Typical of real-time strategy (RTS) games, Universe at War: Earth Assault features three different alien races fighting for control of Earth. Also typically, each race has its own way of going about it, but unusually, some of it requires the disintegration of livestock. While that may sound like the perfect opportunity for 50's B-movie-style hokum, it just doesn't go there. For a game where cows are harvested for their resources, Earth Assault sure keeps a straight face.

Still a fun game in the C&C vein, and throwing a bounding box around a bunch of units and tossing them at an enemy base just never seems to get old (to an RTS fan, anyway).

Of said races, first up is the Novus, a sleek clan of shiny white robots. They construct power plants (hello, C&C) to sustain their structures and can travel quickly via nanotechnology using linked towers, zipping around as little white orbs and rematerializing at their destination. Aside from being highly mobile, the Novus collect resources by constructing buildings that produce little harvesting drones free of charge, making for a very, very safe economy. It's obvious that the Novus are the "normal" race here, built for players used to a more conventional RTS experience. Not to say that the Novus don't do anything new, but they're the safest race in the game, leaving the other two races more interesting but ultimately inferior choices for someone playing to win.

Of said other-two, next is the alieny Hierarchy, complete with penchant for three-legged machines. The Hierarchy's method of resource gathering is arguably the most interesting -- and the most broken. Small tripedal walkers are used to disintegrate material for resources by way of magnificent green death rays. While it is extremely entertaining to watch a gaggle of tripods vaporize cars, buildings and cows, it's twice as entertaining for opposing players to destroy your harvesting walkers and effectively cripple your economy.

The third race, the Masari, is a sort of mystical amalgam of ancient Egyptians and the mythical Atlantians. Unlike the Hierarchy, like a breath of fresh air, they're not entirely broken. They have a power-up mechanic that allows you to assign up to two builder units to focus on a building, improving the output of that building, which makes for a stable and flexible economy that can stack up against the Novus. However, what really makes the Masari unique is that they operate in two modes: light and dark. In light mode, units do more damage (supposedly, it's hard to notice a difference) and flying units can stay airborne; in dark mode, buildings and units alike gain a sort of dark matter "overshield." Unfortunately that is really the extent of their flexibility as a race; their flying units can be devastating late game and they're nowhere near as fragile early on as the Hierarchy is, but they're slow to start, and their heroes are a bit underwhelming.

Sadly, it's a recurring trend; Universe at War: Earth Assault is a game with radically different factions yet very little in the way of checks and balances to make playing any races other than the "safe" Novus worth your while.

Too, if the developers had embraced the inherent B-movie qualities of Universe at War: Earth Assault they could have had something unique on their hands -- a Command & Conquer style game with a cheesy Mars Attacks vibe. The actual result is a rather competent if unbalanced RTS that takes itself too seriously. Plus, it's facing some stiff RTS competition, not the least of which is found in the latest Command & Conquer games it's so easily compared with.

Universe at War: Earth Assault is worth a look, but you'll have to go out of your way to love it.