Ground Control

The game features full control over the camera, allowing the player to freely view each mission's battlefield from any angle, from a bird's-eye view to the perspective of one of their units at ground level. Because it is a real-time tactics game, Ground Control does not use the mechanics of resource and economic management as found in some real-time strategy games (such as Command & Conquer), discouraging players from conducting tank rush strategies. Instead, proper use of tactics with the units they have available is necessary in order to complete the objectives set out for them on each mission.

Before starting with a mission, players must first decide on what troops to bring to the battlefield, which are divided up into squads that must be loaded onto orbital dropships available to them so that they can be transported and deployed onto the battlefield once a mission starts (with some exceptions). As reinforcements cannot be called for during a mission, proper troop selection is important for each mission. Each dropship that can be loaded out with troops, up to a maximum of three depending on progress in the single player campaign, can carry a maximum of four squads each, with each squad consisting of units picked from one of four unit categories - vehicles, support, aircraft, and infantry - and of a specific role within the chosen category; one exception to the load out is the Command APC, which must be brought along on each mission, but does not take space away from another squad.

Following the aftermath of the Third World War (known in the game as "The Sixteen-Minute War") in the 25th century, mankind successfully rebuilds and begins colonization of several planets across the galaxy, while the Earth becomes ruled by the Global Central Command (GCC) - a council of elected representatives, including those from mega corporations that rose to power following the fall of Terran nations. Despite treaties set out by the GCC, conflict between the various powers spearheading colonization occurs daily, often over resources and trade routes. By the time the game begins, two powers assisting in colonization efforts, the Crayven Corporation and a religious sect known as the Order of the New Dawn, begin vying for total control over a distant world known as Krig 7-B.

Today we know only that The Order of the New Dawn was founded by a small coalition of men and women of Faith, who united in common cause during the dark days of the latter 21st century. Foreseeing the coming cataclysm, these early cultists dedicated themselves to preserving as much technology and knowledge as possible, in order to bring about a New Dawn after the inevitable holocaust. Many analysts have observed that without the Sixteen Minutes' War, the Order would have been just another apocalyptic cult.

The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Jim Preston of NextGen was positive to its gameplay and graphics, and called the game "gorgeous", "intuitive", and "simple".

The staff of Computer Games Magazine nominated it for their 2000 "Real-time Strategy Game of the Year" award, whose winner remains unknown. It was a runner-up for GameSpy's "2000 Strategy Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to The Sims. The staff wrote: "Great graphics, great sound, and great multiplayer -- what's not to like?" The game was nominated for the "Best Graphics, Technical" and "Strategy Game of the Year" awards at GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2000 Awards, both of which went to Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Shogun: Total War. It was also nominated for the RTS Game of the Year award at the CNET Gamecenter Computer Game Awards for 2000, which went to Sacrifice.

Following its release in 2000, Sierra announced in August of that same year, that an expansion pack called Ground Control: Dark Conspiracy, was being developed by both Massive Entertainment and High Voltage Software, which was released a few months later in October. The expansion continued the original storyline by focusing on Sarah Parker in the aftermath of the conflict, introducing a brand new campaign of 15 new missions and a new faction called the Phoenix Mercenaries who came with unique units and specialised in using incendiary-based weaponry and abilities. In addition, it also included some new units to existing factions, additional terrain types, new multiplayer maps, and fully rendered cutscenes that didn't use the in-game engine. The following year, both the expansion and the main game were bundled together in a pack, entitled Ground Control Anthology.

In 2004, a sequel titled Ground Control II: Operation Exodus was developed by Massive and released by Vivendi. While the sequel featured improvements and updates to the game's graphical engine and story, it also brought about faster-paced game mechanics that were more in line with contemporary real-time strategy games. In addition, a new game mechanic was introduced in the form of an economy system tied which gave players points to spend on fielding new unit and calling in support weapons for one of the game's factions, when destroying enemies and gaining control of control points, another game mechanic that was also introduced. Prior to its release, Vivendi released Ground Control to the public as freeware, as a promotion for the sequel's release.