NetStorm - Islands at War

There are games you haven't played — you've just been waiting to play them. Box in hand, manual read three times over, battle strategies brewing in your head for fights that haven't even started yet. NetStorm from 1997 by Titanic Entertainment is logged in my memory exactly like that.

NetStorm is a real-time strategy set in a world of floating islands suspended above an eternal storm. The player builds bridges and towers on fragments of earth drifting in the clouds, defends their own territory, and tries to capture enemy priests by sacrificing to weather gods. The premise sounds bizarre because it is — and that was a pretty bold move for 1997.

The heart of the game is building weapon towers in the limited space of small islands and connecting positions with bridges so the enemy can't pass, but you can. Each tower has different properties — range, projectile type, angle coverage — and placing them correctly isn't optional, it's essential. The game doesn't shout, it just quietly punishes every defensive mistake. The pace is moderate, but the pressure never lets up. Single-player existed, but the game's soul beat in network multiplayer over IPX or the internet — hence the name. In the nineties, that intent was so transparent you couldn't miss it.

What I remember most about NetStorm is the feeling of isolation and focus at the same time. The island is small, resources are limited, every decision is visible. No fog of war, no reserve army — just you, your towers, and the enemy priest creeping across the bridge you forgot to cover. Visually the game held up well — the isometric view was clean and readable, the soundscape atmospheric. What aged worse is the onboarding: the game explains little and assumes much. You didn't play without a manual in the nineties, and you won't play without one today either.

Today NetStorm suits those who love strategy with tactical depth in tight spaces and don't mind that the online community practically doesn't exist in 2024. Single-player works fine via DOSBox emulation, and as a training ground for understanding the mechanics, it's more than enough. If you like games that don't hold your hand and reward forward thinking, NetStorm isn't a bad way to spend an evening. Or three weeks at a cabin with no internet — that works too.