War, what is good for? Absolutely nothing, well apart from adrenaline fuelled gaming sessions with your mates after a few beers or what ever tickles your fancy. Unless of course you’re a serious gamer who perhaps only has one leg and couldn’t hack basic training in the real military? Maybe you’re just a bedroom Colonel who loves to bark orders at squad mates, because it fulfils some inner desire to succeed based on the self gratifying decisions you’ve made that you can claim is all your own accomplishment? What ever type of gamer you are, war games, or those that involve killing others, is part and parcel of gaming, and has been since the early beginnings – when you look at games like Space Invaders as an early example, despite its simplicity. There’s something very compelling about destroying things without actually suffering any mental repercussions or consequences that’s brand you a murderer, and place you in a creepy jail for the rest of your life. Not all of us are cut out for the killing fields and harsh realities of war, perhaps the sight of a dismembered body after being blown to pieces is enough to make a number of us shivering wrecks for the rest of lives, or at the very least our thoughts tainted for ever more with the horrific image (especially at meal times). So video gaming whilst heavily unrealistic, does tend to cater towards the competitive nature of our being, and tantalizes our desire to place ourselves in situations that in reality we’d never dream of being in, let alone having any sort of success.
Ubisoft has really positioned itself at the helm of war type action games where death is only a split second away. We’ve had the likes of Ghost Recon, GRAW, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six and Brothers In Arms that have all placed us in situations we’d never dream of being in outside of our gaming spaces. However with the titles I’ve just mentioned there is one common denominator, with exception to a degree of Splinter Cell. All of the games whilst offering a tactical edge, are typically first person shoot em ups, a genre crowded in Western Markets, and really a successful formula because they can place you into the heart of a given situation, where as a player you’ve got the immersion factor that can’t really be recreated in third person games.
So, it appears that Ubisoft are branching out to encompass a new direction for its games, and this year we’ve got H.A.W.X being developed under the Tom Clancy name, and also EndWar which are two very different styles of game we’ve seen under the Clancy franchise. H.A.W.X takes to the skies with a modern aerial shooter, and EndWar offers a real time strategy game of sorts. EndWar is being developed by Ubisoft Shanghai studios and has enlisted a number of key personnel from Creative Assembly, who have solid experience with the Total War franchise. However, and I must state this from the offset that whilst pigeon holing EndWar into the RTS genre is a given, the game is actually quite the departure from what you’d expect from a typical RTS game.
If you’re the gamer who likes to be in control and take a commanding role without actually getting your hands dirty, then EndWar is going to be the kind of game that offers you the chance to let loose your decision making, multi tasking skills; that’s not to say the game isn’t going to be accessible to those less able. After some hands on time with the game, and perhaps approaching the game with some cynical apprehension, I found that the team have managed to obliterate the clutter, to produce a title that is not only very intuitive, but also highly engaging and easy to understand, despite its seeming complexity.
A War to End Wars
Let’s rewind a little and look at the basis of the setting behind EndWar. The game is set in the not too distant future (2016), where the world is a very different place. The threat of Nuclear Armageddon has been virtually eradicated due to advances in space defence technology which renders inter continental ballistic nuclear missiles useless. The world is at peace and rejoices in this new age, yet prices of oil begins to take its toll on world markets, due to an overstating of reserves which leaves Russia as a dominant force, thus provoking the other nations to develop their military might. This situation has lead to an unnerving reality where the World’s Superpowers revert back to more traditional dominance and warfare, which provides the World’s military factions an excuse to engage in massive battles and ultimately heralds the dawn of World War III.
There are three main forces in the World of Endwar and include the US, Europe and Russia, which players can choose from the offset. Each nation has a specific set of advantages and means that opting to choose one over the other provides a different edge to the gameplay. The game’s story is divided into two parts and begins with a linear 10 missions opening which sets the stage for the more open ended second part of the game. Once the second part of the game is reached, which is the real moment of when WWIII begins, players can choose to take on the other world groups in a similar manner to the game Risk. You are presented with a globe which shows off 40 territories which need to be defended or attacked. Naturally you’ll have to carve your way across territories to gain supremacy rather than having areas handed to you on a plate. The game becomes a real tug of war as you conquer new territories and defend your frontlines against the other powers; and naturally you’ll eventually have total power where your victory is assured. The game offers three levels of difficulty versus the AI and several gameplay modes spread across 30 maps such as Siege, Assault, Raid and Defend modes, so there’s enough meat here to keep armchair generals well entertained and engaged for a long time. The game’s Hardcore setting being the ultimate test of management skills as here the adaptive AI really offers an unparalleled challenge for the more advanced players.
The Rules of Combat
Once you’ve chosen the territory you’d like to attack , or defend, depending on what’s happening in your campaign, you’ll have an option to visit the barracks where you can take a closer look at your units. It’s here that you’ll be able to spend money on upgrades and such like. One neat feature is that all units are persistent, which means that if they survive a battle, they’ll gain XP which can be spent on further upgrades. You’ll be able to command few units to begin with, but as the campaign rages, you’ll get more under your command, with a total of 12 units eventually being available. What’s good about the units is that rather than unnecessarily cluttering the interface with loads of different unit types, things like your standard infantry can be multifaceted, which means if you’re looking for a sniper team, you can do so using the same infantry units rather than an entire new set. This is the same for all units, and so with Tanks, Attack Choppers, Artillery, Transports, Engineers and command posts being available, there’s never going to be this huge imposing list of units, where you’re left scratching your head wondering which is best for any given situation. The game does use a command chain which can be likened to paper, rock, and scissors; so an understanding of this principle is certainly key to success. An example of this is Attack Choppers are great against Tanks, yet more mobile Transports are equally good against Attack Choppers.
