Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde Critic Reviews

Smart new theory kicks a dying genre in the butt and makes for a unique single-player and terrific two-player game.

If only Goblin Commander's visuals matched the majesty of its design... I absolutely love it, though.

The game has been kept rather simple in terms of controls to allow players to jump right in and go with a minimal time spent in learning the game. The mission interface could have been better. But if you are looking for an RTS with imagination, this is definitely worth a gander.

Easily the best original console RTS out there in a market that relies on, usually, not-so-good ports from the PC. If Jaleco adds in Live play for next year's release, RTS fans may just find a new addiction.

Though it certainly hasn't reached the same level of excellence as its forbearers from the 16-bit era (or matched the complex brilliance of its PC counterparts for that matter), Unleash the Horde is still the best of its kind to hit consoles in a very long time.

It's a very good game that could have been much more.

The lack of any significant multiplayer hurts as well, and may very well be a deal breaker for some. Still, Jaleco has brought a quality RTS title home, and the world may never look at these games as best suited for PCs again.

It's not the prettiest game going, but its reliance on tense, cinch-your-belt strategy with limited forces is a welcome break from the near-mindless tank- (or in this case, monster-) rush blues.

Anyone with even a bit of interest in RTS games but who thought they were always too complicated should take a serious look at one of the few decent console based strategy games currently available.

This has to be the best Real Time Strategy game available on the Xbox but considering what else is around, this is no hard feat to achieve, but in its defence, it will take some beating with such a great control interface and one that other companies will have to aim at to beat.

An excellent game that disposes of traditional cheap RTS tactics, and instead rewards clever, direct action.

It is real-time and parts of it are strategy but it is not a real-time strategy game. While a decent first attempt into the genre for the Xbox, there's obviously plenty of room for improvement.

It's an RTS that's about 25 percent less filling, and if it doesn't taste entirely great, it's still pretty darn yummy.

The game is easy to pick up and play, a must for a console RTS game, but this takes away many strategic elements, and will leave fans of the genre wishing there was more to do.

While PC strategy veterans will find that the gameplay is pretty basic, console owners starved for a real-time strategy game should find Goblin Commander to be a worthwhile experience.

GC's controls have been optimised for the Xbox's pad and as you are never more than a button press away, you always feel in control unlike some early conversions of the Command & Conquer series, which all results in a fun accessible RTS.

The game is fun, there is no doubt in my mind about that, but the limitations simply drag it from being a great game to being an ok game.

Tactically, it's pretty boring, but if you can get into the goblins' expendable-offense mindset, it's a smashing time.

The strategy is basic at best, while the audio-visual presentation is tepid and uninspired.

Nobody, nobody at all, walks into a game shop and thinks: "Hey, goblins are pretty cool. Today I want to be a goblin." When the goblins in question have been rendered with almost no character or charm, this merely compounds the lack of emotional connection.