Global Domination |
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Friday December 18, 1998
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Global Domination |
|
Friday December 18, 1998
|
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Bomb your least favorite nation back into the Stone Age. |
| This is
a real-time strategy game, and before you say,"Oh
God, not another one," this isn't like all the other
games of this ilk that have been released over the past
18 months. Global Domination takes inspiration from the
classic 'Missile Command,' the board game 'Risk' and
movies like 'Never Say Never Again' and 'War Games.'
There's no collecting of resources involved and the
setting is the real world of the near future. When all nations, large and small, have the ability to launch military attacks on all other nations, the term geopolitical stability becomes an oxymoron; expressions like 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' no longer hold true. Am I making a comment on the situation in the world today? I could be, but I'm not. I'm talking about the world in which Global Domination takes place. Nations engage in combined air and sea attacks on whomever their enemy is at that particular moment and the UN has lost any real power over world events and has been abolished. In the absence of any form of world order, some governments have turned to a private corporation called ULTRA (Universal Tactical Response Agency) to provide military assistance and to secure their immediate futures. ULTRA is equipped with ICBMs (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles), ABMs( Anti-Ballistic Missiles), subs, warships, nukes, fighter jets - you name it and they've got it. ULTRA receives contracts from prospective clients like Pakistan or New Zealand to defend against an aggressor nation and/or retaliate. Your job is to direct the combined military forces under ULTRA's command to fulfill the objectives of the contract. Each contract is different and may have specific battle and victory conditions that must be met. You may be required to use defensive power only to prevent damage to a client nation or you may be given a free hand to use anything at your disposal and to use extreme prejudice in getting a rogue nation to stop raining fiery death on your clients. Using the mouse and a few keystrokes you can have F-15s intercept incoming bombers and cruisers sweep the coastlines for enemy subs while firing off volleys of ICBMs and putting anti-satellite missiles into orbit.
A B-52 heads home after dropping the bomb. |
 Game screen showing India as a client. The pace of action in this game is frantic as you coordinate a wide range of forces while keeping a watchful eye for danger that can come from anywhere. Despite the fact that Global Domination is only a game, the parallel between it and the actual situation in the world right now are a little chilling. Some countries fall under the rule of petty dictatorships from time to time and become aggressive toward their neighbors, Other nations remain neutral and watch the fireworks from the sidelines, while still other nations ally themselves with aggressors or defenders with no apparent rhyme or reason. The fickle and unpredictable behavior of the countries of the world mean that you can't depend on any of them for very long and must always be ready for a surprise attack. One of the early missions in this game has you defending Central America from an attack originating in Venezuela. At the start of hostilities, you are being aided by North Africa but soon after Venezuela lobs a few missiles across the Atlantic, North Africa switches allegiance, allies itself with Venezuela and you now find yourself defending and attacking on two fronts. The scenario ends well, only because the U.S steps in to help you out, but you're not quite sure how long they'll remain friendly. The graphics here are pretty solid - they accurately depict the action, but aren't needlessly flashy. That said, you'll still need a 3D accelerator card with in excess of 4 megs of RAM to run the game at the highest detail setting. The music is good too, but I must say the sound effects are better - indeed, fantastic - it's just like CNN. If you have a quality powered sub woofer on your PC, I'd recommend turning your bass level down. The first time I got nuked I had Christmas cards and magazines toppling off of my shelves. If you like real-time strategy, but are tired of the same old build-a-base-and harvest-resources scheme, and want some fast action, Global Domination may satisfy you. |
Company: Category: NOTES: Interest: 85% TOTAL : 85% Requirements: Operating System: Memory: Hard Drive: Sound Card: Video: Stefan Lister
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