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World In Conflict Review (continued)
More User Submitted World In Conflict Reviews
Date: 2008-03-23
No fun
This game is a drag unless you are a serious strategy and tactics buff. My nephew (15) hated it for the slow play and lapses in action.
Date: 2008-03-21
There's no problem that can't be solved with enough airstrikes
That, along with my other favorite adage ("squishing guys with tanks never gets old") is a great axiom to keep in mind when playing World in Conflict. Wow, this game is quite a thrill ride- especially for fans of Larry Bond's work, or Tom Clancy's older wargames. The plot could have fit right into 'Red Storm Rising' and the top-notch voice acting in the single player campaign does it full credit. Pack in some superb graphics and incredible effects, and you have the definitive Cold War RTT.
Note that the last letter is not a typo; this isn't Starcraft or Red Alert. You don't build anything, don't research anything, and don't even have any base to speak of. If you capture control points, some fixed fortifications automatically build, but these are generally quite weak and can hardly be termed a 'base.' Your sole resources, such as they are, are command points and tactical aid points. The former allows you to airdrop reinforcements onto a designated landing zone, and is replenished slowly as your units are lost. The latter lets you get down to the serious business, which is calling in all manner of wanton destruction on anything (and anyone) you see fit. From mortar strikes to airborne troop drops, heavy artillery to tac nukes, you have one heck of an arsenal available and can shape the battlefield- literally- with a few well-placed clicks.
The single play campaign is pretty standard fare, with a linear mission and scripted objectives. It's well done and is enough to bring forth a tear from fans of the jolly old days when the Iron Curtain was more than just a history lesson. The campaign takes you on a brief tour of Europe as well as the US, and introduces you to the full range of units available. These units are generally subdivided into four categories: infantry, armor, support, and air. They work pretty much as they sound, and generally have a rock-paper-scissors relationship that should be familiar to any RTS veteran. Tactical aid is also introduced in all its crater-making glory, and you get a good feel for using it to best suit the strengths and weaknesses of your deployed units. Thus, while it does run a bit short and won't exactly knock your socks off, the campaign does a good job of introducing you to the style of the game.
Since the terrain can be so dramatically deformed, and offers the full range of advantages and disadvantages you would expect (i.e. those trees making it hard to spot infantry, though they also burn plenty easily...) it's immediately apparent that battles can take sudden and sweeping turns. You control relatively few units, and the stronger your deployed units the fewer you can have at once. Additionally, even weaker units have special abilities that can briefly make them a match for much heavier forces, and of course there's no stopping a unit of heavy attack choppers even if you have a whole brigade of main battle tanks. There are three different factions- the USSR, US, and NATO- but the differences are largely cosmetic. That is, a T-72, Leopard, and M1 are pretty much identical. Tactical aid is similarly identical, though some abilities look different depending on your faction (i.e. the jets dropping that spicy napalm on your hapless foes).
It doesn't take much longer than basic training for you to realize that this game could turn into one seriously frantic fragfest when taken online- and you would not be mistaken in the least. Tactical aid is what really makes the game fun, and it helps that spending tactical aid usually results in you getting even more (due to kills resulting in, say, that heavy artillery barrage you just spammed across the valley). With multiple people calling in tactical aid simultaneously onto the battlefield, and mixed units running around trying to secure objectives and destroy the enemy, it is fully as intense as any real battle ought to be. I wouldn't go so far as to call the game realistic- for one, there's no way anyone would even consider dropping a main battle tank out of a moving air transport- but once the daisy cutters start raining down you tend to forget about realism. As an added plus, players need not wait for a new battle to start, as is the case for pretty much all RTS games. You can simply join one in progress, and this generally works due to the small number of units you actually command.
Some say that World in Conflict is only fun online; I respectfully disagree- it's a great single play game in itself, though admittedly the online component is at least as good and probably better. You can't play this game in the way you would play any other RTS, and the only other game I've seen that has similar mechanics is Ground Control (probably not a surprise, as it shares development heritage). If you're a big fan of resource management and base building, this isn't your cup of tea. If, on the other hand, you are a firm believer in the power of a good airstrike, then this is exactly what you want to see.
Date: 2008-03-10
Waste of Money
I must say I was very disappointed in this game. Our group of RTS gamers is already grumbling about this game, and considering moving on to another RTS. We had some great days playing Command and Conquer (and expansion - although CC3 was a big disappointment for us). We had some great days playing Warhammer (and all it's expansions - except for the latest one). We also had some good Company of Heroes battles (with it's expansion)...
This game seems to boil the RTS experience down to the actual battles and avoids all the typical base building, resource gathering, and "ramping up"...This is similar to the WH games, but WH battles are much larger and loads of fun. The World in Conflict battles limit you to meager forces, and expect you to work with teammates to get things done. This is fine in some ways, but having such small groups of units doesn't lead to much fun. Especially since the WiC battles offer many ways for the enemy to launch long-range off-map strikes that you can't really defend. So, you can lose your whole force to this. Sort of crappy...You spend a lot of time waiting for your new units to arrive (maybe 2-3 tanks) at most, and then trudging them into the battle (where they could get smashed quickly again)...
Also, the game types seem sort of weak. There's no way to really knock out an enemy (i.e. knocking out a HQ or something as you can do in most RTSes)...It's mainly taking control points and trying to run out the clock on the enemy.
To top it off, there still are some bugs involving joining a server or actually finding the server your buddies are playing on. And I think the demo only allows single-player...This is bad since multiplayer is all that this game is good for...
Probably have to wait for StarCraft2 whenever that comes out...Or go back to WH for a while...
There's always Call of Duty 4...First-person shooter though...Very cool game though...
Date: 2008-02-26
Not as great as I'd thought it would be
Well, I had alot of high hopes for this game but it didn't turn out to be that good. Don't get me wrong, the graphics are totally awesome... the best for any RTS currently out there.
You are very dependent on your team mates in this game, which is okay for the most part... but since you can drop in and out of games very easily, I found it hard to keep a good team who could work together.
My other problem I had with this game is the units die to quickly. Even when winning during a game, your units last < minute... so I found myself constantly queuing up new units. I don't understand how you can have a strategy game when you units are not even on the battlefield long enough to formulate a strategy. I know you can lose unit quick in an RTS... but this game was just constantly queuing up new units because my other ones were gone in 15 seconds.
I much preferred Company of Heroes to this game... there seems to be alot more strategy in that game than this (i.e. - actual unit cover and how that effects their damage, your units actually have some life and can stay in a fight for a reasonable amount of time.. long enough to let you plan and attack... not hit your queue button over and over).
I will say though, this game owns in graphics and the nukes are awesome!
Date: 2008-02-17
Ground Control fans, the next installment as arrived!
If you loved Ground Control then this is an amazing leap ahead of that style of gameplay. Amazing graphics, sounds, mission structure, story etc. and most importantly fun gameplay. I haven't tried multiplayer yet but it sounds like lots of fun esp. if you have some friends to play with. This is one quality title! The action is non stop. A leap ahead technologically and in game design for real-time tactics games.
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