Whether you credit Westwood Studios with Dune 2 as the first real-time strategy game or not, the genre's been one of the most popular for the last half a dozen years. Does that stop publishers shying away in fear that it might be a flooded market? Not at all...
Andy Smith

Well, they still sell, don't they?
They certainly do. Though there are RTSes coming out of retailers' ears there's still a hardcore clamour for more, and when publishers hear that roar the dollar signs roll in their eyes.

Some have been burnt though...
Indeed. You've got to have something a bit different if you're going to make an impression and Havas reckon they've got that in their new RTS, Ground Control.

What's their angle then?
There are several subtle angles they're keen to point out to us...

Like?
True 3D terrain. Get a height advantage over your enemies and you'll be able to see further, fire more accurately and be harder to hit. That kind of thing.

Been done. Warzone 2100...
Okay, no resource management. Instead of being plonked at the start of a mission and then having to harvest stuff to turn it into tanks, you decide the make-up of the strike force you're going to take into battle and you're then airlifted there. Then it's a simple case of deciding how to deploy your troops to achieve that level's objectives.

That sounds better. It's high paced then?
That's the emphasis. This one's more about combat than resource management and to that end you never get to control individual units.

Eh? How's that work?
Very well actually. You only ever go down to squad level with your units, but how you use them is important.