Ground Control (2000)

The game was surely a gem of its time during release. An RTS that throws basebuilding and resource gathering out the window and emphasises more on light army management and tactical operations. But having played half-way through the first campaign, I felt I wasn't hooked on it. There's a story with some personality applied to the sci-fi setting but the battle gameplay feels rather slow for the RTS mechanics I am used to, lacking the effectful feedback getting from progression. Ground Control looked well-done for its time, but its results leaves me rather cold in this day and age.

Ground Control? More like Artillery Control, I would way. Most units in this game have horrible accuracy, shooting at their feet instead of at the enemy most of the time. All except artillery. Artillery is like god of war in this game. All other units are just a fodder to protect it, while it pounds all confrontation into dust. Often, you won't be even able to see the confrontation, because artillery range is far greater than vision of any unit in the game. Theoretically, you'd like a bring an air scout, but usually enemy is so entrenched, and SAM range is so long, your fliers will be shot before they even see who shot them. Doesn't matter. Keep pounding those shells. It will be over soon.
Seriously, aviation in this game is almost useless, since it can't repair itself, and can't be repaired by APC, and is super fragile for very long range AA. Just bring more artillery and be done with it.
20 years ago, I remember graphics in this game were a technological marvel to behold. Well, they still hold well to this day, and that does say something.
Storyline is just another W40K crap. Two fractions, bla-bla, ancient artifacts, bla-bla. Game can be sometimes annoying, because there are no saves mid mission, no checkpoints, and no active pause. So you may waste 30 minutes of real life, and then your APC gets shot by reinforcements that have just arrived. But well, I guess they tried to be challenging.