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If there is one thing we learn in science fiction, it is that humans are about the gutsiest species in the known universe. When every other world has been wiped out by alien invaders, it is always Earth that, despite its backward technology, manages to hold on.

In the real-time strategy game Universe at War: Earth Assault, aliens are once again marvelling at the scrappy humans' ability to survive, even though those humans seem to spend most of their time screaming in panic while alien forces battle around them.

Universe begins with the remnants of Earth's military fighting off the overwhelming might of alien aggressors called the Hierarchy. After the player briefly leads human troops in battle, a different group of aliens appears, a robotic race called Novus determined to wipe out the Hierarchy as payback for destroying their creators. This is when the game really begins, as the player takes control of the powerful Novus army.

The robots of Novus don't care about humans, although they seem impressed that they have survived longer than the Hierarchy's previous victims. But there is one nonmachine in Novus, cloned from the DNA of their creators, who insists on helping her fellow humanoids, perhaps because she likes to talk to people who say “good luck” instead of the less satisfactory Novus expression “May I wish you a favourable statistical outcome?”

Novus and the Hierarchy have very different styles of combat. Novus robots can create power grids made of beams of energy, and they can travel along these beams to cover large distances quickly. Their troops can also implant viruses in enemy machines, and other robots can create large defensive shields or replicate themselves.

While the Hierarchy has its own soldiers and machines, including one that can radiate enemies and turn them into mutant slaves (amusingly, they can also create mutant cows), their most notable weapon is the walker, a massive crablike machine with ports for adding shielding, weapons or modules to create more soldiers.

Playing as Novus, you can't help thinking about how much fun it would be to command a few walkers; eventually you do when the story focuses on a Hierarchy commander disenchanted with his leaders.

Controlling Hierarchy forces requires the player to learn a whole new set of weapons and a different approach to battle. But just as the player is getting comfortable living as an alien oppressor, the game shifts again with the introduction of the Masari, an ancient race that created, and was later almost destroyed by, the Hierarchy.

Once again the player has a new battle system to learn, including the use of dual dark and light modes that change certain aspects of the Masari forces' abilities.

The Masari also bring a new structure to the game itself. Up until this point, the player is set on a battlefield and given specific instructions. But the Masari are given a world map indicating which countries have been invaded, and play is divided between searching out enemies on the battlefield and playing a world-conquest game reminiscent of the strategic board game Risk.

Most video games use up all their gameplay ideas in the first few hours, but Universe is always offering something new. While all three races perform the basics of strategy games — gathering resources, building weapons and finding and destroying enemy bases — the way they approach these tasks is quite different. It is as though the game's developer, Petroglyph, wanted to make several games but only had the time and resources to make one. This is perfect for players who, like me, have had their attention spans worn to a nub by too many video games and music videos; I found the game endlessly absorbing.

On a technical note, Universe crashed constantly on my Windows Vista computer until I went into the game's graphic settings and unchecked Direct X 10. So if you are one of the unfortunate saps like me who “upgraded” to Vista (which is incompatible with so many games that it almost seems like Microsoft's stealth scheme to get people to buy an Xbox 360), and you have any problems, try that.

I also had some crashes on my Xbox 360 while playing the basketball game NCAA March Madness 08. It turned out I just needed to clear temporary files from my hard drive, although the process for doing so is so obscured that one wonders if Microsoft likes to make life hard for gamers.

The first thing I thought when I saw March Madness was, why is this being released in December? I suppose it's similar to the reason stores sell bikinis in February; people like lots of time to get ready.

Like most team sports games, Madness is a mix of simulation and sports management simulation in which you can play on the court, manage a team through a season or do a little of both. I am more player than manager, and Madness does a pretty good job in that respect. The game is simple to pick up, you can use the right stick for a few special moves like spinning around a defender when you have the ball, and it looks good.

Still, the game feels a little off. For example, at one point I was fouled six or seven times in about 30 seconds as I tried to pass a ball in from the sidelines.

Even odder are the game's television announcers, who range from psychic to clueless.

In an example of the former, when I would start an alley-oop play, in which one player tosses the ball toward the basket and a teammate jumps to catch the ball and dunk it, an announcer would say “alley-oop” before it was clear that's what I was doing. They would also declare a shot successful while the ball was still in the air.

Other times they seemed to be barely watching the game, as when they prattled on about a basket they only thought I'd made, or when one shouted “That was unbelievable, baby!” about 10 seconds after I'd made an impressive shot.

Madness is still fun, but it is missing the polish that makes a game great. And personally, I think I deserve great games. It's the least a member of the gutsiest species in the galaxy can ask for.