It is fairly hard to actually find a period in history that has not already been visited in the gaming world. Thus, finding fresh source material that hasn't been covered a dozen times already is quite a challenge. Paraworld feels that familiarity breeds contempt, so it has selected a completely different era in which to base its game world - the Jurassic period. Yes, that's right, forget the tanks of WWI and the elephants of the early Eastern European wars - now you're fighting with dinosaurs!

Paraworld even goes as far as to suggest an alternative theory of why dinosaurs existed and, indeed, whether they existed at all. Maybe they just got accidentally sent over from a parallel world. Well, why not, eh? The story follows three insipid heroes, sorry, three intrepid heroes, as they get sent to a parallel world and have to find their way back to the real one. The problem is, the parallel world is in a state of perpetual warfare, which you may just have to participate in if you want to return home. So lots of brutal dinosaur violence then. Lovely!

This parallel world is inhabited by people who are still living in the Stone Age. Coarse cavemen with beards wielding giant bone axes and implausibly breasted female warriors brandishing sharp pointy spears, which they are only too happy to shove up your nose [What, the spears or their breasts? Sorry! Ed]. These locals are the ones who control the dinosaurs and breed them for their own nefarious purposes. Thus when wartime comes, it is frequently a case of "my dinosaur is bigger than yours," as opposed to the strengths of the human warriors.

Paraworld is an RTS game and some may question its originality. Is the game actually carving its own path or is it just a cloned formula of your standard WWII RTS? To a certain extent the gameplay is very familiar, but Paraworld does manage to establish the unique strength of its environment. Although each mission has its own objectives, the basic RTS premise of 'build base, research, build army, bash enemy with army, cry as enemy obliterates you' still remains the focus on pretty much every level. There is a bit of variation and some rudimentary storyline elements, which loosely tie together each mission, but the RTS instincts at the heart of Paraworld remain intact. Build your army and start warring.

With a unit cap of 52, Paraworld does limit itself rather severely. With some games having a unit count of up to 64,000, a paltry 52 may seem rather insignificant. However, I would argue that having a limited number of slots to fill, although an illogical restriction, is actually beneficial for the overall gameplay. Rather than amass a humungous mismatched army you are forced to create a healthy mix of warriors and workers to keep your economy and your battles running smoothly - and someone who happens to be faster at clicking the buttons than someone else does not necessarily gain the upper hand through speed. The unit count actually evens the gameplay and makes it more tactical, as opposed to being a burden in any way.

The way that most units add their unique personalities to each battle really enhances the fun factor. Maybe you have a wild boar with its rider that leaps in and out skirmishes, or perhaps a battle mammoth that charges and batters heavily into the enemy, skewering them with its enormous tusks. How about a giant Bigstompysaurus that clouts enemies at close range and also has a whole band of archers secured into a carrier upon its back, taking care of the long-range warfare? Each unit utilises the strengths and abilities of each dinosaur nicely, allowing for units that are both effective and unique.

One of the criticisms that could be raised at Paraworld is the unbalanced nature of the units. Each race has its own unique dinosaurs and fighters and generally these adhere to the standard accepted RTS maxim of the rock/paper/scissors routine, where each unit has strengths against some enemy units, as well as weaknesses to others. However, that line is slightly blurred in Paraworld into something more like clay/tissue/spoon, with some units being too weak in all areas and some being too powerful in all areas. The infamous tank rush, usually combatable in most modern RTS titles, is once again effective, although obviously it is now a dino rush instead.

The rest of the game is what you would expect, falling into familiar strategy patterns that are ingrained deep into our brains. A number of resources, plenty of upgrades, plenty of special units - all very pretty and impressive, but not a giant step up from the ordinary. Still, it must be said that Paraworld includes all the intricate polished elements of any great strategy game. For instance, the standard command of Ctrl+1 groups together any selected units and pressing each number highlights the selection you assigned to it. A multiplayer mode is also included, allowing up to four players to compete against each other. Allied gameplay can be very rewarding if worked well with your opponent, although currently multiplayer match-ups are not as commonly available as I would like. Hopefully this will be remedied in the near future as more people buy the game.

One thing I was quite impressed with was the quality of the visuals. The grass waves gently in the breeze, each individual leaf of each tree rustles and moves independently to the rest, the battle units fidget when bored, or cheer and dance when excited, and everything is rendered nicely in fully rotatable 3D. The environments are very pleasing, with dynamic vegetation meaning that a crop of wild flowers can pop up anywhere at any time, or a herd of friendly dinos can saunter into view randomly. There is a tangible sense of place and atmosphere that is frequently missing from similar RTS titles.

There is nothing fundamentally new with Paraworld, but there is also nothing significantly wrong. In fact, the scenario change makes a welcome break from the hackneyed themes we have suffered of late and is truly refreshing to play. Yes, I have to review games as part of the job, but I continued playing this after I had finished writing this review, as its endearing qualities continued to exert a strong draw upon my gaming senses. Buy this game - not only because it is a joy to play but because the developers had the balls to try something new. The result is a stimulating and invigorating rejuvenation to all us hardened RTS players who are tired of the same old trawl. Play Paraworld and feel good about yourself. Plus, dinosaurs rock!

Reviewed by Adam Shirley for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).