Urban Assault is a 3D combined first-person shooter and real-time strategy computer game developed by the German company TerraTools and published by Microsoft in the year 1998.

[6] For example, neutral buildings or structures can be used as a cover to block the enemy fire, while terrains and elevations offer a vertical depth of tactical elements.

In the single-player campaign, the objective of each mission is to capture each key sector on the map, allowing use of the beam gate to transport the host station and any accompanying vehicles to the next field of battle.

During the gameplay, the game allows completely free mouse movements that can be used to interact with command interface on the screen, or perform various actions which is a crucial feature for the RTS-style functionality.

Taking manual control of any vehicle directly in the first-person mode also provides significant stat boosts to the units in terms of firepower, shielding, and manoeuvrability.

Most importantly, it also allows the players to override any preset AI combat behaviours assigned for individual units to handle the situations more flexibly and reactively.

This design highly encourages the players to take control of vehicles and lead the battle whenever possible to gain tactical supremacy against the AI-only armies.

The plot of Urban Assault is set in the near future, where a set of hazardous natural and artificial disasters involving ozone depletion caused by the global industrial emissions, termed The Big Mistake, results in toxin generation and eventually destruction of the ocean's phytoplankton, causing the Earth's food chain to collapse gradually and consecutively.

Scarce food supplies and adverse environmental damage results in a resource war with accelerated scientific developments, and the plasma formation technology — the ability to form solid constructions of matters using only energy — in conjunction with the futuristic state-of-the-art host station technology, allows cybernetically-linked military commanders uploaded into these mobile war machine battle-stations to create entire armies made out of fully roboticized artificial intelligence military drones under their direct command & control to wage war across the global theatres.

Citizens are forced into newly emerging domed cities and communities, which shield them from dangerous levels of solar radiation and filters the toxic air.

The main theatre of the single-player campaign takes place in the extensive geographical networks of domed cities installed throughout the entire continent of Europe.

In the campaign, Mykonian forces are usually present in Northern Europe and Scandinavia, where the optimal cooling temperatures allow for more efficient superconductive data transfer and electronics operation.

The faction is also notable for its various state-of-the-art technological inventions, such as the "Stoudson Bomb", which has a key role in eliminating the enemy forces in many levels it appears in.

Some of these examples include the Dragonfly heavy assault helicopter, the sub-nuclear missile launching Rhino, the experimental air-superiority fighter Warhammer, and the anti-air tank Fox.

Exploiting their fast and mobile attack forces to perform a blitzkrieg assault on key enemy strategic targets is a common tactic employed by them.

The Turantul II, also known as its nickname "Skorpio", is generally considered the most powerful host station in the game, whose extensive firepower even allow Ghorkov players to use it as an offensive tool in battle.

They have a cult-like formation with the traditions resembling a monastic order or a masonic fraternity, and are situated in much of Southern Europe and Africa, and are heavily based on the ideas of religion and theocracy.

Despite their current geographical location, the faction was originated in Central and Northern Europe and the game's lore states that they were the first human group to encounter the Mykonians.

The Taerkasts mainly use conventional weapon designs just like the Resistance, an exception to this is their Bronsteijn combat satellite armed with a massive ion cannon blast.

In the game, Taerkasten units are typically heavily armored and have strong attacks, but the majority of them are slow and especially vulnerable to hit and run tactics.

The Mykonians are typically located in Northern Europe and Scandinavia with their biovein-infested environments, where their data transfer is optimal as well as their vehicles and buildings blend in with the surroundings better.

Especially with their units like X01 Quadda (a pun on the German word "Quader") or Hourglass (also known as "Myko Schwer") capable of inflicting massive damage in a short time.

Destruction of the Parasite Machine is the focus and the main objective of the original single-player campaign, which is shown in the final mission where the player must destroy it before a long in-game timer runs out.

The Sulgogar Queen possesses one of the strongest self-defense weaponry among all the faction's host stations, but with only one weapon turret, it is easily overwhelmed by a large squad of enemy units.

The Black Sect is a mysterious confederation allegedly composed of pirates, scavengers, and mercenaries who have decided to enter the war for personal profit and gain.

One of the in-game briefing line states that their true "origin could be traced back to the earliest European secret societies, with all the requisite branches into the royal families".

Having no original units of their own, the Black Sect relies on stealing technology from other factions, including the Resistance Anvil-class host station (the prototype model of SDU1 that SDU7 was meant to use) and the Taerkasten Bronsteijn flying ion cannon.

According to the game's credits, Urban Assault is officially translated and released with full audio support in four languages: English, French, German, and Japanese.

Common criticisms included complex control and interface, monotony and a little variety in game modes, steep difficulty and learning curves.

Praise included innovative and original gameplay, immersive 3D battlefield experience consisting fully destructive environments, tactical and strategic depths involving diverse range of ground and air vehicles, balance model consisting four entirely unique and asymmetrically designed factions, non-cheating single-player AI, an excellent joystick support, and the introductory video with music by Mark Snow.