Imperium Galactica 3

This third part of the Imperium Galactica series is another RTS that finds itself moving away from an empire/colony building concept by putting emphasis on tactical space combat instead. Bases will still be there of course, but this time round expect much more in the way of stellar research, configurable ships, customisable weapons and smooth Homeworld-e sque dogfights. A great deal of fuss was being made of the various formations your units can merge into. In one demo we were shown a squadron of fighters morphing into a large wedge formation, which automatically generated a force field to protect a convoy. We were told that eventually there will be plenty more of these 'intelligent' tactics to marvel at, including a formation that changes into a mobile fort. Sounds interesting.

There's a much more open feel to IGIII than the previous two offerings, with players choosing their missions from an amazingly rendered galactic map. Gameplay is story-driven, with lots of submissions and red herrings boasting both good and bad surprises. There's also a generous dollop of alien technology up for grabs as well as special 'hero' units that can be earned after completing certain missions.

Overall IGIII looks like an interesting mix of Homeworlcl and Ground Control. Though it's shaping up nicely, one possible failing could be its utter lack of multiplayer options. Oh well, you can't win'em all...