Original War
2001
- real time strategy (rts)
- strategy
- indie
- fantasy
- science fiction
- historical
- warfare
- single player
- multiplayer
- co-operative
The story
An American geological expedition, under a UN mandate, assesses the natural resources in a distant part of Siberia, deep in the trackless steppes of Eastern Russia. But instead of oil, they discover a deposit of a hitherto unknown mineral. American scientists working for Department of Defense find out that this mineral is in fact identical to the substance used to power an extraterrestrial artifact in their possession. This object is called the EON (Extraterrestrial Object Nexus). It was found in 1919 by Colonel Emerson near the site of the Tunguska explosion. Emerson was the commander of a US military unit in charge of transporting US war supplies from the city of Vladivostok to the Eastern front during World War I. DoD Experiments have shown that items placed in the capsule are transported hundreds of thousands of years back in time. The American scientists were not able to understand its construction, nor could they manage to synthesize its fuel. Eventually, the machine - classified Top Secret - was stored, pending further advances in human science.
What it’s like
Muted, dust-brown steppe under flat overcast skies, with snow-streaked ridges and rusted industrial outposts, gives way to prehistoric valleys of ferns and scrub when the time-travel mechanic takes over. The look is early-2000s real-time strategy: chunky unit models, a top-down camera you pan and zoom across terrain, and a soundtrack of low military drones and ambient wind rather than bombast. Its vibe is dry, slightly absurd, and cold, the feeling of a late-night campaign session with the lights low and the tank menus open. Pacing is deliberate, built around scouting, base building, and the slow accumulation of forces, with fights that flare and settle rather than pile up. Its tone sits between earnest war drama and goofy pulp, with the story's conflict between modern armies and ancient tribes played straight. Violence is present but abstract: unit losses, explosions and gunfire seen from above, with no gore and no sexual content. It suits players who want a thinking-person's RTS with a quirky premise, rewarding patience, tinkering with vehicle loadouts, and planning across eras, and it will appeal to strategy fans who enjoy an odd, slightly rough-edged world.
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