Previews: Alternate history potential abounds...
“World War Two?” you might ask. “Again?” you might exclaim. And War Leaders: Clash of Nations, the innovative management/RTS hybrid from Enigma Software Productions will respond with a resounding “Yes!” Enigma is poised to release what it calls the “most complete Second-World-War-based game yet,” a claim that they seem to base on the game's seven playable factions (France, U.S., Italy, England, Germany, Russia, and Japan), six non-playable factions, thirteen “belligerent nations,” and a multitude of neutral ones. On top of that, they're proud of nearly three score battlefields, hundreds of different units, 175 controllable territories around the world, and forty technologies waiting to be discovered. Unfortunately, these are all just numbers. They look good on press releases, every upcoming game presents a similar stack of impressive figures, but any gradeschool kid with a set of reference books could come up with the same lists. What will set War Leaders apart from the pack is that it splits the action into two parts: a strategic-level Campaign Mode and an eyes-on-the-ground RTS Battle Mode, each with its own multiplayer game.
The RTS Battle Mode includes all sorts of wow-factor features, everything from fully-3D environments with terrain that deforms under the effects of physics-based explosions that can chain off of one another. The environments are large and varied, with up to four square kilometers of jungle, snow, desert or city in each major theater: Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific. Information released so far features plenty of the tanks and infantry battles familiar to fans of any recent RTS. Shermans and Tigers will most certainly face off against one another once again alongside Wermacht troops, anti-tank guns, and even some of the amphibious vehicles of the period, and at least some of these units will be able to earn experience points that will carry over from one battle to the next. In addition, Enigma has put more emphasis on the air war in these battles, including bombers, fighters and transport planes always at the player's disposal. There's even a camera set up to follow the planes as they strafe one another and carry out their bombing runs. Naval units will also be available during battles close enough to the coast to take advantage of their indirect fire support.
The most unique element of the Battle Mode is that it implements a supervisory control system that allows players to give orders to authentic historical generals who in turn will control the troops on the ground. This optional system lets the player give high-level orders like “attack,” “defend,” and “retreat,” where the AI takes care of the details of how this carries out. The AI has several interesting features built in which allow it a range of behaviors, from reproducing the conflicts as they occurred to creating new situations and rewriting history. On the one hand, the computer-controlled units and factions will be able to take historically accurate actions, so that Germany can invade Poland in 1939, for instance. At the same time, the AI isn't limited to following history in lockstep. It will reproduce tactics authentic to the generals and doctrines of the different nations they represent, so that it can provide players with the surprises needed for an exciting experience.
Unlike most strategy games, the Battle Mode is contained within a high-level, turn-based Campaign Mode game that has players taking on the roles of the famous (and infamous) War Leaders of the playable factions, everyone from Roosevelt and Churchill to Mussolini, Tojo, and even Hitler. This part of the game sounds a lot like a complex version of Risk, in which the player positions units, builds armies, and chooses to invade and win new territories and resources. Campaign Mode play takes place on a stylized world map that shows large-scale unit movement from one territory to the next and includes information on technology research, unit production and economic situation. This high-level game emphasizes things like diplomacy, research, economics and espionage—it's where players can improve their military units through training and development, establish alliances by creating treaties with other factions, incite rebellion in enemy areas and even collect taxes from controlled territories. While Battle Mode offers a multiplayer game for up to four players at a time, the Campaign Mode multiplayer can have up to seven players at a time, with one person controlling each of the playable factions.
Xbox 360 | XBLA
PS3 | PSN
Wii | VC
DS
PSP
iPhone
PS2
PC
Retro
