World in Conflict

[Dagobahn Eagle]

World in Conflict by Massive Entertainment is an RTT where you control either US or Soviet forces fighting over control of the US mainland. It'll have no resource gathering or base-building, just fighting using the terrain to your advantage. It also boasts that you'll be able to destroy every terrain feature, but apparently not the terrain itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone else anxious for this release? Personally, since I loved Ground Control and was disappointed by its sequel, Ground Control II, I don't quite know what to expect, but I have to admit I'm fairly sceptical. I feel one of the things Massive did wrong when they made the sequel was to implement a Force Commander-style system of reinforcements paid for by points gained on the battlefield. The original Ground Control was like Sudden Strike, or for that matter chess, where you have a starting army and then had to use it the best you could, with nearly no reinforcements on hand. In Ground Control II, killing enemies and holding certain zones gave you points to spend on reinforcements, which drastically reduced the experience for me.

[True_Avery]

Now that is a nice piece of eye candy. Wonder how it will play.

[Sabretooth]

Agreed, those graphics look haute. The second screenie is the best, IMO.

 

When will the Cold War paranoia wear off, me wonders.

[Dagobahn Eagle]

The original GC was downright fantastic tactically, with real line of sight (you could place infantry in defilade on cliffs, hide them in holes, etc. and they wouldn't be seen), shadows and vegetation hiding troops, units high up having an advantage, units moving slower when under fire, flanking and attacking from behind actually making a difference, deployable weapons and equipment, limited number of special abilities, customizable units and armies... I could go on and on.

 

The way the 'customizable units and armies' worked was that you were given drop ships, which would each be filled with units, made up of squads. Each squad was either Infantry, Armor, Artillery, or Aerodyne (planes), and each was further broken down into unit types. So in effect, an Artillery squad meant you either could bring down anti-air artillery, long-range artillery, or rocket artillery. An Infantry squad was either normal infantry or special forces (stealthy units for Crayven and 'Torpedo infantry' with rockets for the Order). Furthermore, you could tell each squad to be Offensive, Defensive, Recon, or Balanced, which had noticeable effect on their armour, speed, firepower, and view range. And finally, each one of them could be given a special weapon and ability, many of which varied from unit to units.

 

So for example, if you were given an Armour squad, you could choose to deploy scout hover bikes, which could be equipped with three Repair Kits, each of which instantly recharged most of their hit points. Or they could be given a load-out of heavy land mines, which were lethal to just about anything. Or you could give them three shots of temporarily enhanced view range.

 

 

In short, lots of customization, which in turn meant lots of possible tactics for each mission. Do you want Heavy Terradynes to help fend off the enemy attack, or is it a better idea to sacrifice their firepower for the mine-laying ability of the Scout Terradyne, or the Light Terradyne's ability to deploy rocket launchers? And after all, both units can be armed with a limited number of one-hit-one-kill anti-armour weapons. And so on. And as a side note - every squad stayed with you, mission after mission, until destroyed, whether or not you used it, so while all losses were replaced between missions, keeping troops alive was highly recommended. It also enhanced re-playability: after completing the game, I found myself playing it again, only this time I re-started missions dozens off times until I found out how to complete each one without a single casualty (yes, more than possible).

 

Unfortunately, Ground Control II utterly and totally scrapped this wonderful system (yes, I think alcohol was involved:() and substituted it with one more remniscent of Force Commander's. In addition, each mission was unconnected to the previous one in that you got a new set of units for each mission. Can you believe them?

 

GC on Wikipedia.

[swphreak]

I've kept an eye out for WiC, but I've never been quite sure how I'll like it. I really hope they release a demo.

[HerbieZ]

War has never looked so lovely.

[Davinq]

War has never looked so lovely.

QFE, and agreed. Those have got to be the most beautiful war game screenies I have ever seen. *saved*

 

And by the way DE is doting on the series, I just might have to get this.

[Dagobahn Eagle]

I've kept an eye out for WiC, but I've never been quite sure how I'll like it. I really hope they release a demo.

My sentiments exactly.

[Titanius Anglesmith]

I'm not too big into war games, but this looks very nice. I just might have to try this out once it's released.

[Negative Sun]

Those F-15s look quite cool, which reminds me I need to pick up an Ace Combat game for the PS2 I used to love that ****!!!

 

I liked WarRock for that, except that the controls were horrible so I just gave up on it lol

[Jediphile]

This game looks amazing. The in-game graphics are simply to die for. Unfortunately so, it would appear, is the requirements on the system. I know that Massive Entertainment (the devs) worked with nVidia to ensure the graphics were pushed to the limit, which seems to me to suggest that you need a very high-end nVidia graphics card to ensure maximum results, and probably a pretty nifty cpu as well. If you have those, however, it promises to be a rollercoaster ride.

