Original War

About Original War

Original War drops you into a 1990s real-time strategy sandbox where two superpowers fight over time itself. ALTAR Games released this title in June 2001 for PC, blending standard RTS mechanics with a bizarre sci-fi plot about time travel and cold fusion. You lead either American or Soviet forces to secure Siberite, a mineral that powers an alien device called EON. The premise is simple: send troops back two million years to claim resources before the other side does. It feels like a classic Command & Conquer game wrapped in a weird alternate history narrative where the Bering Land Bridge becomes the ultimate battlefield.

Gameplay

Every session demands you build bases, gather units, and crush enemy forces while managing a unique time-travel mechanic. You start with a small squad and expand outward to control resource nodes that generate Siberite. The core loop involves constructing factories to spawn infantry, tanks, and aircraft while defending your main base from relentless counterattacks. A distinct feature lets you send units back through the EON machine to alter the battlefield layout or steal resources from the past. Multiplayer matches often devolve into chaotic skirmishes where players constantly shift between the present and the distant past to outflank opponents. Controls rely on standard mouse clicks for movement and right-click attacks, but the time-shifting ability adds a layer of strategic depth that forces you to think ahead several turns before committing an army.

What Players Think

The data shows a clear divide in how players view this title. Metacritic sits at 61 out of 100, reflecting criticism regarding its dated visuals and clunky interface. IGDB tells a different story with an 85.1 average from just 14 ratings, suggesting dedicated fans hold it in high regard. Most community members report an average playtime of around 25 hours to complete the campaign, though multiplayer users often rack up significantly more time. Achievement hunters have unlocked 59 total trophies, with completion rates hovering near 60% for standard challenges but dropping sharply for difficult mission-based unlocks. Community moods lean nostalgic, with many players praising the ambitious concept despite the technical flaws. Review snippets frequently mention the game as a hidden gem that deserves a second look for its unique time-warfare mechanics.

PlayPile's Take

This game is worth your time if you want to play something different from standard modern RTS titles. The price point on secondary markets makes it an easy purchase for curious strategy fans, though be prepared for some janky controls. You will spend hours mastering the time-travel system and unlocking those 59 achievements. It fits players who enjoy deep strategic layers over polished presentation. The Soviet and American conflict provides a solid framework for replayability in both single-player and co-op modes. Skip this if you need modern graphics or tight balance, but pick it up if you want to see how far the genre could stretch in 2001.

Storyline

The game's story revolves around an extraterrestrial mineral, Siberite, that can catalyze cold fusion and serve as fuel for an alien artifact. Siberite and the artifact - named EON - are discovered by a U.S. expedition to Russia during World War I. EON is revealed to be a time machine capable of sending objects into the past, but by the time of the discovery, Siberite stocks are exhausted and research stops. Then in the new millennium vast deposits of the mineral are found in Siberia, and Americans are able to extract enough of it for small-scale time-travel. The U.S. comes up with a plan to send a small force two million years back in time. There it will mine the Siberite and transport it over the Bering Land Bridge to Alaska, into what will one day be in American hands. The best troops are selected, briefed, and told that it is a one-way trip back through time. This results in a new time line with the mineral located in Alaska and the U.S. being the only undisputed superpower thanks to the inexhaustible source of energy. Here the time machine wasn't found by the U.S. but the Russians instead. The USSR fumes under American supremacy. Frustration turns to outrage when Soviet scientists find traces of American settlement and Alaskite, the source of U.S. power, in remote Siberia. A Soviet expedition is sent through the EON, here called TAWAR, to repel the American thieves and preserve what is rightfully theirs.