Submarine Titans

Developer: Eclipse Studios
Publisher: StrategyFirst

 

System Requirements Pentium 166 Mhz, 32 MB RAM

Recommended Pentium II 233MHz, 64+ MB RAM, TNT2 video card

Ratings
Code Issues Graphics: 4.5 Nice building animations, but not much else. Sound: 5 It's there. Interface: 9 Very complete and easy to navigate.	Play Issues Solo Gameplay: 6 Three campaigns that you may never care to finish. Multiplay: 6 Its there and it works. But is there an opponent to be found? Replayability: 7 The skirmish mode and map editor will extend the life of this game. Learning Curve: 7 Extremely easy to learn. You've probably done it all before.
Other/Notes Documentation: 8 The book gives all you need to know in an easy to use manual. Pros: The auto-management AI. Cons: Too little to make the game stand out. Overall: 6.2

While humanity continues to reach for the stars, there are many people who feel that there is one great frontier largely ignored right here on earth, the ocean depths. What mysteries lie beneath the rolling waves are unknown to mankind. A perfect setting for a PC game, Strategy First brings us an RTS that actually uses the environment to enhance the gameplay. But was it enough?

The backstory for Submarine Titans is nothing to get too excited about. Turns out a comet is heading straight for earth. Two factions, the White Sharks who care little for the environment and the Black Octopi who are environmental zealots, both attempt in their own way to destroy the comet. Having failed due to petty bickering, the comet whacks planetside and sends the oceans of the world to swallow up the major continents. Lucky for us, the two factions had already tucked themselves away into underwater colonies. After adjusting to the new world, they each attempt to build a power base in order to retake what's left of the world. There is a monkeywrench in all this. Turns out riding on the tail of the comet were a race called the Silicons. Their ship now damaged after a failed nuclear missile attempt by earth to blow the comet to smithereens, these aliens are pissed at being stuck here and want out. So you have three distinct (?) races to choose from. You as the player will head these factions in three separate campaigns. Each faction plays slightly differently due to differing strengths and weaknesses. The White Sharks are abale to produce powerful subs quick, but their tech tree is less than stellar. The Black Octopi have a disadvantage in production and brute force, but they make it up in finesse with a tech tree that lends to sneaky subs. The Silicons fall somewhere in between. This diversity lends itself to varying strategies depending on the side chosen, but not by much.

Anyone who has played any RTS since the release of Dune 2, will already have the basics for ST (Submarine Titans) down. It follows the classic (bland? You decide) RTS convention where you gather resources in order to create buildings that will create vehicles and than you head out and crush the opposition. This isn't brain surgery. The basic building component is Metal. Corium acts as that oh-so special resource needed for advanced units/structures. Gold can also be mined and traded with what's left of the land dwelling humans for more supplies. The two human sides require Oxygen (which acts as a unit limiter). In addition, the Silicons require Silicon and Energy (as well as Corium). Fighting over these resources will play a key role, as they do in any resource gathering RTS game. The buildings are very basic, nothing new or interesting to comment on here. The vehicles are basically submarines (big surprise). How many different types of Subs can you make? Not many. The variations are basically bigger, better, faster, more. Some special subs do exist, like stealth subs and ones able to capture opponents vehicles. There are some interesting technologies, particularly the computer hack ability that allows you to gather info on your opponent. Other than that, you basically research better armor, weapons, submarines, etc.

Submarine Titans minor saving grace happens to be its environment. Strategy First has created five levels that your subs can travel through. With most torpedoes only able to fire in a straight line, the new strategy to learn is manipulating your subs depth levels as a means of defense. Of course this actually means micromanaging units defensively, and we all know the best strategy in any wargame is offensive. There are also underwater caves where you can hide units from the enemy. Just be careful, as the terrain is so similar, you may end up parking a sub only to hide it from yourself.

One interesting feature is the auto-colony management feature. You can instruct the computer to auto manage a particular building (like your research facility), manage the collecting of resources, base defense or even have the computer run your entire colony. In addition each submarine has a pretty extensive list of AI instructions including patrol, repair, defense, attack, etc. This is a very nice feature that should make it into all RTS games. It allows the player to play the game the way they want to. Don't like the resource gathering in RTS games? Let the computer do it. Don't want to waste time sending a lone sub to search the map out for the enemy? Send one out under AI control. What this also means is that the computer AI is very respectable and offers quit a challenge. This doesn't mean there are 'flanking' maneuvers or that sort of thing, just that the AI builds well and hits often, keeping the player on their toes at all times.

Graphically this 2D title is a little stale. The buildings have nice animations, but the vehicles are mostly the same. The environment is also repetitive, though how much can you do with coral reef? Still, explosions are pretty and each sub is distinctive. The music is decent and adds to the underwater effect. The interface is commendable. It is very easy to learn and navigate, offering a wealth of information that is easy to digest.

Also included beyond the campaigns is a skirmish mode, multiplayer and map editor. All very basic with nothing outstanding. Which sums up Submarine Titans. A few years ago a game like this would have done well, the new elements, while commendable, will be overshadowed by other games of the genre that just do it better (meaning more fun). ST will appeal to anyone who has a fascination with the untapped frontier of our ocean depths, but hasn't got much going for it for everyone else.

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Reviewed by A. Sage