An RTS with dinos! Yeeeey!
It's unclear whether men have actually shared the Earth with dinosaurs, but that's no reason not to explore what would happen if that were the case. And that's mainly the premise of this game, a nice RTS with the aforementioned dinosaurs starring both as resource and playing unit, combined. The game allows you to select from 8 tribes, each of which have their own little particularities, though a lot of the gameplay style is shared. The main differences is in the preferences that each tribe have towards certain weapons, some being more savvy with projectile weapons, some being more inclined towards melee combat. The game also brings in an original concept. Your main and only resource is dino meat, but if you go for a killing spree that is too damaging and too greedy, you won't have enough dinos to recruit and tame, later to use as combat war fodder. Because the dino units once trained inflict the most damage from all possible units (all fighting units also gain experience points and evolve the more kills they make, another interesting addition to the game) you will have to learn to be more respectful towards nature's gifts, so to speak, though the spawning of dinos can bring back the once lost balance, if a game lasts long enough. And it can last as long as you want, unfortunately, because the AI is not really that bright. Once you become good with the controls and understand what the main strategies to use are, you will be in a position to play a game of cat and mouse with your other enemy tribesmen. But, up until you master most of the emergent strategy lessons to be taught by the game, you'll be thankful for the lacking AI. The game couples regular skirmishes with a host of cool side missions, where you go on artifact chases, on hunting missions and more. If you like the premise, the game will offer you days upon days of play, as there are 8 different campaigns to complete. Complete with nice, semi cartoonish though not too varied graphics and the interesting mechanics I've mentioned above, this game can keep your DOSBox churning for weeks, ensnaring you to come back for yet another skirmish or mission. Yap, I'm a sucker for dinosaurs, so, maybe I'm a bit biased, but, really, if you like a good, though not very challenging RTS, this one can do the trick. Oh, if only the dinos would speak!
