Tom Clancy's Endwar

[Saracen 16]

No topic on this yet? Hmm... You're all probably waiting for the PC version next year..

 

Anyway, Endwar is now out for the 360 & PS3... and it's a pretty impressive RTS from a console standpoint. As you probably know, you can play the game entirely through voice command or use traditional method of the gamepad. Despite some early concerns that it wouldn't work before I bought this game, I must say I'm very surprised with what has been done with the Unreal Engine 3.

 

Anyway, here's the review from Gametrailers, seems to be about right for this game: (if you see just a white box, the site is down for maintenance)

 

 

If anyone mentions RTS on consoles fail, I will probably have to warn you for being an idiot!

[BioBen 3]

How are the voice commands?

[Saracen 16]

Not bad actually.... they're all pre-set, and it works very well. The voice recognition software doesn't have hardly any problem at all. I say hardly, because if you have a cold or something, it won't pick it up too well... but as long as you speak clearly, it'll do the job precisely. You still have to move the camera and press certain buttons, so it's not perfect yet. But to issue commands, you press a button but you'll say things like "Unit 1 Secure Bravo" or "All Tanks Attack Hostile 2" and it just does what you ask...

 

There's some novelty which wears off pretty quick, and it could be classed as cliché. But it's such a different way to play a game. Its innovation could spell a new way to play RTS games, and pave the way for the RTS to exist as a staple genre on consoles. At least then, it might shut up those people who think RTS games don't belong on consoles full stop. But one thing is clear, Endwar is built for, and belongs on consoles. While a little simplistic with the Rock-Paper-Scissors mechanic, the game is really fun. While the Single Player story is very loose, the gameplay is extremely solid, it plays as a great online game, and with the strong innovative voice command idea put into action, the game deserves its merit, and it fully deserves the score GameTrailers have given it.

 

If you have a console, I'd recommend it wholeheatedly... If you're waiting for the PC version however, it may not be an RTS that'll stack up well unless they make some serious changes to the way it plays. It has a C&C 95 simplicity to it, and for PC users it could be extremely limiting in comparison to other RTS games. I feel right now that it is a console game, and nothing else. But it does play a hell of a lot like World In Conflict, so I suppose that's how they'll convert the game to play on PC's.

 

On a seperate note... how's this for C&C superweapons (Europe & Russia):

 

[Alphabear 11]

Im tempted to get it for 360, but at this stage there are too many other things i need money for at the moment.

[hagren 0]

I'm a bit interested in it, considering the setting, graphics and gameplay remind me of WiC.

[General Leang 0]

I was about to start a thread on this. Having played the game it is a technical achievement in terms of the graphics, sounds and gameplay. Having different and unique voices for the same units is a simple masterstroke and the style of camera and how you fight turns stratergy games on their head. Even the storyline is above par, with America going to war with Europe and Russia because of a connection to terrorists. It will be interesting to see how things such as the Freedom Star will play into the game. Endwar however, is just a tiny bit boring to play. I think it might be a combination of the ultra serious take the game has and the fact despite all the uniqueness to it you are basically doing much the same thing as you do in C&C, down to the rocks\paper\scissors style of unit weaknesses. It is still highly recommended however and will be interesting to see how it fares with Red Alert 3's imminent release.

[Saracen 16]

It will be interesting to see how things such as the Freedom Star will play into the game.

Are you talking from a Storyline or Gameplay perspective? If you're talking storyline, I wouldn't get your hopes up too much on it factoring much more than what you saw at the "Prelude To War" campaign... if it does factor more, then it's probably predictable dependant on the side you're on what willl happen to it. Gameplay wise it's pretty obvious, it stands really as a missile platform capable of firing 3 devastating high explosive missiles (Probably Tomahawks) and the station also houses the Ghost Recon teams which is able to get anywhere within a short period of time.

 

Endwar however, is just a tiny bit boring to play.

Depends how you play it really. I started to find it getting a little boring. But if you spend your funds in the barracks for bonus upgrades, and you upgrade uplinks for Airstrikes other support and uplink defense platforms, and constantly ensure you deploy correctly. The game is extremely fun, fast paced, and rather amusing to play. There's nothing like dropping a UMD on a heavily guarded uplink, wiping out the enemy completely. Or sending in airstrikes against the enemy while they try to capture your weakly defended uplink.

