Genesis Rising: The Universal Crusade
Preview
The Human race is on the verge of conquering the whole universe with a unique mix of RTS, RPG and adventure
by Irish Jim
previewed on PC
On the verge of final victory
Interstellar combat, galactic conquest, and genetic engineering? Real time strategy, roleplaying, and adventure game? Can one title merge all of these elements? Well, Genesis Rising: The Universal Crusade is ready to give it a shot!
It is the very distant future, and the human race has finally united in a common cause. You see, it seems that they have decided they are a divine race, and as such they are entitled to rule the known universe. The problem is the pesky alien races believe that they have just as much right to go about their lives without being annihilated by marauding armadas of humans and their war machines. Nonetheless, the humans have conquered nearly every parsec of the known universe. All, that is, save one. In a remote galaxy lies the Universal Heart, the source of all life and energy in the universe.
In this game, the player assumes the role of Captain Iconah, a battle-seasoned fleet commander and genetic engineer, who has been tasked with the exploration and conquest of the Universal Heart. At his command are the humans' great instruments of war: Organids. These biomechanical entities meld living flesh and sentience with technologically advanced starships, and with them at his command, Captain Iconah will achieve complete glory, utter failure, or maybe even something in between.
So what is it?
Genesis Rising, from DreamCatcher Interactive, is expected to combine elements of real time strategy, role-playing and adventure games into one star-crushing package. This is a pretty lofty goal, but perhaps bodes more success than had they stuck to a simple version of just one of those archetypes. Many is the hour that gamers have spent in all manner of space combat, be it on a strategic scale, or in the more intimate realm of a first person adventure.
One of the first things that must be discussed about Genesis Rising is its basic concept. I don't mean the whole "Humans versus the Galaxy" idea, because we all know that humans cannot even get along with themselves, let alone the funny looking creature with six eyes and the disturbing number and manner of appendages. Face it; any good space adventure will almost always be us versus them. More intriguing is the idea behind the organids. There are three classes, or sizes, of ship, ranging from starfighter/cruiser analogues, all the way up to capital ships. Each size will obviously have advantages and disadvantages, but each will also have the ability to evolve in real time, adding new abilities and characteristics to your arsenal
