"World in Conflict"

I didn't want to write this till I finished the single player campaign but now that I have I'll try to give an objective look at the game. As a side note I've played all the Warcrafts, Command and Conquers, Starcraft, Dawn of War, Age of Empires, Total Annhiliation and many more. I am a bit of an RTS buff. So I can speak with some experience.

First, the campaign is well designed, challenging and fun. There are different ways to approach the same goal and that gives the game a nice feel. The units are simple and to minipulate them is pretty standard... though I sometimes wish I could have seen MORE of the battlefield although that particular gripe has more to do with me being a bit picky. Also the game could have had an option to put heavily armored units in front when choosing formation, my repair tanks kept getting killed.

The game could have used more in terms of story though. It's pretty standard to have all factions playable in most RTS's and why the Soviet campaign isn't playable is beyond me. I also would have loved to see seperate NATO and USA campaigns... but I'm just picking at small things.

The graphics are great. While they don't break any ground they do the job well and I found myself admiring the environments, they really did feel "real".

The sounds, voice acting and cut scences were good but when I saw the New York scene I so wanted more of those types of scenes. I won't spoil it for you with details, when you play it you'll know what I mean.

It was a great story. Well written and not cheesy. It had a realness about it and thats what made the campaign awesome.

I am avoiding rating online play simply because it is very subjective considering that things like personal skill, team mate skill and internet connection can be factored in.

The single player Skirmish mode is great. you can be the big cheese and control a HUGE army or just control aspects of an assault. (Infantry,Air, Armor,Support)

As a final note I'll just relay the moment I realized the game was awesome. During the campaign I had to take a city in France. I used Anti-Tank Infantry to help lock it up with with some support from Artillery and Snipers. As time moved on I finally reinforced with tanks and held the city asI moved on to the objective. The experience felt very real and it it did require some patient planning and moving of troops from building to build slowly winning the town. This, to me, was realistic and I totally enjoyed the experience.

So the final verdict is an 8/10. Simply because the campaign was short-ish and the inclusion of the other "faction" would have been great. While formations is an option the way they form up doesn't make much sense. Otherwise it a beautiful RTS that is fun while being realistic, which in any PC\Console game, can be hard to do.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/26/07

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