Starship Troopers

This game was originally intended to be very different, since it originally was based on Robert A. Heinlein novels rather than the popular sci-fi movie. You controlled a heavily armored soldier in squad-based missions from a third person perspective, while simmultaneously being able to increasingly take control of strategic and tactical decisions as you moved up in ranks from a grunt to a fleet commander (however the main focus of the game was 3d action).

Eventually the design focus changed more towards the rts game it is now, mainly because of engine-related issues (the design team ran face-first against a wall when trying to render hundreds of bugs on screen) and to take advantage of the more popular movie license, (as well as riding the popular rts wave).