Take the fight to the enemy!
Metal Marines is far from a classic piece of strategy gaming, but if you fancy something a bit different in the real time strategy genre, and have exhausted the delights of Command & Conquer or even KKND, then this might be worth a look. There's a fairly complex piece of background setting to the game, which describes how the Earth has been dramatically changed following a terrible war, with the continents now shifted and many cities lost to the oceans. A mad despot has now taken over the world, so it falls to the offworld Colonial Forces to save the planet and which basically involves sending in fifty foot robots to crush his armies in tactical combat. In gameplay terms, this translates into an isometric strategy game, where you control the good guys in a series of missions across the islands which now form much of the planet. You have to worry about a lot of things, from building bases, to maintaining resources to attacking your enemy. There's a wide range of buildings to use, including fake HQs to confuse your opponents, while there's also a good selection of units to try out. Metal Marines isn't stunning but for a solid slice of old-school strategy, you could do worse. The setting isn't particularly original, but it works and the island-based nature of the missions does lend the game a certain character. The range of options is decent enough to keep you playing for a while, and there's a good sense of challenge which helps matters. The visuals aren't spectacular and there are some technical issues, but this still manages to be reasonably entertaining.