 

A great tactic is the Engineer/IFV combo. Great for rapid deployment, expansion, uplink upgrades in a short space of time, they can counter absolutely everything. IFV's will ensure transport your engineers. They allow for solid destruction of Gunships and infantry, while Engineers will take out Tanks and gunships if they are given good cover. If there are other cards available I will usually have a tank platoon following behind, and have gunships on standby to deploy anywhere on the map should enemy tanks be numerous, or the enemy tries to use artillery.

 

The best tactic you can use though, is to move your Drop Zone to the front-line uplinks to keep up the pressure. So many players fall into the trap of keeping their Drop Zone static at a starting position. So if they are winning and end up having a WMD strike on them on the front-line, they are then put at the immediate disadvantage. That means waiting for survivor pickup and transport, and then calling in and waiting for more forces to be transported in. They then have to go half way across the map to get back to the frontline...

 

Such an event can take anywhere between 2-5 minutes (between destruction and front-line deployment of new forces) depending on the size of the map. This is why it gets boring. Because in those 2-5 minutes of re-deployment, the enemy can undo all your hard work and bring the fight back to you. This means a potential loss of more of your forces, and with a limited reserve pool, you don't wanna be losing ground. Sure you can retaliate and fire back your WMD at the enemy to save time. But this is best reserved for when the enemy digs in. When you combine this with Airstrikes, and a strong Blitzkreig with a balanced combination of forces. It can become a lot easier to win the mission with plenty of reserves to spare, while the enemy's pool slowly drains to nothing.

 

I think it might be a combination of the ultra serious take the game has and the fact despite all the uniqueness to it you are basically doing much the same thing as you do in C&C, down to the rocks\paper\scissors style of unit weaknesses

To be honest with you, this simple mechanic may make the game sound weak. But the good player will know that Endwar goes beyond this basic mechanic and thus they will never refer to it directly. Instead they will use a correct combination of forces from the outset and put the tactical approach to winning at the forefront of their minds. Against players of equal or better strength they will also consider bringing the command unit into play. The command unit is a great long range offensive unit, and is as good as any UMD or support if used correctly. Using upgraded UAV and battle Drones, a player is able to add extra units to the battlefield. While weak, drones can pack a punch and alongside the command unit can take on anything that the RPS mechanic throws at you. The command unit is also a godsend against stealth units, which may capture uplinks without any clear indication. Also remember that Artillery are not directly a part of this mechanic as well, so for defensive roles, correct support and micro of these units are a key to potential victory.

 

Most other units are partially outside the RPS mechanic too. Take Engineers for example. The Russian Spetsnaz Bears can launch air mines, or the European Grenadiers anti-armour land mines, and JSF Pioneers are walking anti-infantry gun turrets. So long as you can keep units alive, upgrading them for secondary abilities is a prime strategy. So even though the RPS mechanic states that Gunships can take out tanks... an anti-air cannon upgrade will turn those tables and have tanks shooting gunships out of the sky. So in essence, RPS becomes relatively void.

 

Really when you put your mind to it, this game is more complex than C&C and it is more strategically engaging than World In Conflict. I know I said there's a C&C simplicity to it above, and that it can get boring, but that's only a first impression. Once you dig deeper and find the subtle complexities of Endwar, the game rises to a whole new level of gameplay and strategy. This is where a lot of the reviews head down the wrong path, because they don't see the subtle complexity that this game offers.

[Mina Synd 0]

well you all know my stance on RTS consoles xD but this is a next gen game designed specifically for consoles o.o and by everything you've said it sounds promising... the only things i'm confused about though are 1) how does it handle local accents? (if it can handle both brummies and scots i'm gonna be impressed) 2) how does it handle on the 360's mic? (cos that thing is dodgy at best...) 3) how do you select groups of units an stuff? or is it gonna be like in the console version of C&C3 where you can only select like, one or all of a unit type c.c;

 

yaaaah i don't know if i'll get it at all though :\ it looks a little intense and over the top for my tastes... though it would be utterly awesome if they could release an add-on game type thing where you could actually be a single unit in the game, like FPS style... and you could have them at the same time o.o so you have up to say, 6 RTS players and up to like, 30 something FPS players xD an in RTS mode you could give them orders but you can't control them... o.o that would be amazing. but i'm thinking a game like that is probably decades away :\

[Saracen 16]

1) how does it handle local accents? (if it can handle both brummies and scots i'm gonna be impressed)

2) how does it handle on the 360's mic? (cos that thing is dodgy at best...)

