Windows

Real War: Rogue States

Real War: Rogue States is a game that turned a low-budget project into one of the most respected products on the RTS market. This is a proof enough that a cliché rather than an original idea and a decent in stead of excellent code and design can sometimes be sufficient for achieving success.

If you're looking for a real-time strategy title that takes a look at modern day warfare in a realistic fashion, this is probably about as good as you're going to get. I'm not going to totally warn people away from this one like I did to the first one, but if the era and weapon set isn't a necessary part of your strategic enjoyment, there are still better titles out there with more polish and fun then you'll find in Real War: Rogue States.

Real War: Rogue States is an improvement over Real War, but only in parts. It's still a clumsy game to play with a major frustration factor. The tactical doctrine it espouses is a valid and important component of war, and it deserves a better showcase. At least you get the complete text of Sun Tzu's The Art of War on the game CD.

With the poor storyline, unchallenging missions, and poor enemy AI, the single player portion of the game is totally disposable. With enough patience, players could find Rogue States worthwhile, in a multiplayer capacity. However, with other great RTS games like Warcraft III, and Age of Mythology out right now, very few gamers may find themselves being tempted to play Real War: Rogue States.

An AI this bad completely undermines the gameplay. In fact, you could say that having to deal with Rogue States' frustrating AI is a bit like playing a multiplayer game with some guy who keeps breaking up the game by walking away from his computer to grab a snack from the kitchen--even though you're all set and ready to play, something that's out of your control keeps disrupting the experience. Considering that there have been several other real-time strategy games this year that are much more highly polished, solid, and enjoyable, you'd probably be better off spending your time and money elsewhere.