Real War Preview 2

Units and Gameplay

Command Console

Instead of simply coming into the RTS scene with the usual requisites, Real War tries to up the ante by adding to the genre as a whole. New, and to our knowledge, only in this game is a type of command console that allows you to choose units from anywhere on the map. You can use this to select units that are anywhere, or not even built, to attack targets in front of you. It may not sound like much; but this console essentially allows you to maintain view of the battle, to control units that are already in the fray. And at the same time, it gives you the power to call forth reinforcements that are located anywhere, or nowhere, as you can even cue up build orders.

Can we say pummeling?

Where's the fullback!

Should the battle get too big for your monitor, you can even get rid of the console altogether. Everything but the mini-map can be removed from sight. Getting rid off all this stuff adds quite a bit to map real estate. Should that not satisfy your need for a better vantage point, you can even zoom out a few notches with a roll of the mouse wheel.

Graphics

As far as top down RTS games go, not too many are 3-D. Real War doesn't attempt to go fully 3-D, and we commend them for that. As far as we are concerned we haven't really seen too much of a call for a fully 3-D camera in a RTS game. In the 3-D RTS games we have played, our attempts to achieve an overhead view of the action happen quite often.

In Real War, only the units are drawn in 3-D. From the peeks we've had so far, the units have quite a bit of detail in them. Tanks will leave tread marks, soldiers leave footprints, and explosions have full-blown particle systems. With the physics of the game, mines and explosions can even flip vehicles over onto their back. On a side note, the developers realized that they forget to make artwork for the bottoms of the vehicles; this will of course be remedied in the final version so as to not have any partially nude tanks.

Getting worked

Ouch, on the helipads.

Resources

Since this game is supposed to be like a real war, you won't be mining gold or drilling for oil on enemy soil, let alone setting up a factory. Just like in a real war, the concept of a supply line will be brought in. You will have planes, trucks and boats that will move across the map. Along with supply lines comes the responsibility of defending the very thing that feeds you. To make this easier, you are able to shift the paths your supplies take in order to make them more defensible. This change should make the RTS gaming scene a bit more interesting, taking away from the usual peon slaughter tactics that are around now.

That's all we have for now; look for Real War to come out around E3! Until then, take a gander at the screenshots and pray that someone doesn't start dropping leaflets on your head.

That's what you get for being lazy

Die hut! Die!