Starship Troopers: Terran Command Review

If you grew up in the ‘90s, or enjoy sci-fi movies, chances are you have viewed or at least heard of the movie Starship Troopers. The first movie was released back in 1997 and is based on a novel written by Robert A. Heinlein in 1959, about a civilisation where people who are at least 18 years old enlist in the military to be considered a good citizen, thus earning them the right to vote or run for political office. The wars that they are fighting aren’t on Earth; the battles they are fighting are in space against extraterrestrial arachnid creatures on the planet of Klendathu. These aren’t the bugs that we are used to seeing here, as not only are they massive, but they possess advanced technologies like spaceships; they won’t be exterminated easily.

Starship Troopers: Terran Command is a real-time strategy game that takes place in the same universe as the movies with you taking on the role of a commander. The story is told using FedNetTV, an app that fills people in on the latest news and accomplishments of the federation to try and influence the residents on Earth to enlist and join the journey of citizenship. The Battle of Klendathu is the first special broadcast; however, instead of just observing it, you are living it as a commander of one of the troops in the fight. There are multiple difficulty options to select, ranging from very easy to brutal depending on how familiar you are playing real-time strategy titles, with each of these having a different damage modifier to make things a bit easier or challenging for you. This setting can be changed at the beginning of each of the battles so you don’t get stuck if you are finding it too easy or hard, which is a nice addition. The game will auto-save whenever you complete an objective, but also allows you to save at any point in time if you need to leave the game or if you want to have a backup file that won’t automatically be saved over.

You control the Mobile Infantry and other troops using the keyboard and mouse. The arrow keys will move your overhead camera so you can view different areas of the battlefield and you will use the mouse to control the units of soldiers. To move the troops left-click on the group that you want to move, then right-click on the location that you want them to go to. There is a limited radius of how far you can go each move, so it may take a few times to get them where you want, but your soldiers move pretty fast so it’s not much of a problem. The troops shoot automatically as soon as an enemy comes within view — this can be changed in the settings if you want to control when they fire — so you just have to keep track of where the enemy is and move towards them or pull back if needed. The first mission acts as a tutorial showing you how to navigate the map to complete the objectives assigned to you, these objectives need to be completed to move on. In case you didn’t notice, there is a map on the bottom left-hand side of the screen that shows your targets and where to go with a star, in case you feel lost. Some of the objectives have the soldiers destroying huge groups of bugs, the hives that they spawn from, or escort missions where you have to keep miners safe while they head back to the mines to work. To assist you in these missions you will have the ability to call in backup troops to increase your numbers, and for more specialised soldiers like engineers who can build turrets or snipers that can accurately shoot from long distances. 

Between the missions, you will see animated movies on FedNetTV showing you the battle against the arachnids and information about the next fight you will take part in. These movies have a cool-hand drawn look to them which feels unique compared to other games. To accompany this is dramatic battle music that gives you the feeling that every fight against the bugs is important and could be your last if you aren’t careful. Don’t forget that the arachnids have a massive army compared to the humans so it is very easy to get overwhelmed if you get too confident and sloppy.

I don’t usually play a lot of real-time strategy games, but I’ve had a great time playing Starship Troopers: Terran Command; I’m enjoying the videogame a lot more than the movie actually! I feel like I’m part of the action and fighting alongside all of the recruits to take down the hordes of insects trying to take over the galaxy. This is a must-play title for fans of the movie or RTS games with multiple difficulty settings to choose from. Plus getting the chance to destroy nasty bugs with weapons is always a fun time! Will you lead your infantry to victory and exterminate the insect army, or will you be overwhelmed and destroyed by the alien enemy?