ParaWorld (PC)

65 Million years in the making

Well not quite, but it seemed like a good way to start.

With the plethora of WWII or modern warfare RTS games hitting the PC, it was about time that we got something a little bit different and Paraworld from SEK is about as different as it gets.

Story

The story revolves around 3 scientists and their involvement in a particular event that changes their lives. They end up in another world, one that’s similar to our own but has real, living and breathing prehistoric creatures on the surface. They are soon drawn into a much bigger conspiracy that threatens both worlds.

It sounds the classic clichéd stuff, but the Paraworld story brings together elements of the Lost World with Jules Verne style steampunk. It does it rather well and tells a decent tale along the way.

Gameplay

Paraworld stands out amongst the slew of other RTS titles because it doesn’t try to do anything too spectacular. It doesn’t over complicate things with a clunky interface or a vastly different build style for the 3 major factions. Each mission of the singleplayer campaign tells a little bit more of the story and introduces you to a new feature or a shift in the technology.

Before the map loads you’re given the chance to customise your units with points earned from previous battles, this allows you to start with a sizeable force of workers if you’re into rapid expansion, or a smaller force of more powerful units if you prefer to attempt to turtle.

The game will be familiar to anyone that’s played a RTS since the days of Command and Conquer or Warcraft. Build up a base, do a bunch of upgrades and defend it against persistent AI attack. It is a tried and tested formula and works very well.

You have several resources you need to collect: food, wood and stone, to enable you to build up your base and defences as well as amass a powerful army. There is a pretty stringent unit cap and you will rapidly find yourself throwing weaker units into a war of attrition with the enemy AI.

There are also skulls from battles, but we’ll come to that later on.

There are 3 factions on offer:

The Vikings: Norsemen that are the first faction you get to control at the start of the game, they have some pretty powerful units and are good for defence.

The Dust Riders: Nomadic wanderers that can quickly transfer their base of operations from one place to another. They use mobile resource collectors and can tear down their buildings, recouping any resources used in the construction.

The Dragon Clan: Oriental style pirates, they have access to gunpowder and are probably the strongest of the 3 factions. They require pretty solid tactics to beat.