Scanning for news, and interesting goods to bring to the community, I often come across comments regarding Petroglyph’s Universe at War. Let’s take a look at some examples:
- Been there, done that.
- This sux, you want a god RTS? Go play CNC3.
- This is nothing new.
- Supreme Commander set the bar so high for RTS games. I don't see how this game breaks any new ground. It will be a while for RTS games to rise the bar set by Sup.Com.
- I was expecting something good from Petroglyph, but not anymore with that damn Live criteria.
As a community leader, I find this quite disheartening and very sad. OK, more to the point, people are so narrow minded and quick to judge, it really ticks me off!
But you know what the problem is? It isn't these people's fault at all. Many developers of RTS games have forgotten the genre's roots, and more importantly, they've forgotten about C&C: Red Alert, Total Annihilation, Dark Reign and perhaps most importantly Starcraft. This was the golden age and the peak of the genre. Every single one of these games did something different, and each of these in their own right stand up as the greatest RTS games of all time.
But since Starcraft, developers have attempted to steer clear of Starcraft's ideas and take their games on their own unique path. They've seen Starcraft as a huge wall to climb over. But they will not take the risk of getting a ladder to go over it, or a machine to smash through it. Instead they've either been trying to jump over it with their bare hands or are trying to hack at it with a toothpick. So over the years, they've given up.
Gamers as a result have been playing the same game over and over and over and over and.... yeah you get what I mean. But when your average gamer sees another RTS game, why should they even be compelled to look any further. They see robots, walkers, and some nifty effects and think of SupCom, or they see "Alien Invasion", and tanks and soldiers, and think of C&C 3. This is because that’s all they've seen before.
I will admit, if I was new to this game and I looked at 90% of the screenshots around the many sites. I wouldn’t go crazy. They honestly do not want to jump out at me and dig at my brain in to get at the thing called doubt. I'm going to criticise EA here, but the biggest battle these guys have on their hands is that they are not legally entitled to say certain things to market their product. Even though they are the majority, things like "From the creators of the original C&C and Age of Empires Series" or "From the Members of the Legendary Westwood Studios" cannot go into their trailers because EA have slapped an NDA and a tonne of other legal paperwork right on their heads. Therefore Petroglyph and Sega cannot market directly and draw people in. If Petroglyph and Sega could legally say such truthful claims in their trailers, this community would be swamped with people by now!
I am in this community because I'm a huge fan of Frank Klepacki. I've worked at CNCNZ for 9 years now, proudly working alongside my co-webmaster Sonic, even when Delphi was in the community Managers chair. Listening to every statement that Ishmael would make about the C&C franchise and feeling good about it. That is only because I'm in the know. I've lived through the highs and lows of Westwood Studios and seen the rise of Petroglyph, a company that potentially can, and one day will see them take on the might of Relic and Blizzard Entertainment, and win!
The problem is establishment; they have to make their games talk. And the key to winning over the majority of the fans is not going to come before the release of Universe at War. It's going to come when the demo arrives. But even then, that's not going to win everyone even if the demo makes it onto magazine discs. The majority will come, when the gamers around the world open up their copies of PC Gamer, Games for Windows, or whatever magazine, and see a juicy big fat high percentage score. And maybe such a score will make them read what this game is about and why it's so special. Only then will these people cross reference the scores, and make a judgement that sees them go out, buy it, install and play it. Then they will find the Petroglyph community, and it will grow, and then maybe the doubters will be silenced.
And by the time the X-Box 360 release comes around, PC gamers around the world will hopefully be shouting out about how much Universe at War rocks. The magazines will analyse this, and maybe take it into account. Then the marketing success will follow as the 360 console gamers curiously dig into understanding what all the fuss is about.
The fact is, it will be this game alone, the final product that can make the loudest noise. The music of satisfied customers who enjoy playing this game will put into perspective, how well this game will do. But Petroglyph have convinced the Star Wars nerds that they can make a great game, but how well can they convince the general game playing public?
This is Petroglyph's first true game, and it has to hype itself. With the legal implications in place and no legacies to thrust them forward, it's all about preventing people from thinking that this is just a half-decent stop game until Starcraft 2. Having people believe that this game can be just as strong as anything else that comes out will be an uphill struggle. The battle has already started, and will continue from now, until the release of Starcraft 2, and beyond.
