Dark Colony : the Martian RTS by SSI that refuses to age in 2026

Dark Colony, the Martian RTS I never managed to forget

There are games you come across, finish, and forget without really feeling guilty. And then there is Dark Colony. Released in 1997 during the massive boom of real-time strategy games on PC, this title developed by SSI never got the spotlight it deserved, crushed by behemoths like Command & Conquer or the explosive arrival of StarCraft a few months later. Still, I spent dozens of hours on it when I was a kid, and I keep replaying it today, in 2026, on a PC that has absolutely nothing in common with the rig that ran it back then. This is no misplaced nostalgia : Dark Colony possesses a sound atmosphere and a martial tension that very few modern RTS games can even match today.

If you are heavily into city builders or 90s RTS games, you might have already crossed paths with our Top 5 PC strategy games between 1991 and 1995, but today we are taking the time to focus on this particular title, the one that truly left a mark on me. So sit back, turn off the lights, and let me tell you why this war against the Greys on Mars clearly deserves its spot in your retro library.

SSI in 1997 : the cult studio undergoing a massive mutation

To understand Dark Colony, you first need to understand who made it. At that time, SSI (Strategic Simulations, Inc.) was the absolute standard for wargames and PC role-playing games. If you knew the famous Gold Box titles under the Dungeons & Dragons license, the memorable Eye of the Beholder, or the massive public and critical success of Panzer General, you immediately know what I mean. The studio commanded an almost religious respect from the community, much like Blizzard 10 years later, just in a much more confidential way.

1997, the year the RTS became king

Except that 1997 also marks a major transition period for the studio, which gets bought out by Mindscape and begins a series of restructuring phases, before seeing its licenses land years later in Ubisoft's catalog. Meanwhile, the RTS market is living its most glorious era : Command & Conquer is a massive hit, Warcraft II as well, The Settlers finds its audience, and above all, the StarCraft juggernaut is getting ready to sweep through the industry a few months later. Faced with this monstrous competition, Dark Colony never got the media space it deserved. A real shame, because the title offered a singular experience, boasting a particularly dark and raw atmosphere that I could not find anywhere else at the time.

The Dark Colony pitch : an all-out war for Mars

The action takes place in the 22nd century on the planet Mars. Humanity, in a perpetual quest for energy resources, discovers Petra-7, a revolutionary energy source. The terraforming phase kicks off, the first human colonies settle in, but everything goes wrong when entire bases start vanishing without a trace. The culprits : the Greys, an alien race called the Taar, who consider Mars their ancestral territory and view Earth as their future expansion zone. No diplomacy possible here, just an all-out war for the survival of both species.

And speaking of it, let's talk about this intro. It remains one of the greatest gaming moments of 1997 for me, and I think you will understand why once you watch it.

I was completely mind-blown by this sequence back in the day, and honestly, it has aged incredibly well. Look at these few screenshots taken from this very intro, it sums up the tone of the game pretty well :

Mechanics that shatter classic RTS conventions

In terms of gameplay, Dark Colony stands out with some very bold design choices, completely shifting the tactical approach compared to a classic Command & Conquer.

A fixed base, a real defensive puzzle

Your operational center is a pentagon made of five specific buildings, air-dropped straight from space. Expanding freely across the map like in most RTS games of that era is impossible : this constraint makes defensive management extremely intense and concentrated. Every attack counts, every lost building is immediately felt.

The Commander : the true victory condition

This unit embodies your own avatar on the battlefield. If your defense lines are breached and your infrastructures are destroyed, the game continues as long as your Commander stays alive. The economic system even features a safety net : your resources slowly tick up by default, even in the middle of a total crisis. This allows you to call in new troop drops, rebuild destroyed structures, and organize a desperate, last-ditch counterattack.

Sound immersion : the player's true radar

If there is one area where Dark Colony was miles ahead of its competitors, it is its sound environment design. For a title released in 1997, the result is downright pioneering. The fog of war drastically limits your visibility, but the audio atmosphere completely compensates for this lack of visual intel. You can precisely pinpoint the location of skirmishes on the other side of the map just by analyzing the sound of explosions and unit screams. The atmosphere gets particularly heavy when slashing sounds can be heard just beyond your field of vision.

