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» MEDIA (5)

From the opening scenes of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Seattle all the way through World in Conflict’s short campaign will you be full of heart-pounding adrenaline as you witness the game’s beautiful explosions and sheer destructive mayhem. You won’t see a more spectacular artillery barrage or nuclear explosion than the ones that World in Conflict offers. But don’t fret, two year old PCs should be more than able to handle the game without suffering from that icky taste of visual inferiority.

The game takes place in 1989 and pursues a “what if” scenario in which the Soviet Union went to war with NATO and the US rather than dissolving. The story borrows heavily from the 1984 film “Red Dawn” and Tom Clancy’s “Red Storm Rising” of which the latter’s co-author, Larry Bond, was a main consultant for Massive Entertainment.

World in Conflict is an RTT or Real Time Tactics game, rather than an RTS or Real Time Strategy game. There is no base-building or resource collecting but rather a set amount of reinforcement points that you use to buy units to send to the battlefield. If those units die then you are automatically reimbursed. There’s also “tactical points” which you spend on airstrikes, artillery barrages and single-unit reinforcements.

The campaign is well written and features some excellent voice acting and cut-scenes but is unfortunately too short at only 14 missions. The campaign’s ending, however, hints at a possible expansion to continue on the story. The multiplayer portion of the game is excellent and addicting. Instead of having each player command an entire faction, players take on the role of either air, infantry, armor or support and systematically coordinate with other roles to successfully defeat the opposing army. Statistics are clearly tracked in-game, there’s also various achievements medals to play for and WiC features VOIP functionality leading to an excellent multiplayer game.

Overall, World in Conflict is an amazing game that many, including those who don’t normally play strategy games, will enjoy. Definitely one of the best strategy games of the year… and that’s saying a lot with previous excellent releases such as Supreme Commander and Command & Conquer 3.

9/10