[Dagobahn Eagle]

I just downloaded the original Ground Control yesterday, and I'm working on a movie clip of my completing one of the Crayven missions. The mission shows off special weapons and equipment, as well as some things like using shadow to hide troops. It's not really that intense, unlike MP skirmishes, but it's an interesting watch. Only problem is it's 6 minutes+ long, so YouTube will probably not accept it.

 

And yes, I'm worried about the system requirements, too. It's not only graphics and effects, but also view distance, map size, and objects that can be destroyed.

 

I'll need, to say the least, a few upgrades to play this thing, I'm sure.

[Dagobahn Eagle]

[Drools]

 

This'll be so great.

[swphreak]

You should check out the stuff GameTrailers has. You download all the videos to your harddrive, and you have the option of HD.

 

[/pimping other website]

 

I'm still waiting for a demo before I make a final decision about the game.

[Dagobahn Eagle]

Damned GC won't work right on my computer. Changing compatibility settings to Win 95 fixes the movies, but I still can't configure squads before missions.

[Arátoeldar]

DE if you like RTT and Close Combat series. I highly suggest that you check out Theatre of War by 1C and published by Battlefront.

 

http://www.battlefront.com/products/tow/demo.html

[Dagobahn Eagle]

Think I've tried it. Didn't really get into it, but I'm sure that if I try it again I'll figure it out and enjoy it. I'm not easily deterred by complicated games.

 

Sudden Strike was big fun, too [fond memories of Katyusha batteries mowing down German defenders]. Pity I can't find my game disc:(.

 

By the way, I heard someone mention that there's an FPS mode in the game, meaning that you can choose to control a single unit directly. Is this true?

[swphreak]

No, from what I understand from the videos at GameTrailers. It's just a FPS viewing mode. Meaning use WASD and the mouse to move and look around. So you can enjoy the carnage up close.

[lukeiamyourdad]

Sudden Strike was big fun, too [fond memories of Katyusha batteries mowing down German defenders]. Pity I can't find my game disc:(.

 

 

Ah yes. That was one of the most beautiful sights in my gaming experience.

 

This game looks alright, although I fear that my computer can't handle that much graphical requirements. Sad

[Dagobahn Eagle]

Not to mention sending in batches of five bombers each and having them decimate a huge area. Pure joy.

 

And in GC you've got Artillery Terradynes, Bomber Aerodynes, and Jaeger Infantry Demolition Charges.

 

Nothing beats surgically taking out all of a base's AA for then to wipe it out with bombers. Or to sneak those pesky little Jaegers into the enemy's compound, pull them out, and detonate those little charges, sending the enemy base to Hell.

 

And, of course, the Artillery takes your breath away the first time. Range, fire-power, visual effect... vastly overpowered units never were so much fun:D.

 

There's so much fun to be had in that game it's a joke. I once re-played a mission so that I knew where a large force of enemy units would be inserted by Drop Ship. So I included several land mine-carrying squads of Scout Bikes in my force and mined the drop zone. Hilarity:rofl:.

 

Of course, there are also short-comings (too poor AI for an RTT, poor path-finding, no time compression, and so on), but all in all, it's a splendid game.

[Ghost Down]

DirectX 10 anyone?

 

- Ghost Down

[Dagobahn Eagle]

The Ground Control movie that I promised you:

 

Iron Shield

—Crayven 7/15

It's not such an advanced mission, just a short, early-game skirmish with two Marine Squads, two Light Terradynes, and the trusty Command APC:). Basic special weapons and equipment are employed to fend off a 'Dawnie' strike on White Asem, a desert-based research facility close to a hidden enemy-held 'Xenofact' excavation site.

 

It's not one of the huge maps with large 12-squad armies of the late-game, but it gives you a taste of what the game is like.

What's amazing is that it'll apparently be the first Ground Control movie to hit YouTube. There appear to be litterally none in there. No trailers, no short stubs from the developers, none from the gamers, nothing. I'm thinking of making a 'fan trailer' myself, just for old times' sake and to commemorate World in Conflict, but I don't know if I'll get around to it.

 

Enjoy!

[Lantzen]

Im also have the closed beta, its really fun. I prefer the Support role, arty the enemy across the map

[Dagobahn Eagle]

For the ultimate WiC MP experience, I demand a WiC-to-Ground Control total conversion! I want to see Bomber Aerodynes drop nukes on Order Hoverdynes in the polar wastes of Krig 7B - with the WiC graphic engine! Get to work, modders!

 

[swphreak]

I also scored a closed beta key. It seems... interesting.