Submarine Titans

I have been voting and pushing for this game to being released on GOG for years and already given uo hope, but HERE IT IS! + Several layers of heights (which makes this 2D game almost a 3D one!) + great balancing and variety of units, 3 different races + good AI, which ambushes you a lot and will completely roll you over if you waited too long) o average campaingn (one for each race!) o average graphics (even at the time it has been released) o average sound (background music is rather bad, ambient sound is good)

PRELUDE I already owned this game on physical media. When it came out, it boasted multiplayer support both for LAN play as well as for FSGS "Free Standard Game Server". The latter was not included, but basically started out as a Battle.Net compatible server allowing you to run your own ranked multiplayer server for Blizzard titles. Support for Westwood titles such as C&C was also added. This allowed you to play those games in a non-toxic, private environment with server features (and ranking, like ladders) rather than simple LAN games. Great for LAN parties. Unfortunately, FSGS was discontinued due to pressure from Blizzard and cease-and-desist threats from its lawyers. In any case, Submarine Titans was specifically designed with FSGS in mind and supports it, at least the physical media version of this game. GAMEPLAY The game itself is basically a slower-paced underwater RTS where one can operate on several "layers". In addition to the usual directions, you get to move your units up and down as well, and build your buildings at different heights too. There are three factions and each of them has a very extensive techtree. "On the surface" it plays almost like other RTS in late 1990s / early 2000s, but the additional vertical positioning whilst still retaining an isometric perspective without becoming a full 3D game like the Homeworld-series allows additional tactics. The difference in height matters when positioning buildings / units and adds an extra dimension to the gameplay. The atmosphere feels less rushed than rival titles in other settings yet still retain that suspense and sense of urgency of imminent attack from enemy factions, albeit with a calm, soothing, underwater sound. Imagine the difference in experience between the original and the remake of Battlestar Galactica: silence in space completely changed the atmosphere in that space opera. This was an instant-buy for me the second it appeared on GoG. Hopefully they kept the multiplayer options!

I remember reading reviews at game's release time about it being "Underwater Starcraft". It had three races: spammy one, hard hitting one and glass cannon one with gimmicky economy! ...well, its not. Its campaign missions are trying really hard to act like it is, but game mechanics ain't there, so bulk of campaign follows the mostly boring but sometimes frustrating format of "build repair ship and do something with it on made up conditions". This game is underwater C&C: RA. Differences between human races amount to one race's units being little cheaper and more fragile while other's costlier and heavy. Aliens follow same pattern but have little different economy and structure building. There are no spell-casting units, hard counters, soft counters or that one special ability that turns battle around when used in the key moment. Each race has 4 types of attack craft and to win you just need to spam no #3 ship mixed with few of no #4 thrown in for a good measure. As an extra each race has ship for moving resources between mines and refineries, other ship for in-field repairs (useless outside of campaign) and ship for capturing buildings. Humans have ship for building structures. One race has ship that turns ships around it invisible. Other races have detector ships to counter that. One race has ship that is super-great at destroying buildings. Turtling is good strategy thanks to healthy amount of defense structures available. Human turrets can be moved after building, allowing you to use them as siege units if you want to. Only "gimmick" mechanic that one needs to keep on mind is that most of ships in game use some sort of ammunition to fire. This ammunition takes resources and time to replenish, so you need to remember to build armories to match the size of your fleet. I like to start this game once in a while and run skirmish against few CPU's on random map. It's refreshing after years of increasingly gimmicky RTS trying to mimick starcraft.

Was incredibly supprised to see this game pop up here on GOG as I actually worked on it as a beta tester and later as a freelance level designer (a couple of the harder ones you can blame on me :) Great memories and great group of guys to work with down under and even though I still own probably one of the few intact boxed games, I´m picking this up here as my discs haven´t been usable in decades.

This is a sci-fi RTS set in a post-apocalyptic underwater world. There are three factions available with a different selection of ships and technology. Although it seems that two human factions are not that different from each other, compared to the third one - a race of silicon-based organisms. The graphics are pretty, with a wide variety of nicely-drawn 2D sprites - especially underwater animals - but landscapes are not as impressive. The gameplay resembles Blizzard's StarCraft but feels more slow-paced, as it should be, considering that it takes place at the sea bottom. All of the game's battles are between underwater vessels that flow through the water, and have the original feature of being able to flow not only across the map but also between five height levels - which is not typical for most RTS games. Another interesting feature is the production of ammunition - if your ships use rockets or torpedoes, you will need to set up buildings to produce more, otherwise they run out of ammo. The game's primary drawbacks are its slow pace and complex, sometimes confusing campaign missions. However, the game's unique setting and story really draw you in, and custom battles can be fun. Important note regarding performance: Many users who play this game on later O.S. versions, e.g. Windows 10-11, will need to follow a few steps before running the game. Most importantly, set up folder paths in the "Extras" tab in the STConfig.exe (you will get a registry error otherwise!), set up resolution and disable aspect correction in dxcfg.exe. To fix the black screen during video cutscenes, please see the game's GOG forum. If you experience other technical difficulties, do not hesitate to leave a post on the forum. Though I loved playing this game for two decades, I cannot give it more than 3/5 - unique story, original gameplay and great graphics, but soured by slow pace and tedious campaign.