Universe at War: Earth Assault review

Universe at War's genius lies in its asymmetrical faction design. The three races are about as different as they can possibly be, and each does everything in their own unique way, from resource collection to unit building. Even StarCraft didn't go this far, and that's really saying something.

Just a few examples of the differences: the Hierarchy build massive battle walkers that double as mobile factories instead of buildings; Novus can convert units into energy form and quickly warp them across the map through a network of cloaked transmitter towers; and the Masari can switch from an offensive Light mode to defensive Dark mode on the fly to suit any given combat situation. Switching from one faction to another means you basically have to learn how to play all over again - on the one hand, UaW takes longer to master than most games, but on the other, you're getting three totally different experiences from one game.

For this reason, multiplayer is the star of the show, with the three sides interacting in unpredictable ways as new strategies emerge. There are some really unexpected twists - for example, if two Novus players allow their networks to interconnect, units can flow freely from one base into another. The catch: UaW uses Microsoft's Live for Windows service, which charges a subscription fee for access to advanced features like auto-matching you with opponents. It does, however, enable Achievements and cross-platform play with Xbox 360 players when the 360 version comes out next year (we'll have to wait and see how that works out).