Once you’ve made initial preparations, you’re thrown into the battlefield, and the game truly begins. There are uplink bases scattered throughout the map – the aim of the battle is to secure as many of these terminals in your faction’s name as you possible can, whilst fending off your opponent’s army who will be doing the same.
You have a number of Command Points, which act as your universal resource in battle. They replenish over time, and can be used to call out more units to strengthen your resolve or to initiate special commands on the map. The camera will always stick to one particular unit, unless you select the specific unit from the bottom of the screen using the D-Pad and pressing the X Button to quickly change view, or unless you say “Unit 2 Camera” to switch. Although you have a zoom function, via clicking the right thumbstick, you can’t move the camera too far from your selected unit – a good replacement for a ‘fog of war’ environment.
If you’re a defending faction, any taken uplinks can be used as new landing zones for your units, and you can even call air strikes every now and then to help you stay in the game. For attacking nations, you have to use your best strategies to overcome those slight advantages, and part of a good strategy is how you handle your units. There are many different types of unit, including simple artillerymen who can secure bases, gunship helicopters, tanks and transport vehicles.
The knack is knowing how to use these units in an almost rock-paper-scissors style, as each has a strength or weakness against another. Gunships can take down artillerymen and tanks relatively easily, but engineer troops in cover and transport vehicles are well equipped to nobble them. You can carry artillerymen in transports around the map to easily get them from Alpha to Delta, but come undone when faced with tanks. It’s well worth knowing what’s out there and thinking about how to overcome certain hostiles.
Once a faction has control of more than half the available uplink stations, a countdown timer begins. When it runs out, the game is won by the controlling faction, but it also means an agonising four minute wait wondering what the enemy will do as a last resort. During the countdown, the opposition will have the power to let loose a Weapon of Mass Destruction to even the scores.
If the advantage is swayed, the countdown stops, giving players a breather as they try and regain control. If one player does use a WMD however, the other has call to use one in retaliation. Given the long reset time to actually use a nuke, it takes a certain kind of strategy to know when and how to use it.
When a game is finished and a winner decided, the World Map is altered to signify the changes that have happened between controlling states during your battle. UbiSoft Shanghai has built this feature into the online multiplayer mode, creating an MMORTS game in which players can use their own levelled up troops and militia in a faction they choose. We’re told that the online World Map is updated daily once every match result per 24 hours is taken into account, which brings a pretty big scope for the online component of
EndWar. Specifically, that we may never see an End.
Using voice command takes some getting used to, particularly when you have to remember specific phrases in order to direct your units, but once you’ve played (and lost) a few matches the RTS roots definitely shine through, and it was particularly engaging to bark orders down the microphone from the comfort of your sofa, whilst seeing the action unfold from the viewpoint of the men on the battlefield. For the RTS player looking for a fresh new interface in their gaming, keep an eye on this one.
