War Wind II: Human Onslaught

War Wind II: Human Onslaught is the 1997 real-time strategy sequel to the highly unconventional War Wind, developed once again by DreamForge Intertainment and published by SSI. While the original game was heavily praised for its bold decision to feature a completely alien world with zero human presence, the sequel completely reversed course. It smashed traditional human military tropes directly into the bizarre, cybernetic-fantasy ecosystem of the planet Yavaun.

The narrative kicks off when a massive dimensional rift opens at the Earth’s North Pole. An entire human scientific and military expedition is abruptly sucked through the portal and deposited onto Yavaun, right in the middle of the planet’s ongoing global civil war.

The Faction Re-Alignment

To make room for the humans, War Wind II drastically shook up the political landscape of the first game. The original four alien races were forced into desperate alliances, resulting in four completely new playable factions for the campaign:

• The Marines: The heavily armed military branch of the human expedition. Aggressive, highly disciplined, and relying strictly on brute force and advanced ballistics, they have no interest in Yavaun’s politics—they just want to conquer the immediate area, secure resources, and survive at any cost.
• The Descendants: The scientific and civilian branch of the human expedition. They are far more diplomatic and technologically focused than the Marines, utilizing defensive structures, scientific vehicles, and research in a desperate bid to rebuild the portal and find a way back to Earth.
• The Overlords: A terrifying coalition of the original game’s villains. The tyrannical, reptilian Tha’Roon have allied with their former cyborg-rhino enforcers, the Obblinox. They seek to violently crush the planetary rebellion, enslave the new human arrivals, and steal Earth’s technology.
• The S.U.N. (Servants of the Underlings): The heroic alliance of the original game’s underdog races. The plant-like Eaggra builders have joined forces with the deeply spiritual, magic-wielding Shama’Li. They view the arrival of the humans as an opportunity to finally overthrow the Overlords and bring peace to their world.

Gameplay

War Wind II runs on an upgraded version of the original game’s isometric engine. It retained the highly ambitious, RPG-lite mechanics that made the first game a cult classic, while attempting to smooth out some of the notoriously steep learning curves.

Key gameplay mechanics include:

• The Training System Returns: Just like the first game, you do not simply build tanks and soldiers out of a factory. You must hire basic civilian workers at an Inn, then physically send them to specialized training structures to promote them into specific combat or support roles.
• Vehicles and Mechs: A major addition to the sequel. Because the humans brought modern military doctrine with them, the game introduced heavily armored vehicles, hovercrafts, and mechanized walkers, giving the combat a much heavier, industrialized feel compared to the magical focus of the first game.
• Enterable Structures and Stealth: The hallmark features of the original War Wind returned intact. Units could still physically enter buildings to fight room-to-room, and the multi-layered stealth and disguise mechanics were expanded to accommodate the new human factions.
• Refined Interface: DreamForge took community feedback to heart, significantly cleaning up the cluttered UI of the 1996 original and making squad selection, item management, and bio-upgrades slightly more intuitive.

Legacy

War Wind II: Human Onslaught was generally well-received by critics who appreciated its deep mechanics, but it suffered from incredibly unfortunate timing. Launching in late 1997, it was completely overshadowed by absolute juggernauts of the RTS genre, including Total Annihilation and Age of Empires, and it arrived just months before Blizzard’s monumental StarCraft in early 1998.

As a result, War Wind II remained a niche cult classic. The franchise quietly faded into the background of late-90s PC gaming history, but its legacy as one of the most mechanically daring, RPG-infused strategy games of its era remains fully intact. Fortunately, just like its predecessor, War Wind II was rescued from MS-DOS obscurity and digitally re-released on GOG.com and Steam in 2016, making it fully playable on modern operating systems.

Key Features:

• Worlds Collide — Command traditional human Marines and scientists as they battle against the bizarre, cybernetic magic of an alien world.
• Four Unique Campaigns — Play through 46 sprawling campaign missions, exploring the conflict from the perspective of the Overlords, the S.U.N. rebellion, and the stranded humans.
• RPG Progression — Continue to hire, train, and individually equip your units with items and bio-upgrades to create elite, customized fighting forces.
• Mechanized Warfare — Dominate the battlefield with the sequel’s newly introduced armored vehicles, transports, and hover-tanks.

Release Platforms:

• Microsoft Windows (PC) — November 1997
• GOG.com / Steam Digital Re-release (PC) — 2016