Hardcore gamers will tell you with utmost confidence that real-time strategy gaming started back in 1992 with Dune II. Even geekier geeks will claim that it REALLY began in 1990 with Herzog Zwei. A select few will even try to trace it back to 1980's fantastic Sea Battle on the Intellivision, though anyone with that kind of gaming gusto probably has a wedgie pulled up to their neckline and should stop thinking so much (note: I am in this group).

The fact of the matter is that RTS gaming truly took form and shape in the mid-90's with the release of the original WarCraft and the original Command & Conquer. Both were revolutionary, laying the groundwork for every single RTS that followed. They were also just great fun.

Fast-forward nearly a decade and the WarCraft series has proved its staying power with a terrific third iteration and a nearly flawless track record. Having suffered from a few missteps over the years, the C&C franchise knew it had to take some drastic steps to keep up with Blizzard's behemoth.

The folks at Westwood named that step Command & Conquer: Generals, the first fully 3D strategy take on the C&C universe and one of the most anticipated PC releases in quite some time. And while it definitely recaptures some of the glory of the franchise's heyday, it can't quite live up to its enormous hype.

Though it might up the ante in terms of eerie realism, the story is not supported adequately by the game's main Campaign mode. Each side features 7 or 8 missions, but unlike other C&C games, there is no branching. It's a strictly linear go for each one.

This cool new engine comes at a price, though, as C&C Generals requires a lot of power to run smoothly. Lower-end systems will chug along with options turned way down. But to be fair, you can't ask for a burly new graphics system without expecting some resource hogging, so it's not a big deal.

The three sides are balanced nicely. The technology of the U.S. is superior, the Chinese rely on mass numbers, and the GLA makes up for its basic unit deficiencies with sneaky tactics and devastating weapons. Civilian car bomb, anyone? And when it comes to ubers, the GLA's Scud Storm and China's Nuclear Missile are much nastier than the US Ion Beam.

But despite its thoroughly updated look and features, Generals falls into old habits with some annoying AI. Your units have an amazing tolerance for pain, as evidenced by the fact that they do not move or even fire back on their own if they're being attacked from even a smidgen outside their range. You'll watch in vain as a GLA missile launcher takes out three tanks and ten infantry because they didn't have the intelligence to fire back or even move out of the way after the first two missiles. You have to keep a close watch over every single battle.

Additionally, you cannot set up formations, which can spell disaster in a 3D RTS. Tanks often have a hard time figuring out how to get through certain areas and will instead take 'the long way home'. Setting up waypoints is impossible, and advanced unit controls (like making a group of infantry 'scatter' before being bulldozed by a tank) are absent.

When you tire of the single-player experience, you can hop into Generals multiplayer. The game definitely works better here as the AI range issue isn't as noticeable. Up to 8 players can go at it at once, and the matching system is very handy.

To sweeten the deal, Generals lets you watch an instant replay of any battle - single or multiplayer - to find out where you went wrong. It's a great feature that's long overdue in the RTS genre.

And speaking of long overdue, it's about time the C&C universe got a real update. Though Generals isn't without its design faults, it serves up enough RTS goodness to please fans of the genre and acts as a fitting swan song for Westwood and EA Pacific.

In the near future, there is a war being fought over Bacteria 241, a strange new energy source found in its raw form at the bottom of the ocean. The scientists of Eco Systems Organization have developed a way to extract the bacteria and are attempting to corner the world market in its trade. Unfortunately, their plans to be the sole providers of this energy have been crushed by the invading and combative Proteus Tech. It's up to you to lead one faction into battle: either save the world for the Eco Systems, or destroy and dominate for Proteus Tech.
Such is life in the game Fatal Abyss, a new underwater action game from Segasoft. With unexciting graphics and bland gameplay, this game is all wet.

The graphics are pretty dated. Segasoft promises spectacular 3D, with beautifully rendered battlefields that use real-time light sourcing and high color graphics. Instead, what you get are graphics that are bland and abysmal. It looks the same just about everywhere you go. On some levels there are breakaway rocks and exposed magma, but no unique eye candy. Sure, the explosions are cool to look at, but in comparison to other multiplayer shooters out there, the graphics just don't stack up. I ran Fatal Abyss on a 233MMX with two Voodoo2's, and it still looked like a cheap rip-off of that other submarine combat game Subculture. Perhaps two years ago this game would've been more appreciated for its contribution to the evolution of computer gaming graphics, but not this close to the new millenium.

