The heart of the brilliance in The Corporate Machine (TCM for short) is it's choice of venue-instead of commanding military forces on a battlefield; TCM puts you in the chair of a CEO of a multinational organization. As such, the player has to handle all the things you’d hear about everyday on CNBC-production, inventory, technology, marketing, and everything else that goes into making a large business successful. Winning a game isn't about wiping out an opponent, only about taking over enough of the market to be declared a monopoly. While the idea is not that new to PC games in general, it in the context of a real time strategy game, it’s quite the novel concept.

Innovation without substance, however, is little more than a good idea on a paper napkin. One half of the formula for a really good strategy game is to present the player with enough simplicity to understand and have fun with the game the first time they pick it up. The other half is, at the same time, to provide enough depth in the game's mechanics to always allow for the player to use different strategies and techniques to accomplish the goal. TCM implements this formula beautifully. The game's basic mechanics are very simple-move your salesman to a new areas, build up your installations to produce, market, and develop your products, and expand your marketshare until you control a winning percentage of a market. As you play the game more, the game’s proverbial rich creamy center becomes readily apparent: you'll search for the best salesman placement for the optimal marketshare, develop massive marketing campaigns, optimize your profits by finding the perfect balance of supply and demand, and cut costs through employee training. Yes, TCM is one of 'those' games-instantly addictive and packed with enough depth to allow even the most advanced player to devise new strategies to defeat even the wiliest of opponents.

A key component in any RTS is its interface, and TCM's does a superb job. The game is displayed on a simple, mouse scrollable 2D map of the world with a mini-map for quick jumping between regions. The side buttons allow for quick assessment of a variety of different market factors at literally a glance, and deploying marketing campaigns and sales executives is as easy as just two clicks. Pricing, research, and marketing all have separate screens that are accessible from a big, well-marked buttons at the bottom of the screen, and bases are a simple point and click affair. The interface is extremely efficient and intuitive-you won't find huge toolbars of units to build, formations to choose from, or hotkeys to learn. It's all point and click, simple and effective. I do have one small gripe-that prices and supply are decoupled in the interface-but the manual makes that clear why that is-and gives you a good tip in the process.

AI has never been a strong selling point in RTS games, so it's a real surprise to see how well the AI in TCM performs. The game's single-player mode has five different settings of difficulty, ranging from 'beginner' to 'lots of pain'. Each side of the coin delivers exactly as promised-a total novice to gaming will compete well against a beginner player, and 'lots of pain' is so hard it can beat the game's lead designer on a regular basis. Game stability is not a problem either, as TCM never displayed any quirky behavior, crashes, or any other oddities. Like the gameplay, this was a pleasant surprise.

Perhaps the biggest put-off at first glance for some users when they first play TCM is the visual presentation. It isn't pretty. They aren't flashy-you won't find hand-animated units and buildings, explosions, and high-res 2D graphics. But, like the fantastic Space Empires IV, everything is very functional. The same goes for the sound effects in the game-the music is kind of cheesy but does a good job of letting you know if you're about to win or lose (the winning condition is based on percentage of total marketshare). Many games rely on great sound and graphics to create the perfect atmosphere. TCM doesn't do that at all, instead, it lets the finely crafted gameplay stand on its own merits.

Multiplayer in TCM is incredibly simple to get into-you start the game, enter the TCM room, and from there you can chat or enter any of the games listed or start your own game. I had no problems finding players at all times of the day, and setting up a game is simple-just pick a map and an industry and begin. The multiplayer games are very well paced-you'll never felt 'rushed' and there is plenty of time to develop your strategy to its fullest. If you get beat in a multiplayer game of TCM, it's not because you were out-clicked or some kid memorized a rush build order, but because you got outsmarted, plain and simple. Considering how efficiency oriented most RTS games are nowadays, this was a very welcome style of gameplay.

TCM does have one issue, though, and that is variety. Right now there is only 4 maps available in the retail version and three different kinds of product markets, all of which play essentially the same. However, Stardock has promised continued support for the game, and is promising new maps, a level editor, and all sorts of goodies that make strategy games last. If this was a large, retail publisher, one might have reservations, but it's been very clear that Stardock (as an online publisher only) is committed to updating and supporting the game with these features. That doesn't stop the selection from being somewhat limited right now, but as more content is released, the game's scenarios should be somewhat more varied.

The Corporate Machine isn't about big-budget technical presentation, nor is it about appealing to the masses that like their games familiar and formulaic. TCM is an innovative, smartly designed, real-time strategy game that delivers where it ultimately matters most-the gameplay. TCM isn't the game you're going to show off to your friends on your new GeForce-powered Pentium 4, it's the game you're going to stay up late into the night playing after your friends go home. And, for an longtime strategy gamer like myself, that's a better gauge of excellence than anything else I can think of.

(Note: The Corporate Machine is only available directly from Stardock or through their Drengin.net Application Service Provider service. For more information regarding Drengin.net, I highly recommend "The Indies Strike Back". It gives a good, no-BS take as to what Drengin's all about. )