Ground Control Anthology

This game wasn't exactly a huge hit upon release. It came out at a time when the RTS market was filled and a number of larger name releases were hitting shelves. Those of us who tried it out found something different from the rest of the market. An RTS without ore mining? For those of us who despise the initial 20 minutes of spam basic units as a defense, pile up tons of resources and climb up the tech tree this was a real treat. Plus this added the bonus of (for the time) pretty good pathfinding on top of full 3D terrain where true line of sight became all important (oh those anti tank infantry hiding in little ditches were a *$%^#!). So with your limited supply of units (who if destroyed are replaced, but the units gain xp and perform better if they survive) you engage in the single player campaign. The story is solid, a somewhat cyberpunk dystopia where corporations and religions fight massive wars for control. Now as good as the story is, it is marred by the acting. Let's just say most of the voices are.. unconvincing. If you can ignore that you'll be content. The gameplay is solid, your units don't spend much time lost, actually use the formations you tell them to use (at the time this was amazing), and if you play carefully and tactically you can dominate the battlefield while suffering very few losses of your own. I fondly remember using artillery strikes to lure the enemy into ambushes, and the pain of loosing heavy tanks to infantry with rocket launchers. Good stuff all around. As a final note, yes this game was made available free in advance of the release of ground control 2, but you had to go through a bit of a pain registration process to get a free CD key, and the expansion was not included. In fact the expansion was released quickly, quietly, and can be a major pain to find. I would happily pay GOG's price for the original and the expansion, as a 2 for 1 I'm clicking the purchase button with glee.

Pure RTS gameplay, without the bothersome "gather resources, build base, etc" elements. The first time you sortie artillery units, you'll be hooked.

This is a truly great game, and it's sequel is as well. I just want to add a point, it is actually possible to play over the internet. But then you have to use a tool like LogmeIn Hamachi (free), Wippien (free) or similar. It's all in Google :) but it is possible. Hope it helps someone.

Original: +The two factions are p cool +OK story +Lots of missions to enjoy +Drop-in multiplayer Dark Conspiracy: +A new faction -Singleplayer missions are either 'run!', or 'strike, then run!' -Singleplayer mission objectives are a joke, your mission will be altered several times -Campaign doesn't feature the new faction until very late -New faction isn't that unique Original gets 4/5, DC gets 3/5, average rounded to 4/5 and I don't recommend playing DC

I tried to play another RTS game besides Starcraft, but this just didn't do it for me. You ironically have too many choices for camera control, making it very confusing and difficult to place in the ideal position. The infantry units in this game are way OP, able to take way too much damage before dying, even from enemies like heavy tanks. I can't count the number of times I lost half my units to rocket infantry that appeared out of nowhere. The AI is hair-tearing frustrating, with the navigation some of the worst I've seen. Trying to move a squad through a narrow space is like trying to move a herd of cats through it. A good story might have been able to carry me through these annoying quips, but the story's uninteresting to say the least.