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| Reviewer | Platform | Publisher | Developer | Players | Screenshots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Bailey | PC | Deep Silver | Sunflowers | 1-8 (LAN, Online) | Here |
| Requirements | Buy from Amazon.co.uk | ||||
| Minimum: 1.6GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, 3.4GB HDD Space, 128MB Video Card, DirectX 9.0c, Windows 2000/XP | Click here to buy Paraworld. | ||||
This game has dinosaurs? Who fight each other? And there's samurai too? These aren't the usual questions you ask about an RTS title, but they are the questions you ask when you hear about the concept for ParaWorld. Developers Sunflowers have abandoned the traditional approach of either focussing on World War II or some other historic era such as Ancient Rome, instead opting to give us a taste of strategy set an environment that could only be described as trying to be 'cool'.
ParaWorld was built on a budget of more than 8 million Euros, making it the most expensive German RTS ever developed, and certainly amongst the most expensive German games overall. Some of this money actually comes from the European Union - that wonderful organisation that seems to be controlling more and more of our lives has actually done something useful with our money. But has it been worthwhile? Well, on the whole, yes. ParaWorld is certainly not a bad game, but with such a large budget you'd have thought as much originality would have gone into the gameplay as the armies you control.
At the heart of ParaWorld is a good solid engine. Everything seems to function correctly and efficiently, and works as you'd expect. But that's the problem; you already know what to expect because there isn't much that's really new in here. It has all the functions of other modern RTS games, such as the ability to form armies, heroes who have individually selectable abilities, and right-clicking to execute orders (ok, not so much a feature, but it was a left-click for everything back in the days of C&C). While these are all great, they're not new and unique to ParaWorld, giving the gameplay a kind of 'borrowed from x' feel, even if it's still rather good. It does, however, feature its own army management system. The Army Controller, seen on the left side of the screen, is a nice idea that allows you to easily keep track of all your units. They are displayed on the list, with the ability to see what they're up to, select them, or even move the camera to them. You'll also use this system to promote your units, with limited slots at each level (and fewer as the levels go up) - something that, rather vitally, completely heals them.
However, despite these modern features, the game seems somewhat backwards when it comes to resources. While I have criticised developers for jumping on the bandwagon of moving away from resource-driven gameplay in the claim of a 'revolutionary' new idea, here things are the other way around. ParaWorld places resource conditions more at home in a city-builder, and makes the process rather tedious by having you select workers to go and fetch each of the resources. You then have the issue that when the resource stores are full the workers simply stand around and do nothing. In the heat of the battle, you don't want to be thinking about killing more deer for meat in order to train more warriors because most of your men are standing outside a store of stone.
One of the more striking things about ParaWorld is its surroundings. While the character models are quite good, the environment is of particular note, featuring a good range of colour and plenty of clarity. The detail of some buildings is impressive and it all comes together well to help you settle in with the prehistoric era. Animations aren't as good, and can look somewhat ropey in battle. Also, some objects - such as trees - don't look quite so impressive close up, which can be disappointing. However, these are minor issues, and overall the game is certainly easy on the eyes.
What you're probably still dying to know is how it all comes together in terms of story; how dinosaurs and humans end up in the same place, and does it make any sense. Well, frankly, it doesn't always make sense mostly because the story isn't particularly well told. The plot itself consists of a parallel universe featuring an alternative version of Earth, and isn't really any good. It seems the creativity was focussed on the units themselves. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't told through awful cut-scene sequences containing poor dialogue, with lip movement often not matching speech. Ultimately this means the campaigns become a series of instructions for a purpose you don't understand, and likely contributing to the greater enjoyment I was having with the Skirmish mode (an obligatory RTS element these days).
If you're looking to extend the game beyond the campaign, there's the aforementioned skirmish mode, as well as multiplayer options for LAN and online play. Like the skirmishes they are enjoyable, but aren't particularly special. Also, unlike higher profile titles, you may at times struggle to find people to play with.
This review is based on version 1.01, which you can grab here.
| Graphics | The environments are especially impressive, and there is a general polished look to the game. | 8/10 |
|---|---|---|
| Gameplay | Essentially rather good, but is mostly full of standard RTS features, with little new. | 7/10 |
| Value | It's the usual RTS package; story, skirmish, multiplayer. You get everything you expect for your money, but not a lot more. | 7/10 |
| Lifespan | There's quite a bit to do in the campaign, but it can get boring at times. However you'll find quite a bit of fun in the skirmish and multiplayer modes to keep you playing for some time. | 7/10 |
| Audio | Some rather good music, but the voice acting on the cut scenes is terrible. | 7/10 |
| Overall | Dinosaurs and man have come together to give us a game which is rather good, but not a lot more. Outside of it's original setting and characters, it's mostly what we've seen before, sometimes quite a while ago. | 7/10 |
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