What can be said about Netstorm: Islands at war? Lots. And most of it is good...though not all.
We'll start with the weak points. At the forefront of this category is the online leveling system. Activision's system consists of 43 levels, each level gained by sacrificing an enemy priest and selecting technology from the somewhat small arsenal available to be unlocked. There is no safeguard against unfair play here. Often times two players will be forced to play together for one reason or another (Simple lack of a better option being the most common reason), and if the person at the disadvantage is not the battlemaster, there is no handicap to aid them. While some may view this as a strong point, I certainly did not...as it made it very easy for a more experienced but less skilled player to simply out power a newer player and gain somewhat unwarranted bonuses.
The only other real weak point I found in the game was the single player campaigns, but this is understandable. This game was made for online play. It even suggests this in the title, given the fact that "Netstorm" has nothing to do with the game other than the fact that people play on the "net." The campaign merely serves as a slight taste of what's to come in the multiplayer realm. It serves well as a warm up, in other words.
Now onto the good things. First we have the premise. Personally, I find it very compelling and unique. Floating islands in a mysterious cloud realm with mystical priests and powerful furies combined with interesting and quirky technology. It really adds depth and immersion to the already interesting gameplay.
As I just mentioned, Netstorm's gameplay is certainly entertaining. The standard "click and drop" works very well in this application and compliments the setting very well. The mood of the game, unlike many overhead perspective strategy games, remains rather like the initial impression you get from cutscenes. The basic feel stays there, and that helps you stay immersed in the world and also makes the cutscenes more effective.
The way the units are oriented is also very well done. Each unit, as is the case with most strategy games, has it's up side and it's down side, which forces you to make the right choice for the right situation. For example, the more powerful the weapon gets, the less versatile it tends to become. If you were say trying to break through an enemy's defenses of barricades, a powerful weapon such as the Thunder Cannon would suffice, as there is no precision involved in blowing the crap out of a large broad target. However, this weapon doesn't target flying units (at least not in any useful fashion), and it can easily be destroyed by smaller units posted in it's many blind spots.
The units are also split into four categories, based on the four furies (Gods, basically) found in the premise. There is Sun, Rain, Wind and Thunder. It would be worth your effort when leveling up in Multiplayer mode to concentrate on developing one element before moving onto the next, because each element is dependant on the specific generator assigned to it. E.g: units aligned with Rain can run only on rain generators, not thunder or wind. The only exception to this is for sun aligned units, which could use any or all three.
The final aspect of gameplay that I'd like to comment on is the bridge building. This can be either your saving grace or your utter downfall...and unfortunately it's partly a matter of luck. In order to connect the many islands scattered across the map, you must built bridges. Bridges serve several purposes. They can be used for defense (You can block other people's paths. This tactic works very well with the "Bridge Harden" spell which renders your bridge invincible), You use it for assault (You build units off the bridge), and of course you use it for mining and exploration (You use it to reach storm power geysers so your ground based units can gather currency for you to spend on all your crap). In order to build the bridges, you must select from a bank of bridge pieces located at the top left corner of the screen. There are anywhere from two to six different pieces to choose from at one time (It depends on whether you're playing the campaign or online, and if online it depends on who is serving the batter because (s)he has control over such things). If you don't get the right piece at the right time, especially if you're in a race with your opponent to gain something like a geyser or a piece of land, it can mean your eventual demise. This adds an interesting aspect to the gameplay, but it can get annoying at times. ESPECIALLY if your mouse is subpar, or you're a poor laptop user without a mouse using a touchpad.
Sound wise, the game is okay. There's nothing that will really blow you away. There are nice elemental sound effects: screeching eagles, whales, wind and thunder. These add nicely to the atmosphere. The battle noises are somewhat quirky. Once you hear the roar of the thundercannon...you'll want to smash your speakers...but otherwise there's nothing that really takes away from the experience. It simply doesn't add anything to it, which is what it should do.
Graphically, for 1997 this game ain't TOO bad. Sure it isn't superfantastically amazing, but it gets the job done, and it is very atmospheric. The battle effects are a little lame...especially the particle effects and explosions, but like the sound, it doesn't really take away from the game. It just doesn' t add much.
As for the game's value, I don't know about anyone else but I would still be playing this game today if Activision still had the server up. It's severely addictive, and the online community was diverse and interesting to play with, as long as you stayed away from the elite people who obviously had too much time on their hands. Normally, they belonged to the UCoN clan (United Cereals of Nimbus), but there were others too.
All in all, this is a great game. I would recommend it to all you strategy fans out there, but the single player campaigns aren't that great, and Activision doesn't operate the server anymore. If you're willing to track down a half decent private server, then it's definitely worth it(They do exist). This game is also great for LAN parties. Otherwise, I guess it's just another casualty of poor marketing...A great game that will go down in history as the one that was never played.