At a glance...

Previewer	Platform	Publisher	Developer	Players	Release Date	Screenshots
Matt Bailey	PC	Paradox Interactive	Wargaming.net	1	September 2007	Here

Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power preview

Paradox Interactive are well known for their strategy titles. In fact, we've reviewed many of them. Few, however, are turn-based, with the recent UFO: Extraterrestrials being a recent exception. Wargaming.net, on the other hand, are quite experienced with the genre, and are known for their Massive Assault series of games. Galactic Assault is a new venture for the developer as it steers away from that line of titles for the first time, and engages on a new title based on Russian science fiction novel Prisoners of Power - hence the game's subtitle.

So while they're taking a new direction with the setting and story, Wargaming.net are sticking to what they know best with the gameplay; Galactic Assault is a turn-based strategy game, and as the original Massive Assault, it makes use of the traditional hexagonal-based movements of classic wargaming. What the new title is doing different, however, is streamlining the process. The company plans to widen the appeal by removing the plodding nature that sometimes plagues games in the genre by doing such things as allowing you to move different groups of units while others are still moving, and thus increase the pace of the action. The interface has also been cut down to provide context-sensitive information, avoiding on-screen clutter.

What they're not doing, however, is getting rid of what the genre is good at; providing engaging stories in exciting settings. With the backing of the Strugatsky brothers' novel they already have a good foundation, and will be offering four distinct races to play with in the forms of Land of the Fathers, Khonties, Barbarians and Island Empire. The gameplay retains the core elements of turn-based strategy which make it more appealing to wargamers, over the real-time strategy that appeals to the mainstream. There are, however, features such as fog of war that those familiar with the latter will recognise here, as well as an advanced technology tree and unit upgrade system.

The preview code only offered a small sample of the full campaign mode, but it did show an engaging and interesting game, and also told us that the company's recent forays into massively multiplayer gaming haven't hampered its ability to produce good AI. The game currently seems firmly focussed on offering single player action, and in this version offered a selection of scenarios you can take part in, all of which feature their own objectives.

Also shown off was the game's 3D engine. Wargaming.net have made good advances over previous titles, with detailed graphics, but there's still room for improvement. This genre's success doesn't depend on visual niceties, so we'll reserve judgement until we see the full game. That said, there were some good effects in place, including a weather system and a full night/day cycle, both of which have an effect on your visibility of troops, and thus have an impact on the gameplay itself.

So, while the genre - and indeed some of the company's previous titles - may be aimed at the hardcore, it seems Galactic Assault is making good progress in delivering turn-based strategy action to the masses. We'll see how it fares in our upcoming review.

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