Universum: Jack in the Hole?

We delve back into the wide open pastures of Kickstarter this weekend, this time a game has surfaced that has got a few heads turning. Universum: War Front is a FPS, RTS, MOBA RPG and a DOTA-style game all in one. If that seems like a mouthful, well, it probably is. Now feel for the developers making this game.

Not too long ago now, there was a mammoth of a game called Spore; an idea spun off the top of Will Wright’s head and produced by Maxis. Spore was unique, there was nothing like it back in the day, but there were problems. Spore had five stages of evolution, each one played very differently than the others, in fact, you could go as far as to say they were different games altogether in one package. This was also Spore’s problem and despite the fact that producing one polished game is difficult enough, the developers were instead asked to produce five completely different games. Suffice to say Spore was both an ingenious idea and a technical letdown, lacking in overall quality.

Universum is striving for a similar goal, though on a much less linear scale. Firstly, it’s a RTS, with multiple planets divided into territories and then each territory is a DOTA game. Followed by another layer of FPS, you can join the troops on the ground and help blast the enemy away personally, finally followed by a slather of Space Combat and even a splash of underwater combat.

On the technical side, Universum is boasting destructible terrain and even natural disasters and phenomenon. The early production video on the Kickstarter page shows the game already has very good graphics, especially since its only been produced by a single person so far. Also boasting a single player campaign as well as full online support and they have already met their meagre $20K target. However, the stretch goals will each add a new planet to the solar system, expanding the war zone even further.

Universum could be a fantastic game and certainly something very unique that will attract players of all calibres, if it can pull each style off successfully. It would be a great disappointment if the FPS gameplay was excellent while the RTS was left lacklustre. Unlike the issue Spore had, there is no problem here of making different games within the game; rather, it is a single game with multiple gameplay elements that need to be perfectly balanced and designed. This will be a monumental task as they try to implement the balance of an RTS with the customisation of a FPS.

Can they pull it off, or will Universum be a Jack of all trades and a King of none? Well, either way, you can check out the Kickstarter page and have a look. The game is already initially funded, so any extra will just be icing on what’s left of the war-torn cake.