...that the OST comes in such a low quality. Give us some 320 treatment!! :-D Didn't come to play the game yet so actually I cannot rate it.
Spam factories, build one shockwave tank after another, smash the other guy! Man this was the first game I've ever played online. :D Dark Reign is a Sci-Fi RTS from the late 90s that was quite ahead of it's time. It has one addon that is some kind of a rarity. I was happy to have picked up what seemed like the last copy from a local computer store back in 1998. So what can I say... multiplayer is pretty good. I have mixed feelings for the single player mode. Some missions are so hard that it was very frustrating losing the hundred time to the AI and starting over. There's a map editor included so you can make your own maps for single- or multiplayer and even script them with triggers, events and actions through an external script. Man I'm so happy right now last time I've done anything with this game was when I was 12 years old. The visuals are top-notch, very beautiful tilesets and sprites! Graphics were neither too busy nor too colorful or desaturated. I loved the time before everything suddenly became 3D. Voiceovers were...alright, soundeffects rather good actually. Technically the engine was a tenfold ahead of comparable games, like Red Alert or BlahCraft. Also the game came with all modding tools and tutorials necessary to make new sprites, tilesets, missions, etcetera on the CD. It's a pity that the online community never grew big and the game pretty much became an underdog due to lack of interest... I don't know if there is an active community still. Gameplay wise it's pretty good... you'll probably need to get used to it. The interface is good (unit queues, customizable unit behaviour) and it has standard C&Cish input otherwise. The resource in this game, Water, is infinite, as in you have water pools that fill up at a slow rate. Actually, if you want a full review, I'm pretty sure gamespy has one! :-P Buy this gem, it's very gut!
The single player campaign wasn't all that great. Might want to read a review on the game first if that is what you are looking for. Multi-player is supposed to be quite good however. Haven't played the game in a long time and don't remember ever finishing it. For six bucks I'd get it nonetheless if you're into sci-fi RTS games and want something slightly different... <rant>Personally I prefer the first installment in the series the most. The dark, gritty and post-apocalyptic feeling was right there, despite being the weakest link in terms of gameplay out of the series. Terminators with miniguns running amok, huge mechs flinging napalm and super-heated plasma around and cool looking big ass tanks having a laser beam barbecue in a mostly barren, desolate world! Miss the old two-dimensional sprite based games...</rant>
