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Tom Clancy’s EndWar[PS3/XBOX360/PC/DS/PSP]

“Unit, 1, Attack, Target, Alpha. Unit, 2, Camera”

Introduction

Tom Clancy’s EndWar is another great title brought to you by Ubisoft who brought you the likes of Splinter Cell and FarCry 2. This game is based around another impending world war and with every country in the world.

How it looks

Launching the game and before you get to play the game is reminiscent of Command and Conquer 3. The way the main menu is displayed and the way it looks. It has a very clean look which is easy to navigate. The game presents itself visually stunning in its own way. What I mean by this is, that even though this is a tactical RTS and has a lot of movement, it can still deliver on graphics. But it isn’t as spectacular as other Tom Clancy titles. Something which I think this game is missing is the general population running in terror, when this armada arrives on their doorstep but that’s probably my twisted mind.

How it works

Well really well despite the fact that this is another one of those, world on the brink of world war 3 scenarios. Also it seems to be that the game has no real direction even though it has an introduction as to what is happening and caused the world to be in this state. In order for you to get the best experience in this game you will need to use a headset and you will need to have a microphone, preferably on the headset. Giving voice commands is something new to most PC games and adds another way you can shout at your computer if it doesn’t seem to be doing what you want to do. If you don’t have a microphone then you can use the more traditional keyboard and mouse setup. Although this still works it can seem rather sluggish and a bit frustrating sometimes. I think this game has over emphasised the use of the voice control as its main feature, and as a result it takes away from the game play a bit.

AI

Because you can control units by voice and by mouse and keyboard the AI has to work smoothly when transitioning from command to command, and as such it performs spectacularly. Giving a voice command then another straight after the units seem to move and perform exactly as you commanded them to. The only thing which is a bit annoying is if you get some commands wrong or slur your speech. But then again you shouldn’t be playing drunk now should you!

Units will react to enemies fast and as you would expect them to. Once a command is given, or even if there is no command from voice or peripheral the units from infantry to helicopters will automatically try and defend themselves and their point or checkpoint.

How it plays

When in the game you are presented with a very typical view of a battlefield. You have a mini map in the bottom left corner and all the information for the units along the bottom of the screen. Using a voice command is easy to do, simply press the key you have set, and then read out the necessary command. I found it was a bit difficult to get used to at first but once you have gone through the setup and tutorial how to use this feature you will find that you barely have to move the mouse and hardly have to touch the keyboard. Although this game presents itself as having a ‘New game play type’ it is however not new, this voice command feature has been used in the past on other software’s, but not to this high level of success when it comes to using it and making voice commands. Units on the game don’t at all seem sluggish when it comes to moving and attacking, and as such you may find yourself out of the action sometimes, this requires a quick shout to whatever unit you want to move to. Then as if by magic you find yourself travelling at super speed towards the selected unit. 

Controls and ease of use

Again going on about the fact that you can use your voice, or as I like to call it the lazy mans tool. You can make the game seem more ‘real’ in the sense that you are actually shouting out orders, however make sure that everyone knows that this is the case and you are in fact not being a crazy person and talking randomly to your PC. Most of the things that you need to do with the game can be achieved with voice but sometimes you need to go back to the original style of point and click. Which to be honest takes away from the main feature of voice and makes it seem uncompleted and sometimes unnecessary. By the time you have gotten to the commands by voice, sometimes it might have been faster to do it the old fashioned way.

The Good

The voice command system is very initiative and seems to work relatively well in most instances. Different units can be used in different situations; this makes game play addictive if you are into this type of game.

The Bad

The same style of game play, even though there is a new twist there seems to be something missing that will make this game majorly different from others in this genre.

The Just plain Ugly

If like me you find you have a bit of an accent, sometimes you may find the game going “What was that? Did you mean go there shoot that?” meanwhile you are shouting blind “NO NO NO you fool, I said retreat!!?!”. That is just one of the downsides to it. Also if like me you find that you haven’t got a spectacular video card, you may not be able to run the game in its full glory, which kind of detaches yourself from the game and can make it look like some less well visually spectacular games of past. The graphics demand is sometimes great, not as great as other games like some in the FPS genre, but still can take away from the experience if your graphics card is not top notch which mine isn’t.

Summary

If you like RTS then this is one you don’t want to rush out to get. It may be a unique game as it provides another way of controlling and interacting with the game and I suppose this is the way PC games are going to go, which is reminiscent of many consoles and other devices. If on the other hand you enjoy a game which you can pick up and put down as quickly again, then yes buy this game. I am not saying it is bad and should be avoided, but the game lacks background in my opinion and needs to be looked at more like a tactical toy.