ParaWorld

Did anybody here hear about Spieleentwicklungskombinat? Or maybe SEK? I?m sure that if you?re German you most definitely know of their work (yes, it?s one and the same). Their fist game, Wiggles/Diggles made a lot of fuss. Unfortunately, it wasn?t very well known outside the German boundaries. It was a funny strategy game that involved? lots of dwarves. More to the point, it was about 4 clans of dwarves that hosted characters from absolutely awful to utterly adorable. Their main target was to chain up a ruthless hellhound and? Oh, well. That?s a totally other game. The point was ? SEK already proved to be able to get something catchy. What is even more important is that they are partners of Sunflowers ? the creators of the highly appreciated Anno series. Now they?re tempting us with a story about the controversial dinosaurs that will guide (or hunt) you along a very imaginative RTS that takes you to? ParaWorld.

Story The background story says that this all happened in the 19th century and that the evil mastermind behind the events that are to come was a certain Jarvis Babbit ? an exceptional mathematician that managed to find a way of traveling to another dimension. Like any dark genius, he felt the need to be adulated and be covered in riches. Hence, he establishes a group of scientists (SEAS) that can keep a watchful eye on the new universe. ParaWorld, as they called it, was a primitive world inhabited by dinosaurs and archaic tribes. The great thing about the parallel dimension was that it acted as a fountain of youth enabling everybody to life forever without aging a day. Obviously, they decided to stay there and rule over the mystical world.

Unfortunately for SEAS, the existence of this parallel universe is detected by three brilliant young scientists ? the American Geologist Anthony Cole, the Swedish Biologist Stina Holmlund and the Hungarian Physics genius Bela Andras Benedek. Of course this doesn?t bode well with the society?s plans so Jarvis sets up the three and traps them into the salvage ParaWorld. From here on you guide the trio on their quest to get back to their home dimension. They?ll meet up with friendly tribes that will aid them in their journey, but they?ll also face ruthless enemies and too aggressive for their well being wild dinos. As if they didn?t have enough to worry about, the mad scientist and his group are determined not to allow them to escape alive from this world. Will they make it back home? Will they succeed in rescuing this innocent world from the evil masterplan? You?ll have to find out for yourself ?cause the story is really worth discovering on your own.

Concept Fortunately, the three heroes not only worked on their intellectual capabilities but also trained in some combat techniques. Bela mastered the all mighty long range bow and is even capable of influencing the archery skills of those around him. Stina, the beautiful blonde Swedish goddess, has a way with animals, while Cole is unbeatable in two weapons (swords) fighting. Along the way our heroes also meet other unique characters that join their just cause or that are in need of their help.

Three tribes ask our brave heroes for aid: the Norsemen, the Dustriders and the Dragon Clan. It seems like there?s an ever going battle with some Barbarians and some Amazons, not to mention the well trained army of SEAS that pops up from time to time to unbalance even more the battles. The intricate way home goes through five climatic zones (pretty big dimension, isn?t it?): the temperate Northlands, the dry Savannah, the tropical Jungle, the frozen Icewaste and the volcanic Ashvalley.

As they exterminate more enemies our group gains experience (represented by skull points). Obviously you think these will be used to raise your heroes in ranks. Well, you?re only half right, ?cause you could also promote any of your other troops if you wanted. So you?re allowed 25 level 1, 15 level 2, 10 level 3, 3 level 4 and just one level 5 unit. The funny thing is that your greatest unit could even be a worker that will work harder than ten level one workers. I guess that strategy is up to you to decide.

Helping out a tribe is equivalent to getting in control of their development so you?ll need to tell them what resources to gather (wood, stone and food), what buildings to erect and what units would be more appropriate for the approaching battles (long range archers ? always look for them, trust me). There are customized units for each of the three playable tribes. Each of them has strong and weak spots, advantages and disadvantages and a unique titan animal as they reach the top stage of evolvement (the fifth epoch).

Gameplay Just so you get an even greater chance of getting safe back home, you can search the mystic lands for artifacts that will grant their powers to all the units that obey to you. Any of your units can carry one of these treasures (no matter whether it?s a hero character or not). Well, don?t worry too much about being able to carry just one object as these are rather scarce (they are treasures after all). Once the carrying unit is killed the treasure will immediately be laid on the ground ready to be picked up by another daring fighter.

