Real Time Starks

Opinion from Starks - Wednesday, 08 April 2009 @ 9:35am

Many moons ago and in the formation of my being as a gamer, a little game called Warcraft crept along. After playing the game on a demo, I was completely captured by the storyline, the gameplay and the prospect of controlling armies of willing soldiers, diverse in skill set but one in their loyalty to me.

I played the demo for about three months straight, before begging my father to buy me the title for Christmas. As I unwrapped the game, in its glorious big box with fantastic manual and something else I can’t remember, my eyes lit up and for the next 6 months I would play the game over, and over and over again. Back in those days we used to connect to Bulletin Boards – For those confused at home, these were the precursors to the internet – and after signing up to a few, I managed to get my ass whooped by some people when playing it online.

Nevertheless, I loved it. The game was amazing, and since then I’ve always had a very big soft spot for Real Time Strategy titles; Age of Empires, Total Annihilation, Command and Conquer (Although admittedly I only every played the original and never Red Alert – Yeah so sue me), the proceeding Warcraft II and III, and lately I have reviewed and enjoyed World in Conflict as well as Universe at War. Combine this with my on and off gaming of Total War: Medieval, and I have managed to stay ‘in tune’ with the RTS genre and how it is progressing.

I would by no means claim myself to be a hardcore gamer in this respect. Truly, the RTS genre to me is one of pure enjoyment; I love big explosions, enjoy building legions of armies to control and probably more so than any other game am concerned with the storyline that ties it all together.

Whether it be historical, fantasy or science fiction, my other main interest is the economy element of the game; Something that the genre does tend to incorporate well into the game should it be required. Total War, for instance, leans heavily towards economic survival and managing the books, whereas something like World in Conflict successfully strayed from needing to use the economy in favour of another measure in reinforcements.

In any case, and as happens occasionally with reviewing at AG, the opportunity came along to snag a few specific titles that had been lying in Yug’s games draw for a little too long. Namely, I’ve been given the OK to review World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, Dawn of War II, Halo Wars and Total War: Empire.

What is truly amazing is that all four games, whilst conforming to the RTS genre, are as different to one another in scope, design and emphasis that it is exciting for me as a gamer to really sink my teeth in and review all four of them.

Halo Wars, released on the 360, is looking to try and do what Halo: Combat Evolved achieved with the Xbox; Make a previously ‘unplayable’ genre for console break the mould and pave the way for future titles to replicate its success. Halo Wars, developed by the now defunct Ensemble Studio’s, who are renowned for their Age of Empires series, is a game centred 20 years before H:CE, and utilises the wealth of universe history at the disposal of such a gigantic universe.

I have a few friends who own this, and they vouch for the game itself, claiming it is indeed living up to its standards. Halo Wars is unique out of the four games mentioned as it is only going to be released onto the Xbox 360, although I imagine that at a later date, Microsoft Studio’s may release a PC version as they did with Halo: CE.

Having already reviewed World in Conflict, being able to play the Red side in Soviet Assault is one that interests me. The fact that they’re also placing emphasis on Berlin in the campaign is, to me, a fresher approach than to simply turn it around and have the Soviets attacking the States.

WiC was, to me, one of the best RTS’ I’ve played since my first foray into Warcraft. Strong storyline that, although slightly unbelievable, captured Cold War mentality to a T. The graphics were fantastic, the gameplay phenomenal and the multiplayer addictive. I really, really enjoyed playing the game and if Soveit Assault sticks to the same formula, I know I’m going to enjoy it.

I have to admit, I was a late adopter of the Total War franchise. Frankly, I only got into it because I was given a copy of it by Creative Assembly as a thank you for being flown up to Brisbane to do BETA testing or some such last year. In fact, they flew 4 other of my fellow clan, The Drop Bears, and all of us got a copy I think. Still, if CA want to fly me up at their cost and give me more games, I’m very happy to help out.

In any case, Medieval II was addictive and for reasons I just can’t work out. It was one of those games that, the more you got into it, the more you had to play the extra turn to try and crush those fucking Mongols that kept invading Jerusalem. CA’s attempt to expland into the 1700’s is one that has been welcomed by many, as it was the logical next step and a step that many wanted to take part in. The addition of rifles, the expansion into naval battles and just frankly the funky Red Coats that the English wear is just too good a prospect to not drool over.

The added economic interests means the game is sure to be played by myself for a great long time, and I look forward to indulging in many long nights of ‘Just one more turn’ as I seek to conquer the world.

As a former Warhammer geek – I collected Orcs for Fantasy and Eldar for 40k – I’ve always been interested in the universe created by Games Workshop. The lore, the intrigue and the post-apocolyptic nature is one that appealed to the teenager in me and although I no longer paint or game in it, I do tend to enjoy watching it or reading about it on occasion.

When the original Dawn of War was released I was still gaming competitively, and frankly nothing but Halo mattered. But now that I have the time to sample more games and indulge in those I’ve missed, I’m interested in seeing how Relic Entertainment have gone in producing a game that is true to the board variety. From what I’ve read the emphasis is on tactical, front line battles and seems to read like it will play as an electronic form of the actual real life board game.

Should this be the case, it will most definitely be a suitable alternative to those who like Warhammer, but can’t be assed painting all the miniatures.

Yug’s promised to send the games down to me in the mail, which means they could be here next week or next month. Nevertheless, the challenge of indulging in a genre I’ve probably neglected too much over the last few years is one that I look forward to. I’m going to take this as an opportunity to focus on each game as a new offering to the genre and really dig my teeth into them.

After the review, I’ll do a post-review review, and try to examine what each has offered, how they’ve differentiated, and if frankly whether I’ve gone stir crazy from playing too many RTS’. I hope you guys enjoy what gets spat out!