, nVidia GeForce 3 and above recommended), Mouse, Keyboard.
I must admit I had high expectations of this game when I first approached it. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest! The plot shows us the journey of a group of Earthling refugees looking for a new home, traveling through dimensions formed with thought and imagination and fending off the Scourge – monsters born out of human nightmares. Three factions have formed among them over... full review the centuries: the Exodus - the original refugees, led by the mystical Spirits, looking for a new world to settle, the Harckback, a faction among the Exodus that wants to return to Earth and the Empire – a totalitarian nation seeking to obtain absolute dominion over Sponge-space. While playing the main campaign we will get a chance to lead every faction, learning their motives and philosophy in the process.
From the game plays perspective, Perimeter offers a classic approach to the RTS genre with a couple of innovations. The main resource is terraformed terrain and the energy being drawn from it with special Cores. You can consider the three main units you can build as an additional resource – you can reshape these into more advanced vehicles (this is explained by nanotechnology story-wise). To function, every building needs even terrain and energy, which is also drained by production and research. The Factions, similar to the ones in Dune 2, differ from on another by having two special buildings and three units. The research tree is clear and simple. Another innovation, apart from the terraforming I mentioned earlier, is an impenetrable force field, or Perimeter, which can be generated by Cores, but at a cost of great energy consumption. Cores form energy lattices around which the game's entire strategy is based – you can take control of enemy Cores or destroy them, thus disconnecting vital structures.
Playing Perimeter is very pleasant. A very easy to comprehend game play, beautiful effects during battle and using energy, levels designed with an artist's touch and the game's plot guarantee to suck you in for many long hours. The game is quite difficult and time-consuming, which could be considered a flaw, as some missions have us slowly, inch by inch, take over enemy terrain or defend ourselves for a long time until we are prepared to counterattack.
In conclusion, I would recommend this game to all RTS lovers and to fans of hard Sci-Fi with a hint of mysticism.
This game is a lot of fun, and has been keeping me up late at night. Initially I wasn't particularly impressed. The story was interesting but I felt there was something lacking in the style of the units and the feel of the combat (indeed I still think it is a bit weird...). I gave it a chance though, and my opinion changed after just a few levels. Because Perimeter provides something... full review truly different - a hardcore RTS in which games are won and lost by clever placement of structures. Here your units are very much secondary to your base. This is not the only change you can expect if you consider yourself an RTS fan - this is a big game with a lot to learn. The sheer number of new gameplay mechanics compared to traditional RTS games means you are still learning new techniques 10 levels in.
If you are a fan of god games then you'll have a lot of fun building the biggest and best base possible (and taking over enemy bases!). This together with the diverse strategies, compelling storyline, and the need to beat the next level is keeping me coming back for more. The game is complicated, and at times quite hard. I've found myself searching the web for tips and turning the difficulty down to "easy", but then I was expecting another "C&C". After I got used to it... well, I was *still* searching the web for tips, but having a lot more fun! I haven't finished the game yet but I've seen enough to review it and recommend it to other GOG members. Yes, you guessed, I am stuck on a level and don't know what to do next... I'll sleep on it, and beat it tomorrow...!
An Overlooked innovative masterpiece
(by
Alteisentier)
Perimeter from the Russian company KD-labs is one of those special games that crops up every now and then, It may not be a perfect polished big brand name game from a huge company such as Blizzard. But its heart is definitely in the right place and it does its best to shatter the cliche of all RTS games since command and conquer. ... full review
The story is truely a unique experience, that will capture your mind and imagination in its grip, showing you a high level of orgininality that is unexpected in such games. The plot following various factions of humans and spirits living in massive flying forts that resemble something like cathedrals as they journey through interconnected realities to try and find their own paradise. Yet everywhere they set foot the Scourge attacks. Literally growing out of the ground like a plague of nightmares and hell bent on removing both from the world they currently inhabit. The only choice to flee to the next dimension and try to find that fabled paradise where the scourge do not exist.
The game breaks all traditional molds. There is no gold or wood to harvest, no set resource you have to mine. Instead you depend on terra forming the earth and building energy spires to suck the energy from it.
The more land you hold the more energy you can generate, which might not sound too diffrent, but in the game it changes everything. Instead of fighting over small points of the map to gain an advantage. The entire battlefield is your resource. Which can really affect the game play. Other features such as your units, which arn't set in little specialized roles and can be nano morphed into any other unit in the game allow for counter attacking and changing stratagy when fighting opponent armies on the fly. And being able to tap into your opponents energy network and steal it and their structures truely makes for a new and amazing experience.
This game is definitely worth the time of anyone who enjoys RTS games, it can be a little punishing in places. And the story a little fragmented, although easy to follow once you realize how it's being told.
But the rest of the games good points massively out weigh these minor and overcomable details
The only problem I had with this game is that it does not get along with duel cores, the game will run at double the speed if you have a duel core system, which most people probably do these days. This however is easily fixed in a matter of seconds. Simply press Alt + Ctrl + Delete. Go to the processes tab, Right click perimeter.exe, click set affinity and than un select the second core. It should be called CPU 1.
Then hit okay, the game will now run perfectly .
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Alteisentier)