This emphasis on sound also applies to resource management :

A bestiary between bionics and organic nightmares

The unit design leans towards raw and organic sci-fi. The human side relies on standard infantry soldiers, quickly backed up by heavily armored Bipods, capable of absorbing massive damage. On the other side, the Taar army deploys terrifying creatures, like the Sy-Demon, an entity equipped with giant blades that can decimate an entire squad in seconds.

Elite units : SARGE and Gorrem

The elite units showcase some real creativity from the developers. On the human side, the SARGE are augmented soldiers, true cyborgs, paragons of cybernetic technology. On the Taar side, the Gorrem remains my favorite creature in the game : an extraterrestrial monstrosity capable of opening its own skull to plug its nervous system directly into enemy resource extractors, hacking them in the process. Yes, you read that right.

The cover art that shocked a whole generation

Day/night cycle, campaigns, and the war for Petra-7

The introduction of a dynamic day/night cycle brings some real tactical depth. Human troops have a distinct visual advantage during the day. However, as soon as night falls, the aliens benefit from a vastly superior field of vision, and you see your own sightlines shrink drastically, forcing you to halt offensives and adopt a purely defensive stance until dawn. Controlling the Petra-7 vents then becomes a permanent struggle, day and night.

The solo campaign offers 15 scripted missions for each faction, with content later enriched by the Council Wars expansion. The objectives range from massive territorial conquest battles to more surgical stealth operations leading small squads, allowing the game's lore to expand far beyond the simple "destroy the enemy base" formula.

How to (re)discover Dark Colony in 2026 ?

Step 1 : find a working version

The franchise rights are scattered today following successive buyouts between SSI, Mindscape, and Ubisoft entities, making an official reissue highly unlikely. As a result, the game is now considered abandonware and floats around several specialized sites, with some versions even including the Council Wars expansion right out of the box.

Step 2 : configure emulation on Windows 11

Like many 1997 titles, Dark Colony is not natively compatible with current systems. You will need to use DOSBox or an equivalent emulator to run it properly.

Step 3 : add the Council Wars expansion

If you want to extend the experience beyond the base campaign, hunt down a version featuring Council Wars : extra missions and welcome additional content for completionists.

My recorded gameplay : Humans vs Greys in a 4v4

So you can truly get a feel for the rhythm and vibe of the game, I recorded two full matches against the AI, one for each side. If you are into it, let me know in the comments, I am seriously considering streaming a live session so we can chat about it together in real-time.

My match on the Human side

My match on the Grey side

Frequently asked questions about Dark Colony

Is Dark Colony free in 2026 ?

The game was never officially made free, but its abandonware status means it circulates today on several sites dedicated to retro game preservation, often with the Council Wars expansion included.

How do you run Dark Colony on Windows 11 ?

You have to go through an emulator like DOSBox to recreate an environment compatible with this title released in 1997.

Does Dark Colony have an official sequel ?

No. The franchise rights are scattered between SSI, Mindscape, and Ubisoft following successive acquisitions, making an official sequel very difficult to imagine right now.

What does the Council Wars expansion add ?

Council Wars brings additional content to the solo campaign, featuring new missions that flesh out the base experience for players wanting to extend their adventure on Mars.

Does Dark Colony work on Mac or Linux ?

The original game targets Windows 95/98. On Mac or Linux, you will need a compatibility layer like Wine or an emulation solution equivalent to DOSBox to make it run smoothly.

Dark Colony, a Martian monument that deserves a resurrection

Looking at it through our 2026 lens, it is obvious the game shows signs of its era. The lack of modern ergonomic controls, like advanced right-click usage or complex control groups, requires an adjustment period. But the overall atmosphere and the art direction have not aged a day. Dark Colony remains a dark, demanding, and highly rewarding Martian experience, and I keep coming back to it regularly, even today.

What about you, do you have any memories of Dark Colony ? Did you play on the Human side or the Taar side ? Drop your stories in the comments, I want to hear it all. And if you are more into city builders from that same era, check out our Top 5 PC city builders between 1990 and 1995, or stay on the pure strategy battlefield with our Top 5 PC strategy games 1991-1995.