Dark Reign (Activision)

The Imperium have been lord and masters of the known universe for some time, but their Dark Reign is about to meet a challenger. The Freedom Guard is annihilating their worlds and a showdown is about to take place. The prize is nothing short of everything!

The far future setting of Dark Reign provides players with some highly advanced units and other worldly settings to wage war. Like Command & Conquer, air units also make a welcome return to the genre, but like most of the other forces in the game, they'll quickly bite the dust if players don't properly support their forces (whole armies seem to be wiped out in seconds!).

The high point of Dark Reign is its tab style interface for managing and building structures and units, as well as managing resources. This makes controlling the forces and bases easy. There are full menus for building, communications (for multiplayer mode), an orders menu, special function menu and even a paths menu for directly forces. Novices to the genre may be overwhelmed by this process but will find it nearly impossible to accept any of system. This is really the best game for serious micro-managers out there.

Total Annihilation (Cavedog/GT)

With a story line similar to 7th Legion and Dark Reign, Total Annihilation could get lost in the crowd. But that would be a shame, because this game has over 150 different units and 50 missions to keep players coming back for more! The Core have transferred their bodies to machines, while the Arm have retained their bodies of flesh. Not they fight to the death on countess worlds seeking nothing less than.total annihilation of the other (didn't see that coming did you!).

This game takes players to the air, sea and land in their quest to be the survivor of this war to the death. The variety of units in TA (had to get that in at least once) is almost awe-inspiring but also a little too mechanical. There are advanced units constructing buildings, exploring, fast attack vehicles, heavy assault tanks, battleships and even more and more. The differences in the forces in appearance is minimal but in combat, the Arm and the Core are like night and day. Players will learn this quickly or be annihilated even quicker!

The settings, including the use of water and ships, are great and make for a truly unique and diverse gaming experience. Total Annihilation also adds the leadership of a commander unit to the game. The commander must build new structures, repair units and even gather up the ruins of destroyed vehicles (we don't want a messy battlefield now do we?). It is highly important to guard this commander, as it is the most important unit in the game.

The fog element is also well used in TA. The fog turns from total blackness to a grayish shade providing the player with a rough idea of what lays ahead. As players advance, the gray fog returns leaving the player with only an open view of the current line of sight. The rest is barely visible and only enemy units lurking on the perimeter can be seen.

This gives a nice balance, since the terrain should be remembered, even if shadowy, yet the location of enemy forces should remain hidden (if you can't see them with line of sight, you shouldn't see them). Few real time strategy games since C&C have put this much detail into combined forces (which is strange since air support is considered a key element to real modern combat!) and this game is a standout for these qualities.

Myth (Bungie)

Following a time of plenty, a time when things were right and in order, dark times have fallen on the land. The world is in chaos, dark forces are on the move. Few dare to stand in the way as the evil makes it move. People were content with the way things were for too long and started to pay the price.

Bungie software decided to step in and shake things up a bit. The real time genre was looking all too much the same, with the overhead views of the action so they went out and brought a little 3D into the mix. Now the forces of evil are fearing that a new lord will free the land and thus comes Myth: The Fallen Lords.

Myth could be the next in the evolution of real time games, adding the 3d view into the mix. Of course, this could be a dead end in the evolution tree, the Neanderthal of the family. But the beta of Myth looks promising, the action is good and the 3D view is refreshing.

Time will tell if the dark forces from the land of "The Same Old Thing," will attempt to adapt and join Myth or if their countless followers will shun Myth and not even give it a chance. Fans of WarCraft, sword and sorcery style games and those looking for something a little different and offbeat should check out Myth and see if they join the ranks of the converted.

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Age of Empires (Microsoft)

This game is in the running for game of the year everywhere. It has taken the best elements of the real time genre and fussed them with the classic Civilization for an instant classic. Players begin at the "beginning of time." Instead of trying to win over time and several missions, Age of Empires takes part in one single game, where players battle against computer controlled countries or other players, in a single game with a total victor.

The player must advance from the Tool Age to the Iron Age, learning to build new structures, units and learning new skills, and build a powerful civilization defeating all others by combat or spiritually controlling even more ancient ruins. There is also the world wonder victory, spend a few eons building and guarding the pyramids (or equally impressive man made wonders) and victory is guaranteed.

Players need to explore the world, use their civilians to gather wood, food (they can hunt, gather berries and eventually build farms and fishing boats), stone and gold. These materials are used to build new structures and pay for new units. Each new age allows the player to both build more advanced buildings and research special advanced skills and even better technology for even more improved buildings and units. In other words, it's a lot of work, yet never feels like work. Instead, the game is fun, addictive and challenging.

Victory conditions include a standard victory where players can win by controlling ancient spiritual ruins and artifacts or building that ever important Wonder of the World (and controlling them for a length of time), or by conquest of the other civilizations. There is also a time limit so that players aren't up all night trying to build their empire. In addition to these games, Age of Empires has some pre-built scenarios and campaigns that offer new challenges in both single player and multi-player modes. There is a lot to this game and each of the different civilizations (including Summerian, Greek, Egyptian, etc.) offer their own special units in addition to priests, cavalry, bowmen and various war ships. Age of Empires is a game that is impossible to hate. One warning.if you start Age of Empires, you can win in a few hours, but don't start it too late because you won't get to bed anytime soon!

Still, there are some games to watch for in the coming months including:

Dominion: Storm Over Gift3(Ion Storm)

No indirect harvesting. Instead, the player builds oil rigs over the precious black gold, Texas-T, and protects it for dear life. This game adds the element of matter transportation. The early beta looked awesome and the game has only been getting better.

Earth 2140 (Interplay)

Another real time epic set following the destruction of the planet. The day after never looked better. Two kinds of people survived the horror of the end of the world. They returned to the surface to face each other one more time. The graphics and sound are outstanding. The units have a level of realism not seen in the genre.

Seven Kingdoms (Interactive Magic)

Promises to be real time at the beginning of time. It might get swallowed by Age of Empires, but then again, it could find it's own place. After all, the genre is packed with a lot of modern age and futuristic real time games, so there should be room for two ancient era sims. The game also promises to be a little more traditionally structured, with individual missions and added units with each new map.

Starcraft (Blizzard)

All the glory that was Warcraft but in the stars! Can a fan of real time ask for anything else? Well, maybe because Rebellion (LucasArts) is on the way too. That's real time strategy in the universe of Star Wars. Maybe the only thing that fans are waiting for as much as the prequels!

There is no time like real time. Happy gaming and keep the fog of war rolling across the computer. There is an opponent that is building up it's forces, and someone a gamer is getting ready to take them out!