When I saw the initial screenshots of Petroglyph’s latest title, Universe at War: Earth Assault, I thought that while it indeed looked interesting, it would probably wind up being yet another RTS added to the pile released every so often. Few titles actually earn a place on my shelf, but Supreme Commander and C&C3 have earned their keep. That said, after witnessing actual gameplay of a pre-alpha build I was ready to head down to my local shop and pre-order the damn thing then and there.

Universe at War is the latest title from Petroglyph, which, if you didn’t know, is staffed by a large majority of the fine folks that established the RTS genre to begin with: Ex-Westwood employees. When EA bought Westwood, individuals like Adam Isgreen, lead designer of C&C: Red Alert, eventually regrouped in Las Vegas to found Petroglyph Games 2003. Now, they’ve created a new IP, and have hopes to base a series of titles based on the Universe at War franchise.

Universe at War takes place in the year 2012, when an alien race called the Hierarchy invades Earth to strip-mine the planet – [kind of like Halliburton – ED]. More than that, Petroglyph isn’t saying, however they did give us a rundown of the basics. The game will feature three playable races, two of which they unveiled (more on these later), however info about the third will have to wait for a later date. They did confirm, however, that each race will have three unique hero characters, and that Humanity would not be playable outside of the tutorial missions. The game seems to be quite innovative in many aspects, as each race has a completely different style of play unique to that race’s background or inherent nature.

Resources in Universe at War are unique as well, as each race will apparently make use of diverse resources to power their war machines, and for the first time that I can recall, resources are destructible (somebody call me on this if I’m wrong!). Denying your enemy resources is no longer simply a task of blocking their access to a local harvesting spot. At one point during the demonstration, a black-hole super weapon was used, which not only sucked in and destroyed the units in its area of effect but completely stripped the surrounding area of every single harvestable resource; grass, rocks, trees, everything.

The first race, the Hierarchy, is composed of huge, lumbering walkers. Indeed, the Hierarchy’s entire technology is based on these walkers, as they have no structures of any kind. Instead, scout units carve out crop-circle-like glyphs into the ground, which are then targeted by orbiting mother ships which deliver the desired walkers. The walkers are the base facilities, and are equipped with multiple hard-points scattered around their chasses. These hard-points can be customized with different equipment, allowing for the walkers to be tuned for defense, harvesting or battle, all the while providing build-options as they slowly lumber around the map. The Hierarchy apparently uses organic substances as a resource as they can easily harvest people, trees, and even cows from the map and convert them to raw materials. The game features many Sci-Fi references similar to “cow abduction”, in a sort of homage to all of the classic movies and television shows that have established the genre since its inception.

The other race shown was the sleek, stealthy and lightly-armored Novis. The Novis are a race of hi-tech robots that build their bases using nano-technology. Their entire bases are linked with a vast network of embedded lasers, allowing the Novis to transport across the map instantly. The Novis use metal as a resource, collecting it from ore in the ground, cars, buildings, or any other source around them – [steer clear Magneto! – ED]. The typical Novis method of combat is one of subterfuge and stealth, using their advanced technology to turn their enemy’s weapons against them and then harvest the resulting metal from the wreckage of their felled units. The developers referred to the Novis as cockroaches, as if even a few units survive a major assault, they can quickly and easily establish a base on another area of the map.

As the developers played a quick ten minute one-on-one match, it was obvious how much thought had been put into making Universe At War one of the most innovative RTS titles in year. The inventive gameplay mechanics alone make me extremely excited about the title, and if we add to that the gorgeous engine, campy Sci-Fi humor injected throughout the game, and the tableau of multiplayer gameplay modes currently planned, we could be looking at one of the best RTS games ever made. Universe at War will be released this Holiday season, so watch for it! If all indications are to be believed, no RTS fan could possibly miss this game and live with themselves.