Gamespy get the lowdown on Universe at War, after a chat with Adam Isgreen. In addition to the interview, there's 6 new screens to boot!

GameSpy: With Petroglyph's roots in the C&C franchise, one assumes that the gameplay will be pretty fast and tactical. Yet for Star Wars: Empire at War, you added a more strategic layer with the galaxy map that you muck around in before getting into the actual skirmish. Will UaW utilize a similar strategy/tactic split, or is there a different gameplay system?


Isgreen: We have a similar setup in UaW, where there is a global strategic layer that sits overtop the tactical maps that you battle for control of across most of Earth's continents. The strategic layer allows you to gather information, position your forces and heroes, and figure out the best course of attack against your enemies. It's about a 70/30 division of gameplay time between tactical combat and strategic planning. We've streamlined a lot of the strategic play so that while there are less things to worry about, each of them has deeper significance for both strategic mode and in tactical gameplay.

Pacing-wise, the game plays fluidly, but not as fast as some recent RTS games have been. We wanted to give the player a chance to recover from bad tactical choices without being horribly punished (i.e. wiped out), so our gameplay speed will be somewhere in the middle once everything settles out.

Full Interview (http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/petroglyph-sega-rts-untitled-project/796820p1.html)