July 20^th, 2003 (12:00am) - Home video game consoles are not known for real time strategy (RTS) gaming, however this fall Jaleco Entertainment hopes to change that with their release of Goblin Commander: Unleash The Horde for the Xbox, Playstation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. And with developers Ron and Chris Millar at the helm (Stafcraft, Warcraft, Diablo) there is little doubt that this game will deliver console gamers with some serious RTS gaming goodness.

Goblin Commander is a real time 3D RTS game that puts players in charge of a large army of goblins and other hideous creatures as you battle your way through dark forests, scorched plains, castles and caves to save the land of Ogriss, the goblin home world. The controls are being specifically designed with the console controller in mind and is said to play much faster and more arcade-like than other RTS games. Graphically, the game is quite a looker, and boasts little touches such as destructible environments and multiple cameral angles. Did I say multiple camera angles? You bet! While the game can be played in the traditional top-down view, the camera can also be set to a direct-control “goblins eye view” mode allowing players to feel right in the middle of the battle. This poses an interesting dilemma for the developers when it comes to “fog of war” (the black part of the map you have yet to explore). While in the top down mode, players will still see the familiar black void they are used to, however when in direct-control mode you will be able to look far across the landscape, though enemies that are out of your range of sight will not be visible.

Goblin Commander is nearing the final stages of development and the team at Jalco is pushing hard for a fall release. New screenshots have just been released (below), and the game looks just plain great. Be sure to check back for further updates, or visit the official site at www.goblincommander.com.