One of the most immersive RTS games I\'ve played in a long time...
When I first loaded up World in Conflict and was given the overview of the game, I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical. There was an overtone to the game that seemed to correspond with today\'s events in Iraq and some differing views of those events. When I heard Alec Baldwin doing some narration, it drove me to be even more skeptical. Was I going to be playing a game that was made to be fun or one that was made to send a certain political message? If it was the latter, I was going to be pretty disappointed.
The brief overview was we (The U.S.) are engaged in a war in Europe and have spread our resources too thin at home because of that war. The Russians capitalized on that mistake and have decided to invade us. The Russians come ashore and the battle begins.
At first you are introduced to several key characters. You play as Parker, there is Major Webb, Captain Bannon and Colonel Sawyer. Initially Colonel Sawyer barks orders at Bannon but seems to be more pleased with Webb and your performance. As the game progresses in the first few levels, it is revealed that Bannon did something in the Europe theater. What exactly those things are, are shown to you later.
I truly enjoyed how the story was laid out for you. In the first few levels you\'re thrown in to combat. After that, you\'re put backwards in time where the heart of the story comes to life. This is where the character development really takes place. You might be wondering why I\'m talking about character development in an RTS game. Well, believe it or not World in Conflict has the most in-depth character development in an RTS game than I\'ve seen in awhile. Usually you\'re given a story to follow. But in World in Conflict I really was interesting in learning more about each character. The game does an excellent job of doing just that as well. You\'re shown personal sides of each character and you can\'t but help feel sorry for some of the characters as you learn more about them.
For example, let\'s use Bannon. My interpretation of him is that he is a good, kind hearted person with a desire to impress both is commander and family. He does make some mistakes along the way from him rushing in to things though. I more so wanted to keep playing at length just to understand more about him.
Controlling units in World in Conflict is just like playing any other RTS genre game. You have your mini map which shows your units. You can click on this map to quickly go to an area or you can drag the white box around to pan around in conjunction with your mouse.
I would have liked to see more variety in the playable units though. Every so often you were introduced to something new like mobile artillery. It also would have been nice to be able to upgrade your units. Your units gain experience by being in combat, but as you\'ll see they usually don\'t last long especially in certain levels where the combat intensity is high. You are able to call in reinforcements with some restrictions though. You earn reinforcement points which can be spent on various units. Certain units cost more than others. As these units are destroyed during combat, the points you spent on them will return to you for reuse.
As with reinforcement points, you also earn tactical points. These points can be spent on artillery strikes and others such as napalm, daisy cutter, tank buster etc. You have to be careful with your timing in using these. Each ‘strike\' takes a certain amount of time to deploy. So, especially if you\'re targeting a moving object, you need to almost anticipate where that vehicle will be so your barrage lands on target.
World in Conflict boasts that it has a graphically pleasing experience in store for you...and it does. Tons of destructible elements are present. From dropping a daisy cutter on to several buildings from burning down a row of trees with some hotter than the sun napalm. You are able to zoom in to see the action up close and personal as in most RTS games, but I think you\'ll find yourself like me, zoomed out to have more of tactical advantage during gameplay.
The audio is one of the more impressive qualities of World in Conflict. Although it was nice to have someone famous like Alec Baldwin doing some narration, I did find myself hitting my escape key just to avoid listening to him altogether. His narration and hearing real songs from the 80\'s and 90\'s just gave the audio that added bonus. Not to mention how well the voiceovers were done. In some games you can tell the voiceovers were done by someone who didn\'t care and was simply reading a script. In this game, you could hear the inflection in their voices which helped buy in to the characters even more.
The length of World in Conflict was perfect. Not too long and not too short. On normal difficulty I got about eight hours of gameplay out of it. Once again, I truly enjoyed how the story was told in the way it jumped back in time and then shot forward again so you got the overall concept of what was taking place.
If you\'re an RTS fan, World in Conflict is a must have. The character development during the game is outstanding. Along with kick-ass graphics and audio you can\'t go wrong. The minor downfalls of un-upgradable units and a lack of a variety still don\'t take away much from the game itself.
I did not try the online multiplayer but even without that, I still have the urge to go back in, re-enlist and defend the U.S. once again.
Give World in Conflict a try, you definitely won\'t be disappointed.
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