Friday, October 3, 2008

World in Conflict (Review)


World in Conflict is set in an alternate-history version of 1989. Instead of the Berlin Wall falling and communism collapsing, the Soviet Union launches an assault on Western Europe, and the United States rushes its forces in to aid its Western allies. Four months into the conflict, after the US Navy has been battered down, the USSR launches a surprise invasion in Seattle and pushes inland. In the 14 levels of single player campaign, you will play as the US faction trying to stop the advancement of USSR and some battles in Europe as well.

This isn't the standard RTS game, as World in Conflict doesn't follow the familiar model of resource gathering, base building, and swarming armies. Instead it almost feel like an action game in RTS form. This game is all about action. From the moment each level starts, you were straight away given objectives to capture and defend some strategic points in the map. Sometimes, you were given time limits to accomplish failing which you have to restart it all over.


Small group of units marching to the objectives

Since there is no resource gathering, after each of your units die, resource point will slowly accumulate back to the original level where you can then choose which unit to deploy. In this case, you have to be smart enough to deploy the most critical unit to your survival since the deployment takes time.

There were basically 3 types of units which you can use throughout the game: infantry (anti-tank, sniper etc), vehicles ( tank, repair, anti-air etc) and air(choppers). Each has its own strength and weaknesses which perfectly complement each other. The game is also smart enough to limit the number of units you can control. Instead of commanding the entire battlefield, you'll have only a relative handful of units. This makes managing your units a lot easier.

Beautifully rendered environment-realistically looking smokes

The highlight feature of this game is the tactical aids. After you kill certain number of enemy units, your tactical aids point will increase which lets you to use some devastating weapons such as napalm strike, tank busters, artillery, carpet bombing and ultimately the nuke strike. It is wise to plan ahead before you deploy any tactical aids on the map because the deployment takes time. So, you have to predict and anticipate the movement of enemy units. If the enemy is hiding infantry in woods and buildings, making them hard to root out, call in napalm and just burn down the trees or use artillery or smart bombs to blow up the structures. Everything blows up so beautifully!

The unleashing of napalm strike(tactical aid) on the map

In term of graphics, it is the best looking RTS game I've ever played so far. Using my old PC, it really stretched it to the limits where in some heavy battles, my frame rates have been reduced to only a single digit. It renders the environment beautifully, from the billowing smoke, the explosion, the collapse of buildings to the sky reflection on the ocean. The game engine uses Havok physics and you can see the tanks burst into metal scraps beautifully and choppers swinging wildly before plunging down to destruction.

Great narrative

The excellent storytelling, which is spearheaded by pitch-perfect narrator Alec Baldwin. He's backed up by a great voice acting cast that brings the principle and secondary characters to life, along with a story that offers up emotional and sometimes humorous vignettes from a world at war. For instance, you'll hear a soldier's futile battle against Army bureaucracy, the phone conversation of a husband and wife, and the deliberations of the president and his top military advisors. The voice acting is top notch!

and ultimately the aftermath of a nuclear strike

Everything about this game is great, from the addicting gameplay to the amazing visuals. More importantly, World in Conflict offers up a refreshingly new approach to strategy gaming.

Image courtesy of gamespot

The good: Great graphics, new ideas in RTS gaming, great narrative
The bad: A bit too rush, no time to enjoy the beautifully rendered environment, no nuke in single player

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