The controls are okay, and simple to use. There really aren't a whole lot of intricate things to know. If you've played Mechwarrior or Subculture, then the controls will be very intuitive. Simple, easy to use controls: the best part of the game.

In your arsenal of submarines, you can choose to pilot one of three vehicles. You can drive the Scout RV, the Fast AV, or the Heavy AV. The Scout Reconnaissance is the fastest and most maneuverable, the Fast Attack Vehicle is the best overall combat sub, and the Heavy Attack Vehicle of course is slow and can carry the most weaponry. Of course each 'particular' mission has a 'particular' sub that is best for it . . . what else is new? Each ship has a slight handling variation as well, but this is nothing that we haven't seen before.

Each ship can be armed with over 10 different weapons including rapid-fire torpedo, blast torpedo with multiple explosions, and Electro-Magnetic Pulse Pods. The multiplayer capabilities may be the only saving grace to Fatal Abyss. If you like multiplayer Internet play, it is free on Heat.net. Multiplayer only consists of deathmatch mode. When you get tired of playing by yourself, and trust me you will, then you can play online with opponents just like you, who are tired of playing with themselves. Up to 16 players can join in dogfight style combat, over 7 different levels. Again, as with anything Internet related, your experience and fluidity of combat will be very dependent on the speed of your modem or connection.

Fatal Abyss lacked any creativity or innovation what so ever. It is one of those proverbial cookie-cutter games that unsuccessfully cannibalize the past successes of other games. It's as though a cold and lifeless corporation, seeking to capitalize on the genre, simply turned out another widget without a soul to call its own.

To familiarize all three people who never played the original Diablo, Diablo 2 is a hybrid arcade RPG. Played from a 2D isometric perspective, Diablo 2 boils down to a lot of clicking to whack or cast spells, a lot of killing things by aforementioned whacking and casting, and collecting lots and lots of weapons, armor, and other assorted stuff while leveling up and developing your character. It's uncomplicated, straightforward, visceral fun that is much more entertaining in practice than description. It's one of those games that you sit down and play for six hours, thinking you're only taking a 30-minute break.

In Diablo 2 you play as a new warrior, either as an Amazon, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin, or Sorceress. You must stop "the wanderer," the former warrior with a Soulstone stuck in his head, from loosing hell on earth. Conveniently, his path covers mountain, desert, jungle, something resembling outer space, and hell itself. All manner of hellspawn is left in the Wanderer's wake for you to deal with, thereby making a game of it.

Blizzard made claims of there being hundreds of thousands of weapons and items in Diablo 2 and they weren't kidding. Between regular, magical, rare, unique, and set items (varying levels of rarity and exoticness), there are enough things to preoccupy any in-game collector for years. Much of the draw of Diablo 2 lies in finding new items and their uses. In many ways it's a very capitalistic game of accumulation, trading and power. Very American... err... very good.

To show off all of this combat and collection, Blizzard created a new engine. Although bearing a strong resemblance to the original, there is no loading between levels, world size is greatly increased, graphics are no longer tile-based and there is optional use of 3D accelerators. With a 3D card, lighting effects are added and great use is made of a technique called "Paralaxing," which moves 2D bitmaps in relation to each other to create the illusion of perspective. You can "see around" rocks if you move from side to side or up and down - a 3D feel in 2 dimensions.

The artwork behind all of this is first rate. Backgrounds, monsters, spells, deaths - everything is lusciously rendered in high detail and with great imagination. Blizzard has created a vibrant set of locales for Diablo 2 to call its home.

While this sequel proceeds from the mantra of bigger being better, you can't help but sense that something was lost by the wayside and that Blizzard, being the stellar developer that they are, should try harder for innovative games. We already know they can do solid games as well or better than the rest, but how about something that shakes up the industry instead of something so dependable that it's a Top Ten hit before it's even finished? That's the GR briefing, at least. You can get back to perpetrating the genocide of evil now.