ParaWorld

Infobox VG
title = ParaWorld


developer = SEK
publisher = Sunflowers
Deep Silver
designer =
engine =
released = September 25, 2006
genre = Real-time strategy
modes = Single player
Multiplayer
ratings =
platforms = Microsoft Windows
media = CD-ROM
requirements =
input = Keyboard, mouse

"ParaWorld" is a real-time strategy PC game released on September 25, 2006. It was developed by the German company SEK (Spieleentwicklungskombinat), based in Berlin. The game features more than 50 prehistoric animals, especially dinosaurs and Pleistocene mammals. The game uses TAGES, and therefore installs a driver on the system for copy protection.

Gameplay

Principally an "Age of Empires" clone, "ParaWorld" features food, wood, and stone as resources. Food can be picked from bushes, hunted from animals, fished from the sea, or farmed. Stone is located in discrete deposits, and wood, cut from trees, is generally scattered throughout a map. Rivals can do battle on land and sea.

Dinosaurs in the game take the place of traditional wildlife and livestock, though the dinosaurs in-game are highly stylized and not necessarily scientifically accurate. Wandering dinosaurs can be hunted for food, though some are dangerous and aggressive species will attack any player unit that wanders too close. Other prehistoric creatures make an appearance as well, for example woolly mammoths are used where other games might feature elephants.

The game borrows the general counter system from "AoE": regular infantry are countered by mounted units, mounted units are countered by pikemen, and pikemen are countered by regular infantry. Heroes and advanced units are more powerful overall.

Players advance through epochs in order to unlock new technologies and upgrades.

Playable factions

*Dustriders: Loosely based on African and Southwest Asian cultures, the Dustriders are desert-dwelling nomads, to the extent that some of their "buildings" are actually mobile units.
*Dragon Clan: Derived from classical East Asian societies, the Dragon Clan is more technologically advanced than most other game factions. They specialize in machine units and hidden traps.
*Norsemen: Based on Viking legend, the Norsemen are stout warriors.

Plot summary

"ParaWorld" ("parallel world") is an alternate universe where dinosaurs and ice age creatures never became extinct. A group of 19th-century scientists discover the parallel world where dinosaurs and primitive human tribes coexist. When they subsequently learn that people don't age in this dimension, they decide to remain there to rule.

Later, three young scientists are led to Jarvis Babbit, a mysterious man who seems to know something about a series of oddities that the scientists have come across in their research. The American geologist Anthony Cole, Swedish biologist Stina Holmlund, and Hungarian physics genius Béla Andràs Benedek are sent there, seemingly for an expedition. The 19th-century scientists find out about this, and try to prevent the three scientists from releasing information about this parallel dimension by trapping them in the hostile ParaWorld.

The three scientists serve as the game's core "hero" units. Their main goal is to return to their home universe, but to do this they will need to enlist the aid of enlightened natives and battle against the hostile creatures, tribes, and ultimately the masterminds trying to stop them. Along the way they'll meet several characters who are seemingly based on classical scientists such as Nicola Tesla ("Nikolaj Taslow" in the game). They eventually discover that a man named David Leighton, who is one of Babbit's men, is orchestrating events on the parallel world, and pursue him. They also learn of a plot to permanently seal the world away by moving the planet out of orbit, which will also trigger a cataclysm.

In order to save the planet and secure their own escape from ParaWorld, they are forced to assault Babbit's fortifications. They manage to stop the countdown and Stina cuts off Leighton's arms. Babbit makes a last-ditch effort to stop the heroes by using a giant robot. Babbit falls into lava and presumably dies. The heroes finally go back home. However, Cole is awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call telling him that the dinosaurs have come through as well. The chaos of ParaWorld now ensues on planet Earth.

Reception

Upon release the game was met with fair reviews with an average critic score of 72% at Game Rankings. The developing company SEK shut down due to insufficient sales, and Sunflowers ended their partnership with it. The previously announced expansion pack was cancelled.

References

* [http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/paraworld/news.html?sid=6139417&q=ParaWorld Gamespot Preview]
* [http://pc.ign.com/articles/666/666319p1.html IGN Preview]
* [http://www.wargamer.com/reviews/paraworld_preview/ Wargamer Preview]
* [http://gaming.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=6802 HEXUS Gaming - Review]

External links

*wayback|http://web.archive.org/web/20070821101602/http://www.paraworld.com/|Official website archive