svtdriver
11-09-2008, 12:07 PM
So with the way the world's been going recently it really isn't too difficult to imagine World War III coming about sooner or later (hopefully much, much later). Enter EndWar. However, take one of the greatest military fiction writers in history and give it his own spin on it and you get a fantastic, totally new way to play a RTS on a console system.
Backstory (thanks to Wikipedia):
In 2011, the United States and the European Union sign the historic SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield) Treaty, agreeing to co-develop technologies for a comprehensive, interlocking anti-ballistic missile system. Left out of the treaty, Russia accelerates development of its own system. SLAMS is activated in 2014. The US and EU launch test salvos against each other, which the SLAMS weapons completely destroy. Emboldened by the success of the tests, the US and EU pronounce "the end of strategic nuclear war," and the world celebrates a new age of peace and security.
However, in 2015 it is found that major oil companies have overstated the amount of recoverable oil reserves. Energy security becomes the explicit priority of governments around the world. Russia, being the world's number one supplier of natural gas and crude oil, has its economy skyrocket up with the energy crisis, spending its oil profits on modernizing its armed forces and utilizing its new-found power to influence world events. A nuclear war occurs between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2016, killing 20 million, further compounding the energy crisis and greatly destabilising the nations of Europe. With crude oil now at 800 dollars a barrel, the alliance of individual countries of the European Union are forced to band together to consolidate political, economic and military power in the face of growing global security, environmental and economic concerns. Morphing to become the new superpower of the "European Federation" (EF) in 2018, most of the wealthy Western Europe is now recognized as an independent state in its own right. Britain and Ireland decline membership while Switzerland remains neutral. The US and EF regard each other's power as a threat to their own, the now fractured former allies embark on a costly space arms race with each other.
The militarisation of space reaches its peak in 2018, when the United States reveals plans to launch the "Freedom Star" space station into high orbit by 2020, in an effort to regain its position as the premier world superpower. While partly designed for civilian research purposes, the station will also house three companies of U.S. Marines, who can deploy anywhere on Earth within 90 minutes. International reaction is extremely negative, to say the least. The EF and Russia in particular despise the development, seeing it as a way the US could use to neutralise their portion of anti-ballistic defences and upset the balance of power. They withdraw from the already divided NATO in protest. In 2020, when the final module of the Freedom Star is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center amid international outcry, it comes as little surprise when a group of terrorists attack the launch site. In investigating the source of the attack, the US, the EF, and Russia find themselves at odds, rolling with unstoppable momentum toward full-scale global war.
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Tom Clancy's EndWar takes the RTS genre to a whole new level. You can command entire armies at "the speed of thought," as the trailers put it, by using your XBox headset. Players familiar with the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon series will be familiar with some of the characters in EndWar, as they have gone on from their tactical, squad-based missions to command entire armies.
The three major powers are the Joint Strike Force, Enforcers Corps, and the Spetznaz Guard Brigade, controlled by the US, the EF, and a newly reinvigorated Russia. Each power has its own strengths and weaknesses. The JSF is fast, stealthy, and relies on unmanned technologies to give it the advantage. The Enforcers are urban warfare specialists, using directed energy weapons and fast vehicles to their advantage. The Spetznaz, in traditional fashion, are the masters of the open battlefield, with heavily armed tanks and artillery, as well as the ability to add just about anything onto their existing armaments (such as putting a flamethrower on the top of a T-100 tank to compliment the main gun).
I've been playing the game since Tuesday, and I must say I'm deeply impressed. The game is very well designed, and, aside from a few in-game glitches, it runs very smoothly, even when several units are engaged on the screen at the same time. I would highly recommend that any RTS fan give EndWar a try, even if you just rent it. However, I have to admit that its hard to split up the amount of time I devote to it with Gears 2 being so addictive, too.
Speak up if you've played this yet. It's an awesome game!
Backstory (thanks to Wikipedia):
In 2011, the United States and the European Union sign the historic SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield) Treaty, agreeing to co-develop technologies for a comprehensive, interlocking anti-ballistic missile system. Left out of the treaty, Russia accelerates development of its own system. SLAMS is activated in 2014. The US and EU launch test salvos against each other, which the SLAMS weapons completely destroy. Emboldened by the success of the tests, the US and EU pronounce "the end of strategic nuclear war," and the world celebrates a new age of peace and security.
However, in 2015 it is found that major oil companies have overstated the amount of recoverable oil reserves. Energy security becomes the explicit priority of governments around the world. Russia, being the world's number one supplier of natural gas and crude oil, has its economy skyrocket up with the energy crisis, spending its oil profits on modernizing its armed forces and utilizing its new-found power to influence world events. A nuclear war occurs between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2016, killing 20 million, further compounding the energy crisis and greatly destabilising the nations of Europe. With crude oil now at 800 dollars a barrel, the alliance of individual countries of the European Union are forced to band together to consolidate political, economic and military power in the face of growing global security, environmental and economic concerns. Morphing to become the new superpower of the "European Federation" (EF) in 2018, most of the wealthy Western Europe is now recognized as an independent state in its own right. Britain and Ireland decline membership while Switzerland remains neutral. The US and EF regard each other's power as a threat to their own, the now fractured former allies embark on a costly space arms race with each other.
The militarisation of space reaches its peak in 2018, when the United States reveals plans to launch the "Freedom Star" space station into high orbit by 2020, in an effort to regain its position as the premier world superpower. While partly designed for civilian research purposes, the station will also house three companies of U.S. Marines, who can deploy anywhere on Earth within 90 minutes. International reaction is extremely negative, to say the least. The EF and Russia in particular despise the development, seeing it as a way the US could use to neutralise their portion of anti-ballistic defences and upset the balance of power. They withdraw from the already divided NATO in protest. In 2020, when the final module of the Freedom Star is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center amid international outcry, it comes as little surprise when a group of terrorists attack the launch site. In investigating the source of the attack, the US, the EF, and Russia find themselves at odds, rolling with unstoppable momentum toward full-scale global war.
----
Tom Clancy's EndWar takes the RTS genre to a whole new level. You can command entire armies at "the speed of thought," as the trailers put it, by using your XBox headset. Players familiar with the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon series will be familiar with some of the characters in EndWar, as they have gone on from their tactical, squad-based missions to command entire armies.
The three major powers are the Joint Strike Force, Enforcers Corps, and the Spetznaz Guard Brigade, controlled by the US, the EF, and a newly reinvigorated Russia. Each power has its own strengths and weaknesses. The JSF is fast, stealthy, and relies on unmanned technologies to give it the advantage. The Enforcers are urban warfare specialists, using directed energy weapons and fast vehicles to their advantage. The Spetznaz, in traditional fashion, are the masters of the open battlefield, with heavily armed tanks and artillery, as well as the ability to add just about anything onto their existing armaments (such as putting a flamethrower on the top of a T-100 tank to compliment the main gun).
I've been playing the game since Tuesday, and I must say I'm deeply impressed. The game is very well designed, and, aside from a few in-game glitches, it runs very smoothly, even when several units are engaged on the screen at the same time. I would highly recommend that any RTS fan give EndWar a try, even if you just rent it. However, I have to admit that its hard to split up the amount of time I devote to it with Gears 2 being so addictive, too.
Speak up if you've played this yet. It's an awesome game!