Maelstrom

by Tenacious Moses
July 26, 2006 00:00 AM PST

Too familiar and nearly identical, recent real-time strategy games have become bland and repetitive with the common harvest, construct, and destroy mentality. Maelstrom however, revitalizes the genre with revolutionary features and an engaging plot by Star Trek: Voyager screenwriter John Swallow.

The Hai-Genti find Earth's watery new look to be quite desirable

The year is 2050; after the collision of an asteroid in the North Pacific, islands sink into the ocean and the Earth's climate has gone into a catastrophic frenzy flooding the world in 90% water. Governments have crumbled under the pressure of restoring life to a sustainable state, survivor's loot and riot to survive, and Conglomerates have revealed secret armies to fight for what little land remains. As the global storm many call "The Maelstrom" wages on, now is your chance to shape the outcome of the war, victory is at your fingertips.

If the route by land is blocked, take to the sky

At the core of Maelstrom lie three major factions struggling for the future of mankind. The Remnants, set in the ways of the old want to restore power as it were before the asteroid. Survivors from around the globe have united to fight under the leadership of the Remnants and their commander James Buchanon to bring down the corporate Acension and its army of high-tech militia. The Remnants rely on modern day technology for their weaponry and vehicles such as chain guns, tanks, and helicopters. Led by billionaire Arlan Kahn, the Acension are powerful and have the resources for technological units far more advanced than the Remnant, but their strict structure of government policy has pushed many survivors away. The third wheel is the alien race, the Hai-Genti. Water being their key resource to survive, the Hai-Genti finds the planet Earth to be highly desirable in its current state. Their brute force, large size, and adaptable abilities make them a fearsome foe against the human survivors.

Maelstrom includes all the familiar elements of a real-time strategy game: three warring factions, resource gathering, base construction, unit production, and faction heroes. However, what makes Maelstrom unique, the key feature, is the ability to sculpt the landscape to your liking. Each hero has the ability to flood, freeze, or shower the playing field with destructive meteors. This allows for some interested gameplay as you can flood an enemy base and then freeze the lake, encapsulating the enemy units within. If a river is between you and victory, evaporation grenades instantly eliminate the obstacle, revealing the river bed underneath and a clear path. Or strategically crater the land, cutting off an enemy's supply of resources.

Published by Codemasters and developed by KD Visions, Maelstrom hits store shelves in September.