Petroglyph Games and Sega have released a free demo of Universe at War: Earth Assault on the Xbox Live Marketplace. This should make  it easier for RTS fans to decide whether this title is worth getting or not. Learn more about the demo in the full article.

As this month comes to a close, blockbuster titles make the cut to establish March 2008 as a great period in time for us gamers. Of course, we're talking about the launch of big hitters headlined by Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Ryu Hayabusa will draw his Dragon Sword on the DS in North America following its recent Japan release, while glaives are going to fly in Dark Sector for the PS3 and 360. To know more about this week's releases, hit that jump!

 Waiting for Sega releases in Europe? January has a lot of goodies in the bag for everyone. Condemned 2 (Xbox 360, PS3), Superstar Tennis, Viking: Battle of Asgard (Xbox 360, PS3), and NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams are all coming soon. See the detailed version to find out when these will drop and what else is inbound.

Don't you just love the holidays? Everyone's in the spirit of giving, and it seems that game companies are no exception. In the spirit of the season, the folks at Petroglyph have given out a gift to the fans of Universe at War: Earth Assault (Xbox 360, PC), and it's the original soundtrack to the game... all three discs of it.

Some kind words from the game's composer, after the jump!

Most of you out there have probably heard of Petroglyph and Sega's upcoming project Universe At War: Earth Assault, which is a 3D RTS set for release on the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the PC later this year. It tells the tale of Earth's desperate plight to resist an alien invasion that's poised to strip-mine the planet of its natural resources.

This video has the devs talking about what the three factions in the game have to offer. All of them are said to play differently, making for some serious time before you master their tactics.

Also revealed in the clip is the fact that Universe At War: Earth Assault draws some inspiration from the immortal Starcraft by Blizzard. Petroglyph hopes to blend some of its elements with their original work to create a hybrid that will offer the RTS crowd new nooks and crannies to explore. A public beta is set to commence in October, so be sure to sign up for that.

For the past few weeks, most of us RTS fans have been preoccupied with hunting for info and speculating about Starcraft 2. That biggie should take quite a while to land, but it looks like it'll have some strong competition coming in. One of those is Sega and Petroglyph's upcoming Universe At War series. The first member of the franchise is Universe at War: Earth Assault and we've got some gameplay footage right here:

Universe At War: Earth Assault tells the story of our planet in the not-so-distant future. Scientists discover an alien threat looming for an invasion and we must come together as a race to combat it. Sadly, the human nations failed to resolve their differences and we are beaten and reeling. The aliens who call themselves the Hierarchy begin strip-mining our world for resources and are hunting down remaining pockets of resistance.

As you would expect, units will be both fictional and futuristic in this RTS. Heroes have already been revealed for each faction with special skills which can tip a battle's balance. Much is still under wraps, but we'll update you as soon as fresh details come in.

SEGA haven't revealed much about the upcoming RTS, Universe at War: Earth Assault (PC, Xbox 360), yet what little do we know is enough to take a good guess that SEGA trying its hands on gritty, sci-fi games is a very good idea.

It's 2012, and the Hierarchy have come to invade planet Earth. We found out through screens that there'll be delicious looking mechs, but this trailer offers a different feel. Chaos and havoc are ever present, but the forces trying to protect our mother planet are mere down-to-Earth infantry.

To be fair, previous info revealed that three factions outside these military grunts will be playable. Looks like we're in for a surprise, since the brief video doesn't really show much. We can say one thing for sure - Universe at War's CG movie looks amazing. Expect the game to hit the shelves this October.

Check it out below.

 

Finally, something to stare at! Here's the latest batch of screens fresh off the Petroglyph workshop. Universe at War: Earth Assault is the first third-party game to support the Windows Live framework so you get to beat up your friends on the Xbox 360 and the PC at the same time! This new real-time strategy game is set in the year 2012 when a group of aliens called the Hierarchy have come to Earth to stripmine it.

Humankind failed to properly form a defense, but they are still holding out (barely) when another bunch of aliens has come in to battle against the Hierarchy. These aliens, called the Novus, and another alien race, the Masari, will be forming the classic ménage à trois that we enjoyed in Starcraft. Humans though, will ultimately be the minor race.

The Novus are robotic beings at war with the Hierarchy for killing off their creators. The Masari are high-tech druids who fled to the Earth before to escape the Hierarchy. They are intertwined within Earth's history, particularly with civilizations in Europe, North Africa, and South America.

Universe at War will be released later this year for the PC and early next year for the Xbox 360. In the meanwhile, enjoy the screenshots. They feature ground units and structures for all three races, and two lonely humans:

  

More screens behind the Full Article link!

Universe At War: Earth Assault by SEGA for the Xbox 360 and PC has been announced as the first third-party game on the two platforms to support Games for Windows - Live and Xbox Live. This can only mean one thing: Cross-platform competition.

SEGA Europe and SEGA of America have revealed that they have been working very closely to make all of this possible. Right now, the developers are putting premium on balancing the game to make everything fair come the day that everyone's ready to nuke it out.

The game's PC version is slated for release in North America this winter while the Xbox 360 iteration will ship in the first quarter of 2008. The console version has a control scheme built from the ground up to make competition against its PC counterpart as level as can be.

As we've told you before, the game is set in 2012 when Earth is taken over by an alien menace that wants to strip the planet free of resources. A battered human race is reeling and fighting with pockets of resistance against Kemal Re'x and his vicious hordes. It's up to the players now to decide our future. Watch out because this one looks real good.

Sega's Universe at War: Earth Assault for the Microsoft Xbox 360 is set in the not so distant year 2012 where Earth is invaded by a voracious alien race called the Hierarchy, which threatens to strip-mine the planet dry of its resources. Unable to put together a united front, the humans are beaten and reeling, with but a few pockets of resistance left.

Today we'll be looking at the Hierarchy's heroes and just what exactly they're capable of. Those nasty aliens have some equally vicious tricks in their arsenal, so you better know what they're capable of regardless of whether you're with or against them.

Kamal Re'x, whose not nicknamed "The Abductor" for nothing, is the Hierarchy's top dog who commands fleets of troops and walkers, all the while providing valuable long-range support using his psionic abilities. He can deal heavy damage with Psi Blasts, debilitate aircraft with his Shove skill and use Abduct to reverse gravity on targets to send them floating into orbit where a containment ship awaits. Sweet!

Find out more about it at Full Article.