My friend who lives down in Kent, I spoke to him the other day. He has Endwar on the 360, and he's quite scoootish like. Anyway, it manages his voice very well. He's said he's had a couple of problems with the game understanding him, but he's just had to speak a bit clearer and try and cut down on the accent. He has the 360 mic as well, so read into that as you must.

 

The only real problem I'd imagine is with pikies.... Imagine one of those playing Endwar using voice commands! OK, a pikie is likely to get hold of a console if he finds it off the back of a lorry (which isn't hard) But I imagine it wouldn't appeal unless it was called Endpark. Commanding Caravans to desolate areas while the councils protect or move in... they'd love it!!

 

3) how do you select groups of units an stuff? or is it gonna be like in the console version of C&C3 where you can only select like, one or all of a unit type c.c;

You can do that, or if you're a little quicker on the buttons, you can make your own groups and save them (Sorta like in a C&C ctrl +1 fashion). After you've done that you can then voice command a saved group around the map as easily as a single unit. But the process is as easy as selecting the unit and pressing "Up" on the d-pad to multi-select and then voice commanding to save the group.

 

Everything is a little different, and there's a few things to get used to like how the camera works and such. It's also wise to find a balance between using the pad and using voice for commands (eg. At close range, it's quicker to just point the camera and select a target). It's that balance that actually works as a winning formula online. I've played a few Skirmish games against people using just the pad, or mostly voice, and it doesn't work as well as using the combination.

[Mina Synd 0]

hmm. well that's pretty handy. that sounds good... so long as they've managed to solve all the previous problems ^^

 

...and i take offense to that >.< in london my best friend was irish. we used to hang out with irish gypsies all the time. i spent two of the best years of my life there >-> so much to the point that i picked up a HEAVY irish accent which took me many years to get rid of. even now if i get real emotional i slip into using an irish accent >>; believe it or not, they only use the quick speaking routine when they are trying to con someone. which means either someone they are trying to sell something to, or someone who is trying to move them xD the rest of the time they just speak with an irish accent...

definately tempting to get then. only problems now are the fact i have to get an ethernet cable to attach my 360 to my router (could use the one in my pc but i like to be online on both at the same time ^-^) i -have- a year's play card but i don't wanna use it unless i -KNOW- i'm gonna actually use it the whole time and have fun. problem so far is i don't really enjoy any of the games i've got for the 360 at the moment... yaaaah also i fear it would be awfully complicated. i can never remember the vocal commands and i like to chat to my friends on skype when i play games xD; i really, REALLY hope the vocal thing understands people better then vista's voice control thing >-> because that failed hard.

 

i'm not sure if i'll get it anytime soon though unless all my friends pester me to get it. there are just so many good games being released lately... and ontop of that i have to start modding up my pc for the next gen stuff o.o; i've had it for quite a few years now... i've given a few upgrades but nothing really that changes it (got a new vid card. it was a brand new one but not the best one. a ati rad x1950 256MB... i got it a week before i discovered there was an 512MB version >_> aaand i've got like, a 5 port USB 2.0 card because my crappy mobo only had 1.0 USB's on it dispite it being a new one with a 1.8GHz dual core >_>) so yah.... also my compy is pretty small and compact. i'm basically gonna upgrade everything i can xD gonna get a a HUGE case, new power supply... gonna get a new mobo... new processor... new graphics card. maybe a fancy soundcard just to make things pretty... maybe a new hard drive... but yah, besides the latter two everything else i really need. although my compy is pretty up to date it's starting to reach the limits of it's power. i mean give it another year or two and i've have to upgrade anyway. so i might as well start doing it as soon as possible ^^; i'm gonna try and get the best of the best and max out on everything so i won't have to upgrade again for ages :3 and just a huge case and mobo so i have plenty of space an stuff o.o i mean at the moment i have a C: (227GB - about 30GB spare or something c.c) and an C: (700GB - about 400 - 350GB spare) as well as a couple of externals... so yah, i can just keep the C: (maybe move the games already installed over. most of the stuff isn't a problem but i have steam on there so all the steam games automatically go to there. this is a problem...) but i'm gonna need to keep getting more and more other larger drives to go elsewhere x3; the case i'm looking at has space for about 4 HDD slots or something (as well as FIVE cd slots. all of those ontop of eachother. gives you an idea of it's size... XD)