The genre is getting pretty crowded and many of these games are starting to look pretty similar. It's hard to tell the good from the bad and from the graphically ugly. But overall, none of the games listed below fall into the loser category. Each offers something unique and different. All of them won't appeal to everyone, but here's a quick roundup of the best that real time has to offer so that gamer's can decide how to spend their "real" hard earned money on the virtual battlefield that is right for them.

The general premise of these types of games is that two opponents with cosmically opposing views face each other. The game takes place (usually) in individual missions on a limited sized map. Players start out in each mission with a limited number of forces and an even more limited knowledge of the surrounding area (so much for that advanced intelligence report!). Blackness is all the player sees around his tiny knowledge of the environment. The view of the action is seen overhead with the blackness/unknown world disappearing and/or being uncovered as players advance. Don't ask how the forces got there either, just go along with it and start building and exploring.

Since the forces are as limited as the knowledge of the surrounding area, it becomes necessary to build new structures, which in turn can build new units. This all takes place at unreal lengths of time (in contrast to the name of the genre.real time). The real time part is that everything happens as the player clicks units and gives orders. No individual turns, everything happens at once.

Don't even try to understand the scale of time, because it makes no sense. New structures and then units are created in the time it takes to move a few forces around the map, so this never really translates to a truly realistic scale of time. But it does keep the game flowing well and easy. Unlike turn based war strategy games, there are no movement points to consider, no chain of events. Every thing is just so easy and quick.until the hard missions start, those can take a real time forever!

To pay for the new structures and units, the player needs to have a steady cash flow. These games also (usually) require the player to continually mine and/or harvest some rare material (it can be gold, oil, some unknown and special chemical) and this in turn brings in more money so that the player can continue to finance his/her operation. These materials must be gathered and returned to a processing center and then the money rolls in.again in real time. The money is then used to build new units at quick speeds so we assume labor unions play no part in this operation.

The genre isn't for everyone and different games within the real time realm will also appeal to different people. The settings vary from the Stone Age to fantasy worlds with Orcs and Elfs to far off planets with advanced weapons, but they are all similar in their basic set up. Here is a quick overview of the best of the genre:

7th Legion (Microprose)

The buzz is good on this game but the buzz is also saying that this game doesn't have the best graphics. But in this genre, fancy graphics aren't everything, and playability brings a lot to the battlefield. 7th Legion has a great setup and some interesting elements to make this a real winner.

The story is one of classic tragedy. Earth was dying, the rich built starships and headed off to the stars! They left a dying planet behind.which happened to have several billion people on it, but they were left to die with Earth. Well, the poor did die, but some survived and they became stronger. In space, the Chosen (the Riché) fought hard and replaced their fragile organs with cybernetics to thrive in deep space. When the Chosen returned, they found Earth was repaired and could once again support life. But Earth had new masters and the battle between the Chosen and the 7 Legions of Earth began.

This game has added some unique components to the genre, the biggest was to do away with the need to harvest for materials or rare chemicals. Instead, money is earned at regularly scheduled intervals. The more you kill, the more you earn. Rank also comes into play in 7th Legion. As the weary battlefield commander makes a name, promotion is on the way and the more dough is earned. Individual units can also be promoted and they'll fight better too.

Finally, 7th Legion has done a nice job with the fog of war, as it appears as a real cloud of fog and even returns after a length of time, once again hiding the view from the player. The rich vs. the poor theme is also a lot of fun! Where else can you can blast away at the stinking rich for making such a mess out of things?

War, Inc. (Interactive Magic)

Think about the horrors and evils of the world. The greed, the pain, the suffering and this is just one half of Interactive Magic's War, Inc. The game is one-half mercenary war story with real time missions and one-half the business world with high stakes finance including betting on the market. Of course, the world of suits and high finance is the real evil. The days as a mercenary aren't nearly as horrible as dressing in that suit and trying to make a killing with the profits from the latest battle.

War, Inc. has taken the standard elements of modern real time battles and mixed it with a Syndicate style game where players are also leaders of big business. When they aren't dressed in cameo, it's a Euro-trash suit. The premise is original and offbeat. Players must take on missions, complete them to the satisfaction of their employers and then gamble the money on the market to make bigger profits to research and buy better gear for the next mission. Somewhere along the way, it gets serious, but a good leader of industry will be able to keep a cool head and know when to buy low and aim high!

Dark Colony (SSI)

As Arnold said in Total Recall, "Get your ass to Mars!" Well, get there quick. Earth has nice colony set up, and the planet is being Terra-formed and made more Earth-like every day. Then someone had to go and find some ancient crap from a long dead civilization. When things start to look strange, they get worse. Aliens, those nasty Grays who like to kidnap people and show up in various conspiracy theories, show up and claim the planet is theirs! Time for a showdown between the Gray warriors and the Earth Colonial Marines.

The graphics are a little shaky at times, often looking like lead miniatures (you either like it or hate it), but at least the settings vary a lot (though I'd like some red sand here and there since this is Mars after all!). The high point to this game is that units on each side are totally different. The Earth forces are definitely presented as the "good guys" (the manual doesn't say, the game doesn't say it exactly, but it's there) since this Earthcentric view of the action is made quite clear.

This also helps explain why the Grays are there (if you know how to look for it), they just need a new home and Mars seems like a nice neighborhood. What is nice about Dark Colony is that players can use traditional Earthcentric weapons like infantry and tanks, all powerful machines or they can take the role of the big headed, bug eyed (see even I'm Earthcentric!) aliens with their biological technology and living weapons. In the end, it's clear, both sides really want peace, and that's a piece of Mars 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.

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!