World in Conflict Review

Developer: Massive Entertainment
Engine: Masstech Game Engine
Platforms: PC
Genre: Real-Time Strategy

Introduction

World in Conflict. A real time strategy game developed by Massive Entertainment, the developers of Ground Control. The game was released in September 2007 and an expansion pack (read expansion pack) was released in May 2009. The game set in 1989 depicts the fall of the mighty Soviet Union during the cold war’s ending stages. Now for my I review this game?. Simply because of two main reasons 1 being that I love the games which involve Russia as I love to play with them and secondly that I love games which have a trailer that makes you want to play that game just for the of trying the game out. World in Conflict not only involves single player but also Multiplayer as well so you can hook up online and play against the masses of players online. World in Conflict revolves around one character (Parker) and then uses some other characters that server as his commander and etc.

Plot

The game takes place in 1989 when Soviet elect takes military action to save the crumbling Soviet Union. They decide to blackmail Western Europe, but when this fails diplomatically, the Soviet Union invades Western Europe. A very simple story plot in my opinion. Nothing very confusing or anything. The player assumes the role of a First Lieutenant Parker, a United States Army officer under Colonel Sawyer’s command. When the game starts Parker is on leave in Seattle when the camouflaged Soviet’s attack with all their might on the United States.

First looks and interface

The game takes 4.6 GB of your hard drive, not bad as the new games that are coming out recently usually ask for 7+ GB. The icon is very interesting as it portrays a shield in which you can see some 4 types of units i.e.: infantry, tanks, artillery and gunships, the very main units in the battle. The menu is quite interactive in my honest opinion, with a very “classical” looking animation running behind that shows some glimpse of the war and destruction being caused by the Soviets. The menu colors are well chosen and go great with the menu style and interface. I am quite impressed with the game so far as concerned with the menu and capacity it takes, not forgetting the plot also.

Graphics

In this review before I head onto the gameplay writing I would like to do the graphics’ article first as it in my eyes is quite a sight to behold. In a war game getting the graphics right just isn’t what all matters, getting the atmosphere the way it should be is one of the biggest aspects of it. And that is what World in Conflict has done it beautifully. I have played lots of war games before but the atmosphere compared in them to the one compared in World in Conflict is way off. Their storylines may be impressive, their plot may be “worth playing” but the atmosphere of World in Conflict is what makes you feel how “it” (war) has affected the place. It makes the player more consumed in the game. Now, to the graphics itself in World in Conflict. I am honestly quite impressed with them, not like new games are not impressive but World in Conflict has kept its graphics at a fairly nice level. Smoke rises when an object is destroyed followed by a furious fire that looks quite appealing if you are looking at it graphical wise. The game also is made better by the addition of sketches and artwork at the time of loading. This enhances the game’s entertainment as the sketches and artwork provides you something to look at and be amazed.

Gameplay

The game might be a tat different from other RTS games maybe due to its interface and a few more features but I assure you that the game interface once known is very easy to use and quite quick. The game as usual is based on two things: single player and multiplayer. I mainly in this review will focus on its single player gameplay rather than the multiplayer one. According to the 7th issue of WiC Journal this game was influenced by the first person shooters, Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. The gameplay itself is quite simple. You take the role of Lieutenant Parker and throughout the game play as him. The game follows a simple rule of “deploy and command” technique which allows you to deploy units in areas where you have control. You can deploy units ranging from normal infantry to Heavy Attack Helis. Then all you have to do is follow the objects and finish them. There are secondary objects as well which if you can then must accomplish. But if you cannot it does not matter except that at the end you will not be rewarded the medal. Not like that medal matters anyways. Other than the normal unit deployment you can also call for fire support if you have been authorized to do so. The fire support ranges from small artillery’s to Carpet Bombing and even Nukes!. Other fire support includes Napalm, Air-to-Air support, Airstrike, Infantry Dropdown, Heavy Artillery, Laser Guided Missile, Precision Strikes and other such supports to aid you in your mission to victory.

Expansion

The expansion pack titled World in Conflict: Soviet Assault was released in March 2009. As the name suggests the expansion gives you now the ability to play the game a bit with the Soviet’s views. You know how the Allies felt but now you can also see the perspective of the Soviet Union. The expansion contains 6 missions and 2 new multiplayer maps. The expansion in my opinion was a success as it gave the players an opportunity to play with both the factions and see both faction’s defeats and victories. After the expansion pack was released Massive Entertainment was put up for sale and was acquired by Ubisoft.

Conclusion

A game that depicts a War in such a way that it even tells us the stories of different soldiers as they are thrown into the war zone while their families sit back home worrying for them. In my opinion showing this in the game was a really great idea as it tells us how the soldiers feel and how tragic a war can be. It also shows us how some people give up their lives for the sake of their country. The graphics were impressive and was the environment played in which as I said before depicted a perfect war scene. The plot was well built and went in a good flow which I liked a lot as it made easier for the user to understand what was happening. The difficulty was challenging and at times you will find yourself consumed in the game. Final thought: World in Conflict is a great game and I recommend that you play it not only for fun but for much more reasons that you will understand once you play the game.

System Requirements

• Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP/Vista
• CPU: 2.0 GHz Or Higher, 2.2 GHz For Vista, if dual core: Any Intel or AMD
• Memory: 512MB, 1GB for Vista
• Hard Drive Space: 8GB or more
• Media: DVD-drive
• Graphics Hardware: 128MB video RAM Direct X 9.0c Compatible
• Sound Hardware: Direct X 9.0c Compatible
• Network: Cable, DSL or Better

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