Review by: Dave VanDyk

Well now, here's a conundrum. On the surface, Worldshift hits on a lot of solid points: wide-scale, customizable, focused around co-operative play, the management of tactical teams of troops, and even some semblance of RPG gameplay and item collection to help keep the experience fresh and interesting. All of which is lumped onto a futuristic, post-apocalyptic setting where every inch is a fight for survival.

Sounds great on paper! However, in execution the game's true colors start to show through. At its core, Worldshift is really a game about two things: hoarding upgrades and items, and hurling masses of infantry at each other to watch the explosive carnage. It accomplishes these things by catering towards those that thrive on repetition, power gaming, and obsessive micro-management.

Which isn't to say the game is terrible mind you - on the contrary, it provides quite a few novelties that I'd be remiss in not mentioning, and my negative commentary probably has more to do with the fact that this is exactly the kind of RTS game I tend to suck at. You're offered a choice of three factions: Humans, Tribes, and "The Cult", all of whom have their own distinct graphical style and unit abilities. Each has their own flavored backstory fleshed out through the game's documentation, but you wouldn't know it from the brief (if action-packed) intro movie and the vague, inconsistent plot presented in the game's limited single player missions.

You can pick from four modes to play in - one single player-oriented mode which offers a set of storyline-driven missions to help get acquainted with the game, and three multiplayer modes based around competitive or co-operative gameplay. From a competitive standpoint there are basic practice and full-blown deathmatch gameplay modes, which spice things up with a combination of base-building elements and fast-paced action as you battle it out for control of essential resource points on a given map.