Maybe you won?t experience a cr?me de la cr?me RTS, but you?ll definitely enjoy the close ups on the (Viking) Norsemen kind with their all mighty flotilla and their slow but strong land units, including the Triceratops Titan. The Dustriders (desert caravans) have the least buildings, but these are all ecological ? they can be disassembled at any time and be converted into the initial resources. Their town center is a mobile caravan that is extremely helpful as resources exhaust and you need to relocate the base. They are also the proud possessors of the widest variety of cavalry including the lizard king T-Rex Titan (they must have had a secret code with the cute dinos). The Dragon Clan tribe (inspired by the Asian cultures) is the most advanced. Although they have weak walls, they have the largest variety of buildings and mastered a system of traps to slow their enemies down until their mighty Seismosaurus Titan gets his way with them.

The usual RTS key combinations work perfectly in here too (double click a unit to select all alike, use CTRL + number to designate a quick group and so on). Well, you won?t need too many schemes to get through, most of the times your highly trained heroes along with as much archers (long range preferably) should be enough. Add a few defensive towers and maybe a wall and a gate and you really needn?t worry. It is however helpful that you get the Arch Druid character with you for healing or hire some priests or something, just in case you get some damage (it wouldn?t be fair to get face to face with the enemy?s main army with only half of your forces). Which is worse, although you can resurrect your fallen heroes, these are stripped off their ranks so you?ll have to invest a lot more skulls in their training than just gather the resources for the healer. The nice thing however is that before actually starting a mission you can spend previously acquired experience points to get yourself some decent units to get the game going.

Video The characters are designed to please the eyes of every kind of gamer that is. Guys will be able to peek at the generous blouse cleavages of all female units (maybe a little variety would have been more appreciated), while the girls will be happy to dream of Cole?s muscles reminding (at least to me) of Wolverine from X-Men and the delicate features of Bela a la Pirates of the Caribbean Orlando Bloom. Well, now that everybody is satisfied I may add that the buildings have a pretty decent look too with elements inspired from the representing cultures and a few additions to go with the fantastic dimension. Besides, the short sequences in the main menu serve as a great intro into the mysterious ParaWorld.

I couldn?t really complain about the environment either. It is friendly and doesn?t bother the eye. The cycle of days and nights will also add to the depth of this mystical realm and the in-engine made videos will spice up the story with lively, eye catching action scenes. What I could complain about is that all the units tend to go through one another in their goal to get to a certain location. I guess at least they don?t trip on one another causing all sort of pathfinding troubles. Little blood is splashed from the victims? bodies (and there is no dinosaur feasting) so anyone above 12 years old is allowed to play it.

Sound ?Breathe in deep. Close your eyes. Concentrate on your target. Draw your bow. Relax your inner self and if you truly wish to hit your target? OPEN YOUR EYES before you fire!? Archer (Dragon Clan). Now this is the kind of lines you?ll get from clicking repeatedly on your units. It may even remind you a lot of the funny lines from Blizzard?s games Starcraft and Warcraft (there aren?t even close so many lines here, but it?s a welcome idea).

Every mission in the single player campaign is preceded by an appealing short journal like entry with surprisingly well realized voice acting. Each of the main characters gets a chance of sharing some of his/her thoughts with you. The background music is also well chosen, adjusted to the overall atmosphere. It reminds of the Lost World series and other movies inspired by the book with the same title by Arthur Conan Doyle. So the sound aspect of the game will get a well deserved high grade.

Multiplayer The same three tribes can battle each other in multiplayer mode too. The fifteen maps available can host up to eight players. Handicaps can be set for any player as well as substitute a potential human opponent with the AI (on ten levels of difficulty ? pretty wide choice). The maps are fun and usually concentrate on either land or naval confrontations (of course a multitude of strategies can be adopted ? that?s up to you and your ?enemies?). The multiplayer mode is especially fun when you?re playing against another kind of tribe and see how the opponent manages to overcome the differences. Of course it?s also fun when you play in a team as you are able to share resources with whichever player you?d like (even enemies so be careful).

The multiplayer also presents you with a wider variety of heroes to choose from. You can now summon the Governor, whose melee fighting skills can match up to Cole?s and does massive damage especially to buildings. Jarvis Babbit is also unlocked in multi. His abilities include major damages to the buildings and a very strong body armor in addition to faster building speed for the tribe he?s part of.

Conclusion In Cole?s own words: ?If I were you I?d like to be me.? The main attraction of the game is the hallucinating story and the wonderfully presented idea that it proposes. Add the great sound and the appealing graphics and the game is three quarters to success. Well, the RTS part didn?t really come out as interesting as everybody would have expected, but it still serves as a pleasant gaming experience. Well, I?ll let you go get your hands on the secret door to ParaWorld, Jarvis Babbit and his secret SEAS society. I say a good story deserves at least one chance.