From time to time developers release a game for a system that you wouldn't normally associate them with, a classic example being the occasional appearance of a real-time strategy (RTS) game on a console. This probably doesn't sound like anything out of the ordinary if you've never played a proper RTS, but if you think about the usual console controller and the PC's keyboard and mouse combo, and the more-often-than-not large number of different buttons required to achieve that tactical drumming of your enemies, you'll probably see what I'm getting at. Occasionally it's executed well, but more often than not, it becomes very confusing which buttons do what when you're trying to issue commands to different unit types in the heat of all-out war. Thankfully however, Petroglyph's latest skirmish with the Xbox 360, Universe at War: Earth Assault, has avoided many of the problems that other console RTS games seem to inevitably suffer from, thanks to the skilful execution of their ideas. But, due to its shortcomings, it won't be the game that redefines the genre on the millions of consoles worldwide.

The story takes place on Earth, where an evil race of alien overlords, known to us as the Hierarchy, set out to purge our planet of the puny humanoids that already inhabit it. They do a good job and, during the early few levels, you'll experience controlling a handful of American soldiers who are given the overly clichéd task of saving the President. From these few levels you begin to see why the humans would never stand a chance without help - outgunned and outmanned, our saviours appear in the form of the Novus, a second race consisting of seemingly self-aware AI robots who took their design cues straight of out Japanese manga comics. The Novus show up in the nick of time through portals from their home world to save the humans, or Sentients as they call us. Without giving too much away, the game leaves you to control each of the three warring factions - the Novus, the Hierarchy and finally the Masari, who show up later in the game with the same intent as the Hierarchy.

Petroglyph has introduced a refreshing difference of play when controlling each of these three factions. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses that you will quickly become aware of and you will undoubtedly find that each faction has its own optimum style of play. The Novus have the benefits of units that can zip across the map amazingly quickly using 'flow', which is similar to the power that runs everything in the Novus world; they do however lack individual units with amazing strength, but this is countered by the vast numbers of Novus that you can build. The Hierarchy units however are orientated around giant size and incredible firepower. This means you usually end up walking into battles with all guns blazing, led by immense 'walker' units. Finally there's the Masari, who seem to employ a Star Wars-esque system of light and dark. Whilst they lack the unit-construction speed, they are able to gather resources (which you use to build your forces up) the quickest.

Thanks to these differences between the factions, the gameplay is varied enough to be enjoyable throughout Universe at War. Each faction forces you to use different tactics in order to come out victorious. It's a massive, massive, shame however that the developers haven't seen fit to give you some degree of freedom during the campaign mode. You're given a task and that's what you're expected to do right there and then. In some cases the game forces you to just do what you're told, rather than explore the maps and find tactical advantages as you would in other RTS games.

Universe at War is also let down by instances of unbelievably dire AI. Seriously, what sort of RTS game includes units that have to be constantly watched to make sure they're doing what they should have been trained to do? I can recall numerous instances where I've created a large force of units to defend a certain area on the map and they've just stood around whilst enemy units have pretty much just waltzed past them. For some silly reason, it seems as if they'll only attack if they're directly fired upon; they might as well be carrying feather dusters rather than laser pistols for the amount of intimidation they provide.

Graphically speaking, Universe At War is wholly unspectacular. It's not terrible by any stretch of the imagination - it's just, well, average! It's not the sort of game you can look at and think, "Whoa, would ya look at those graphics?" Whilst units and buildings look somewhat pretty, the textures used in the maps are underwhelming, which has the unfortunate result of making each level look rather bland and boring. The game is also marred by the unbelievable amount of jitteriness and slowdown that's present nearly all of the time. This is something that I'm unable to properly understand; you would expect some degree of slowdown in a graphically amazing game such as Gears of War, but when the game is as visually unspectacular as this, it's hard to see why there's so much slowdown. Don't get me wrong - it's not slide-show slow by any means - but it can get annoying, especially when you consider the power of the Xbox 360 and all the pretty games that have come out on it thus far and run just fine. This is made worse when you get involved in the larger battles and you're left staring at a jittery screen.

Unfortunately, the music and sound effects are equally unspectacular. The voice acting is fairly good throughout, helping to immerse you into the storyline. This was something I actually liked about the audio aspects of Universe at War. Aside from this however, nothing really stands out; the sound effects during combat are generic but acceptable, while the background music is as generic sounding as shopping mall 'muzak'. I have to admit, and I'm ashamed as an unbiased games reviewer to say this, but this is one of the few times in my gaming 'career' that I've actually had to put a game's own music on mute and listen to my own soundtrack instead.

So we've established that the music is dire, the graphics are so-so, and the AI is rather terrible at the best of times - so what did I really like about Universe at War? Well, the control system is amazingly simple and intuitive, even for an RTS rookie like me. You have a quick run through the controls at the start and they sort of stick with you. You can control all of a certain unit type using the bumper button, or you can hold down the A button and 'paint' the units you would like to select - a very nice touch indeed. From here you can move the units to wherever you fancy, either by moving the left thumbstick to guide the camera around and then pressing A again, or you can set destinations on the other side of the map quickly by holding the right trigger and opening up the mini-map. The camera is also intuitive and well implemented; you simply use the left thumbstick to move your view around the map and you use the right thumbstick to swivel the camera around and zoom in and out. Again, it's all nicely implemented and works flawlessly. My only minor gripe with the camera was that I personally felt it didn't allow you to zoom out far enough - it's nothing major and probably down to personal preference, but the option would have been nice.

Excellent implementation of an intuitive control system, an engaging storyline and the many tactical differences between the three factions on offer all add up to make Universe at War: Earth Assault a fairly good game. Whilst it suffers from some real problems, such as the slowdown and the unspectacular presentation, it's still worthy of a blast. I'd recommend this game, but only if you find it on sale somewhere, or can rent it out for a while. It's a shame that Universe at War couldn't have looked and sounded better, and run more smoothly, as it had the potential to be great rather than just good. Still, it's a solid effort on Petroglyph's part and certainly a good addition to any RTS fan's collection.

Reviewed by Harmz Singh for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).