Ground Control II: Operation Exodus is a 2004 real-time tactics video game developed by Massive Entertainment. It is a sequel to Ground Control, the award-winning game of the same genre. Much like its predecessor, it features 3D graphics and a fully rotational camera system. Gameplay Similar to the first Ground Control, Operation Exodus focuses on combat tactics rather than base construction or managing an economy. However, unlike its purely real-time tactics predecessor, Ground Control II has a resource system called acquisition. Acquisition points are earned through the capturing of victory locations and destruction of enemy forces and allow the player to field units on the battlefield and use the support weapons that are unique to each faction. The game is also significantly faster paced than its predecessor and moves along at a pace similar to real-time strategy games such as Command & Conquer. The game features a three-sided conflict. However, only two of the factions, the Northern Star Alliance and the Viron Nomads, are actually playable. The Terran Empire is a non-playable faction featured only in the single-player campaign. The two playable sides feature a total of 33 units available. All of these units are deployed onto the battlefield through dropships, much like the deployment procedures of its predecessor. These units include infantry, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, aircraft, artillery, and static emplacements. Unlike Ground Control, however, unit customization is unavailable; each individual unit features a fixed secondary function. Plot The story of Ground Control II takes place in that same universe as that of the original game but starts 320 years later and has little in common with the original game. The human race has discovered faster than light travel and has colonized the galaxy. There are two groups of colonies in this universe, dubbed the Inner Sphere and Outer Sphere. A physical phenomenon causes the communications between the two area to be only possible through a network of special relay stations built at the border of the spheres. Intergalactic travel is also impossible due to an unexplained barrier between the galaxies. After the battle of Krig-7b that took place in the original video game, Major Sarah Parker (the original game's protagonist) destroyed the Earth's early warning relay station, commandeered a battlecruiser called CSS Astrid (seen in the original game) and escaped. In the next centuries, a stellar war that lasted 70 years changed the political layout of the colonies.