"War comes home, and we couldn't be happier about it!"

World in Conflict. It was heavily hyped. For months, we couldn't escape the advertisements. Tons of players flocked to the beta and the demo. On its release date, it dominated nearly every aspect of GameStop's website. But did it live up to the insane amount of hope gamers placed in the title? The reality is, it certainly did. World in Conflict is able to use a mix of tactical warfare and an interesting setting to deliver one of the top titles of the year, one that will keep players busy for months to come.

Graphics

Who would have thought war-torn battlefields could look so beautiful? The ones in World in Conflict certainly do. Each level offers something different. There are bombarded cities that have seen their landmarks turned into rubble, small towns moments away from destruction, and even a Christmas landscape caked in snow. Almost every last bit of the terrain can be altered. Buildings will collapse when they take too much damage. Forests will burn to the ground when you drop napalm on them. Craters will be formed after massive explosions. Nuclear blasts will leave behind an ominous mushroom cloud. All of the levels are given an extra boost of realism via throngs of citizens and civilian transports fleeing for safety, propaganda billboards, Christmas lights, and so many other extremely small details.

Though you will spend most of your time watching the action from high above the battlefield, zooming in will show you the amazing amount of detail dedicated to the units. Tanks move their turrets to take aim, garrisoned infantry will take up shooting positions at opened windows, and damaged vehicles will smoke and sizzle. The intense action of missiles flying across the battlefield, infantry running for cover, and heavy armor rolling in for the big rescue often suck you so far in that you forget to control your units.

Sound

Listening to battle take place probably isn't music to one's ears, but it is hard to deny what Massive was able to do with the near-artistic audio for World in Conflict. Each different kind of attack sounds authentic and has its down depth. Armor-piercing rounds from a troop transport vehicle are barely audible, while artillery is hard not to hear. The voice actors get the job done with all different kinds of radio chatter, ranging from passive order acknowledgements to desperate pleas for assistance. Music is mostly used nicely in this game, despite the somewhat now infamous “gospel” scene.

Gameplay

Like many games in the RTS genre, World in Conflict can be more correctly labeled as a real-time tactical game. Rather than controlling the flow of dozens or hundreds of units across a massive battlefield, you command a small force, generally less than a dozen units, and must decide what the best course of action on the ground is. Should you use your tank's smoke screen now or save it until more enemy units close in to attack? Should you try to take out that building where enemy infantrymen are held up or simply retreat and call in air support? Those are just a couple of the choices you'll be forced to make in a matter of seconds while in battle.

This leads to the tide-turning Tactical Aids. As your units kill enemies, capture command points, and repair vehicles, you earn more and more TA points, which can be used to call in numerous forms of off-screen support. You can get troops or armor to be airdropped behind enemy lines, radio in coordinates for various forms of artillery, and even deploy a small, tactical nuclear weapon. Obviously, the more destructive or effective a Tactical Aid is, the more TA points it will cost. This leads you to have to make crucial decisions on how and when to spend these precious points. Do you save your TA points up for a nuke to use later or spend them now on some daisy cutters to break up those clusters of troops refusing to give up that command point?

Resource gathering and base building are non-existent in WiC. You are giving a pool of reinforcement points to spend on units. When units are killed, the points spent on them are slowly regained and can be used to call in replacements. This should not lead you to think reckless usage of one's units is advised, though. Enemies can take advantage of that short window of time it takes for your units to be airdropped to mount a counter-offensive. Also, as units achieve more on the battlefield, they earn higher ranks, making them more effective. So, while destroyed units certainly aren't the end of the world, there is plenty of incentive to keep them alive as long as you can.

Campaign

For the most part, all of the campaign's missions are essentially the same: take this point, kill these enemies, and achieve the secondary objectives if you can. But don't be fooled into believing this makes the single-player game too repetitive. The mission objectives can generally be achieved in many different ways. You can try to ram tanks down the enemy's throats, sneak through the forest that surrounds their strong point, or rain down Hellfire terror from your heavy attack choppers. There are also secondary objectives, which while not necessary, generally assist you in achieving your primary goals. For example, you might be tasked with eliminating enemy artillery that has been shelling your tanks.

The story is, well, what you would expect from a game set in an alternate timeline, where the Cold War, rather than ending, turns into a red-hot conflict. From the very start, you will follow the heroic exploits of a number of American officers, as they and their men attempt to fend off a surprise Soviet invasion of the West Coast. From there, the story will bring you back to the start of World War III, as you fight all across Soviet-occupied Europe, liberating lands and even trekking into Russian territory to rescue Allied men and equipment. In the end, you return to the United States for one last shot as pushing the Commies back into the Pacific. Each mission has an introductory narrative supplied by Alec Baldwin.

Multiplayer

Multi-player is most certainly where World in Conflict is able to make its case as a top-tier strategy game. The play mechanic is based upon a rather simplistic game we all played as children: Rock, Paper, Scissors. Anti-air can easily handles choppers, armor quickly dispatches of anti-air, and those choppers that got eaten up by the AA can rip right through the armor. The RPS element shines through due to the fact that you have to choose a role: infantry, armor, air, and support. And while you still have access to some units outside of your role, they come at a premium cost and generally aren't the most powerful or effective units from those other roles. Thus, you will usually find yourself with tanks if you choose armor, grounds troops if you're infantry, etc. So, basically, teamwork won't just help you out in WiC…it is utterly necessary. Try to take a point with just your tanks, and the enemy will likely attack with some choppers. Work together with a support teammate, though, and his heavy anti-air units will stop the choppers, while your tanks will be able to take out any ground units that try to attack the AA.

There are three different factions to play as during multi-player (USA, Soviet Union, and NATO), but they are more or less the same. Cosmetic unit differences, a few different attacks, and voice acting aside, for the most part, the game relies upon the aforementioned combination of teamwork and countering, rather than the strengths and weaknesses of different armies.

There are three types of multi-player matches: domination, assault, and tug of war. In domination matches, the two teams will fight over a number of command points spread throughout the map. The team that holds the majority of the command points will see its flag overtake the enemy's flag in the domination bar. Assault matches consist of two rounds. Each team will get a chance to play the roles of defender and attacker. In order to win, your team must take more command points than your enemy was able to take during their round. Finally, tug of war consists of a battle over a long frontline. The object of the game is to keep pushing the line further back into your enemy's territory.

Conclusions

If you like war games, buy World in Conflict. If you play strategy/tactical games, buy World in Conflict. If you enjoy pondering over historical “what ifs,” buy World in Conflict. Frankly, if you own a decent computer, do yourself a favor and just buy this game as soon as you can. World in Conflict doesn't really do anything that is new, but it revitalizes enough of classic real-time game elements to offer a fresh approach to the genre.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/21/07, Updated 09/26/07

Game Release: World in Conflict (US, 09/18/07)