The dinosaurs are extinct. Some say that some are still alive but they couldn't prove it. The theory for the disappearance of the dinosaurs ranges from a collision with a comet (single or multiple objects) to environment changes. The first dinosaur bone was discovered in 1677 at Cornwell, near Oxford and the dinosaur received the name of Megalosaurus, just to be first described in a scientific journal by William Buckland, a professor of geology at Oxford University.

In 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle publishes the book "The Lost World" which was the first book to describe a world where dinosaurs were still alive in a parallel world.

From that time, dinosaurs were encountered in many books and movies like King Kong or Godzilla. From a movie to a game centered on dinosaurs it's only a small step so in September 2006, the German company SEK releases the game. The SEK idea was simple. A world full of dinosaurs fighting each other while people are riding their backs or taming them. For the dinosaur fans, the units are modeled superb while the RTS fans get an old time fashioned strategy game.

Three scientists discover some strange things about a certain place which makes them believe that a parallel world exists so they come to a wealthy man named Jarvis Babbit to sponsor their expedition. But little do they know that old Jarvis was already aware of that place and was exploiting it. He agrees to help them and soon they find themselves in a race to save their lives and return to the real world while the SEAS, a secret organization, is trying to eliminate them. On their journey they will be forced to roam the land and make allies with the three races available in Paraworld.

The story is narrated strange and although there are cutscenes that try to explain the how and why, you will end up asking yourself questions like where did they got the weapons they are caring and why the hell are they about to die in that strange world. But if you can get over the story, an interesting combination of adventure and steampunk awaits you.

As all the old strategies, Paraworld is mostly about "build a base and complete the objectives”, which in most cases is to eliminate the enemies. ParaWorld uses a resource model familiar to most RTS players. Food, stone, and wood must be harvested to train units and construct buildings. The resources are limited so you have to take care how you spend them because soon you will have to fight with the enemies on the remaining resources. You will be able to research how quickly your workers can harvest these resources so in time you will just have to fight your way to complete the quests which once completed will give you pints. These points can be used at the beginning of each mission by recruiting troops that will be available when you start the mission, easing you the tasks.

Collecting skulls

There are two types of enemies in the game. Each enemy slain will give you a certain amount of skulls, depending on how tough that enemy is. The skulls can be used to advance the units and buy upgrades. In the case of the Dustrider faction, skulls are also used to advance epochs in order to open up new technologies. At the beginning it won't be easy to collect them because you will fight with weak units but in time this won't be a problem. Sometimes you will have an easy time collecting these skulls if you know how to build a strong defense since the AI has a hard time finding a solution to brake your defenses. You can also harvest skulls from the animals found into the game which are generated by nests. Nests can be destroyed or left alone to generate additional skulls.

The set-up

At the beginning of each mission you will have access to only workers, warriors and archers. But as soon as you gather up some more resources you will be able to research and advance to the next epoch which will allow you to have access to more powerful units like the stegosaurus, one of the first dinosaurs that can be recruited. As you collect some skulls, you can also recruit heroes which add interesting bonuses to your units. Each hero has its own weapon and at a higher levels will give you access to a special unit. The units can also be promoted with skulls but be careful because you can have fewer units with high level. When a unit is promoted, it is healed entirely and it receives more hit points and armor and in some cases special features.

There are three races found in Paraworld: the Norsemen, the Dustriders and the Dragon Clan, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

The Norsemen

This viking-like race is the first you will encounter in the game. They have strong units and good defence and are good to get you used on how the things work in the game.

 

The Dustriders

They are the most mobile race in Paraworld. They can move their resource storage, their town center and even the harbor which allows them to move as the situation demands or if there are no resources to be gathered at a certain zone. They don't have powerful troops but they can compensate with their big numbers.

The Dragon Clan

These chinese-japanese troops are specialized in subterfuge instead of pure power. Their defense is based on traps, they can use smoke to hide some of their units and buildings so you won't know what is hiding in the smoke. They have access to a lot of buildings which gives them a lot of upgrades and features, making them the most powerful race in the game if well played.

A nice addition to the game is the Army Controller. To simplify your troops management, SEK implemented the so-called Army Controller. This way you can see what your troops are doing. You can have up to 52 units but considering that you will have like 10-15 workers you will remain with about 40 army units. Is this number too small? In some cases, when the map is huge and you are attacked on multiple fronts you will consider that it is kind of small but this way you will have to micromanage your army to overcome the enemy. But if you play on only one front 40 units will be enough to break the enemy. You will just have to find each race's strong points and weak points and the job will be easier.

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