There are two ways to be victorious and that’s to either capture the command points that are littered across the map, and then hold them for a set time or to totally destroy the opposing army’s militia. The game does allow for a turnaround opportunity for the losing side, because once a set number of the command points have been taken, the game enters a Defcon mode, where a timer begins to count down, marking the impending doom of the losing side. It’s at this juncture that the losing team gets to use a WMD (weapon of mass destruction) against the winning side. Naturally if this is deployed at the right place on the map it can easily turn the tide of battle and ultimately win you the skirmish. So in a nutshell, you control various units which are deployed onto the battlefield, you vie for control of various resources and tactical locations, and you obliterate the opposing force that gets in your way, or tries to at least. That’s pretty much the basics of the game’s combative element.
A General in the Making
Having played the game versus a human opponent and in co-op versus the AI I can honestly say, that I was left feeling way more impressed with the game than I was prior to actually playing. Sure I had seen the demo videos and had the game explained in great depth by the developers, but until I got stuck in, I still had a niggling apprehensiveness towards, how well the game would actually play. It all seemed just as complicated as your typical RTS game, which, I’ll admit I’m not the hugest fan of the genre.
EndWar does have a certain pick up and play element to it, and it’s only when you actually sit in the cockpit so to speak that it all becomes clear. It’s like trying to explain to someone how good a certain food tastes, when the reality is the best way to convey this is to let them taste it themselves. Before I talk about the control interface, I have to mention the general ease of play. As previously mentioned with regards to the multifaceted units, the developers have really stripped down what makes an RTS game and given the player a very easy to navigate system, so whether you’re using the d-pad or the headset, you’ll have a complete tactical view of the action at all times and find that keeping track of things is a lot easier as a result. You’re able to view a close of camera view of selected units, and once orders are given, the units will then respond in a realistic manner, bearing in mind the AI of your units will react to what’s going on around them without further input from the player – such as taking cover and defending against attacks. This means you’re able to focus on the command aspects of positioning troops rather than the unnecessary bits that make typical RTS games a little too daunting for beginners. The camera pans close to the action and provides a very cinematic level of detail which goes far beyond your traditional isometric viewpoint you get in most RTS games. It puts you deep into the heart of the combat and lends itself to a more action orientated game despite the fact that you don’t actually have the direct control over firing weapons, it reminds me a little of the Full Spectrum Warrior game on Xbox.
Now let’s talk about the voice commands and control interface, because this is one huge part of the game and although I’ve given a basic overview of the play mechanics, there is certainly a lot more depth once you start mastering the basics. The camera movement is handled using the thumb-sticks and is precisely the same as regular first person shooters, so gamers will feel right at home with this aspect of control. The voice commands really do provide a more seamless transition from mind to game, and means that you’ll not only feel like the cigar smoking officer, but you’ll have that total control with out the need to memorise loads of button configurations. This is perhaps EndWar’s biggest strength.
To get you started there are few basic commands which are shown on screen, which then leads to the next set of commands, so without even looking at a manual, within moments you’ll get a good grasp of the kind of commands you need to usher into the mic. To create a new Tank unit, you would simply say “Deploy” ( a menu comes up which shows the type of units you could deploy) and then you would say “Tanks” or whatever unit you required. The fact that the list is displayed once you’ve uttered the key command, keeps the flow running smoothly, and although you might stumble a little at first, once you’ve gotten the basics down, you’ll be reeling off the commands like a pro. The most common command path you’ll be using is “Unit” (then the number of the unit you want to order) then “Attack”, “Move to”, or “Secure”, followed by an area on the map, so if it’s one of the command points (these are labelled using the phonetic alphabet - Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc), a simple command path would sound like this, “Unit One, Move To Alpha” and away they would go. What I noticed is that you can really take your time with the orders, so if you’re not quite sure, or are still in the learning process you can say part of the order and not be required to finish it right away. This is really helpful for beginners or if you’re not quite sure on where to order your unit to.
There are more intricate commands, but in general the vocabulary used is limited so that it remains a highly fluid interface that presents itself as being very accessible. You can use the d-pad if you feel more comfortable with that, but you’ll miss the essence of what makes the voice commands unique. I found that the recognition technology was almost flawless, as it understood pretty much my every word.
In General!
As mentioned already I was not sure on how EndWar would be shaping up after all the media exposure Ubisoft has given it, but once I got my hands on the game, I’m left feeling very positive indeed. It’s certainly not your typical RTS game, and I think you’d be very much mistaken if that’s the only impression you’ve got. RTS games have all followed the same formula and have almost gotten more and more complicated, whereas EndWar keeps the action engaging, but provides the simplicity to make for a truly approachable game. The graphics are pretty sharp, the sound puts you right there with the units, and the challenge is most suitably dynamic to cater for a wide variety of player skills. With Online modes available versus humans and even co-op play versus AI, an engaging campaign which is part of an overall online domination mode, where every battle has an impact on what’s happening globally – in a similar manner to SEGA’s Chromehounds; and you’ve got a great package all round that does the Clancy name proud. There are a lot of games coming out over the holiday season, but none are as unique as EndWar, and I think it’s this unique quality that will ultimately entice gamers to give it a try, especially those who would normally shy away from anything strategic. There are VIP codes available if you pre-order from various retail outlets, and an open demo should be available closer to launch. Like I said, I think the best way to really get a feel for the quality on offer here, is by playing the game yourselves and making up your own minds. Ubisoft will be supporting the franchise, with downloadable content, so this is certainly going to be a series that’s well worth getting into.
Preview By: Robert Cram
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