Mine precious gold from the deformable terrain in order to buy better weapons, digging tools, and deployable defenses. Use these assets to defend your disembodied brain and bankrupt your opponent! Old-school 2D sidescroller pixel graphics coupled with an extremely detailed physics simulation makes for a mix of nostalgia and surprising gameplay.
Truly brilliant concept and execution.
This game has its share of bugs and quirks, but I can't bring myself to give it anything less than a 9. Cortex Command is an undeniably fresh experience; I haven't played anything quite like it before or since, and in the booming indie game scene, that alone is enough to warrant some praise.
Graphics are great, music is fabulous, and while the gameplay takes some getting used to, it's extremely engaging and deep once you get the hang of it.
I can't possibly go into detail about the game without writing much more than anyone wants to read, so I'll just say that Cortex Command features some of the best local multiplayer I've ever experienced (right up there with Quadsmash), and that I can't recommend it enough.