In this little throw back review that I never ended up writing. I will focus on the complete version of World in Conflict with the Soviet Assault expansion included. I will compare its invasion ideals to that of Red Dawn (80s version) and how it holds up today.
I myself have never been a huge RTS fan. I primarily played games like Age of Empires or Total War. I have never really been a fan of resource management. I just wanted an all out war with my military units! Well, this older game has delivered upon my wish and it is a total blast to play to this day.
World in Conflict bases itself in an alternate history America. It is the 1980s and the Soviet Union is very much alive and kicking. I am not sure if the movie Red Dawn was out at the time, but it would have scared the ever living crap out of these people. Primarily because that nightmare was about to come true... The US has been invaded by a substantial Soviet force. The primary point of entry is Seattle, Washington. Civilians panic and flee by any means that they can. Quick response units arrive on scene only to be meet with AK fire to their faces.
The story in World in Conflict is not a new one by any means. We have seen it before in movies, and other games. Heck we saw this idea tackled by Homefront. But the way that this game handles the subject is downright fantastic! At times, you can feel an emotional attachment for what is happening around you. Some things just look so surreal--like it could be your home years ago.
They did not deploy cheep gimmicks like name branding everything to the point of insanity... That is not how you create atmosphere!
You play as Lieutenant Parker. Whom you do not see or hear talk in the main story (besides Alec Baldwin voicing in loading screens). It is just a place holder to know who you are. However, the characters that form around you are pretty well acted and written. The officer named Bannon will strike a nerve with you from time to time, but that is intentional! And you will see why later on.
Not once have I seen an RTS game pull off an emotional story with good characters. Maybe because I never play many RTS games? Regardless, the story is great on the American side. By that, I mean there is also another perspective to learn from.
The expansion Soviet Assault puts you in the eyes of the enemy to add a greater layer of the lore. You see how the entire war started, you will see how missions that you had just completed through the eyes of the enemy that you have destroyed. I really like how they added another perspective. You will see how they handle militia in their eyes, and how they believe in their cause.
Like I said before, it is 1980s America. Everything around you is modeled to look like our land of that era. And even to this day it looks pretty good when maxed out. When you zoom in on your units, soldiers will chat about themselves and the war. There is nice little details added to the towns to give that feeling that this is not a barren battleground.
Today, it is not hard at all to run this game at max settings. I think that entry level PC's will run this game perfectly fine. Keep in mind that this is an older game of the generation. So it will not look as gorgeous as other games like Total War. The one thing that I find kind of weird; is that some cutscenes are in CGI and others are used with in game visuals. It may be funny that they did not just use the CGI for all scenes, but that is a minor little nitpick.
Camera controls handle like an FPS, which is grand for me! You use WASD to move the camera, and the mouse to look around just like you would in a shooter. It makes that annoying mouse drag to the edge of your screen vanish and it gives you a greater field of view of the battlefield instead of just top-down view of your soldiers.
Another thing that I like is that there is NO resource management. You don't need to worry about things like fuel, ammo, etc to spawn in your units. You just need to worry about how many reinforcement tickets you have. You earn these by taking over control points, completing optional objectives, and keeping your units alive. They do grow back, but the moves listed before make it happen faster.
This is a pure combat game that will test your mental capacity to flank and destroy the enemy. If your units get bogged down by sheer brutal numbers. Then you can call in fire support on them in a ultra satisfying way! There is napalm to burn down soldiers in trees, carpet bombs to take out entire tank platoons. And ever a Nuke to really get the ball rolling.
Everything that I have stated ties in to a multiplayer that can be a lot of fun when there is actually somebody to play against.
This has been a short little review that I just felt like doing. World in Conflict is an amazing RTS. It has a story that can hit an emotional key, it is easy to run and still looks pretty good even by today's standards. It is a true combat game that throws our resources in favor of large scale battles that blow things up beautifully!
FINAL VERDICT: World in Conflict gets an A+.
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On another note, I have a little surprise for you all...
I am giving away ONE Steam copy of this game. If you would like to participate in this little shindig. Then you must follow the rules to the T!
RULES:
1. State that you would like to enter!
2. Enter by 8:30 PM Central Time USA.
3. Await the winner via youtube posting on my website.
[Edited on 12.21.2012 6:38 PM PST]