Dark Colony

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Dark Colony
Developer(s)	Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Publisher(s)	GameTek
Release date(s)	August 31 1997
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer (1-8 players)
Rating(s)	8.4/10
Platform(s)	PC (Windows)
Media	CD-ROM
System requirements	90 MHz Pentium processor or equivalent, 16 MB RAM, 1 MB video memory, 5 MB hard drive space
Input	Keyboard, Mouse

Dark Colony is a 1997 real-time strategy computer game developed by Strategic Simulations, Inc. and published by GameTek

1 Overview
2 Balance
3 Graphics
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Overview

The game is set on a fictional Mars colony in the year 2137. Humans have discovered a "remarkable energy source" by the name of Petra-7 on the red planet. Figuring they'd rather not choke on the atmosphere of Mars whilst mining this precious stuff, the Humans begin terraforming the planet and by the time the game starts the project has produced jungles and deserts habitable by people. All seems to be going well, until the Taar show up. The Taar are aliens (the ones from the Roswell incident no less) from a scattered and dying race looking for a new homeworld, and Mars seems to fit the bill. Before they can move in though, they have to get rid of those pesky Humans.

The game consists of two campaigns where you can either play as the Humans, commanding a colonization force from Pan Luma Industries (one of the Earth corporations along with Aerogen and Stratus who are in charge of the Mars project) whose goal is defend against and defeat the alien threat, or as the Grays, where you have to defeat the Human presence on Mars and claim it for your own.

[edit] Balance

Some may argue that Dark Colony lacks whatsoever difference between human and alien armies. But others see it as advantage for mastering the strategy and the ways to wage war. Indeed, both armies have absolutely mirrored units that differ only in appearance. Yet there are two aspects to the gameplay that can sway the tide of battle: effective use of artifacts and day/night cycle.

[edit] Graphics

Simple yet crisp 2D sprites deliver solid 3D feel to the look of units. Highly detailed (for the time it was released) Dark Colony is nice looking and pleasant to play, if you're a screaming-at-the-monitor maniac of bloody carnage, that is.

[edit] Trivia

Dark Colony is one of the first RTS to add day/night cycle as a tactical consideration, as the Grays see much better during night time and Humans see much better during day time.