exYle
08-21-2007, 05:06
Pre-GC 2007: Tom Clancy's EndWar First Look
Real-time strategy rethought.
by Erik Brudvig
August 20, 2007 - Gaming at the speed of thought. That's the way Ubisoft Shanghai describes the gameplay of Tom Clancy's EndWar, the first original IP the studio has worked on. It's a real-time strategy game by any definition, but it hardly fits the traditional mold. In fact, as a strategy game designed from the ground up to be played on a console with a controller, EndWar has little in common with the PC design standard.
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 were both good real-time strategy games that worked well on a console thanks to a slick control scheme EA worked out. However, few would argue that they work better on the PC. It's inherent in the way the games are designed. A mouse and keyboard simply work better for the classic real-time strategy game. And that is where Ubisoft is looking to break new ground. Throw out all of your preconceptions about the RTS genre: This is EndWar.
We'll start with the camera, because that is the aspect of EndWar that most sets it apart from classic RTS games. EndWar eschews the classic top down, overlord perspective that strategy games have made a standard. Instead, the camera takes on the view of one of the twelve squads under your command. The camera can be swiveled around with the right thumbstick, but otherwise it will just move along with the unit. This camera view allows EndWar to do away with the fog of war so commonly used in RTS games. If it's in your line of sight, then you'll know the enemy is there. If not, well then you'd better find them ASAP. To quickly look around the battlefield, rather than scrolling around, the camera can be hotswapped from one unit to the next. The view can also be pulled back to a tactical map similar to what you see in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter to lay out waypoints and other commands, but the bulk of the action will take place down in the dirt.
Given direct control over a squad, we watched Ubisoft play through one gameplay session focusing on directing and attacking. The rest of the units did a fair job of conducting the battle with only a handful of commands as the AI did its thing. But directing every squad on the field, hotswapping from one squad to the next frantically issuing orders looks like it could get confusing. That's where the voice command comes in. As we said before, even with EndWar not due out until 2008, the system already works quite well. So well, in fact, that it didn't have much trouble recognizing the thick accent of a native-French-speaking Ubisoft employee.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/813/813722/tom-clancys-endwar-20070820040400703-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/902/902336/img_4809868.html)
The commands are basic and build together in a tree structure toward the more complex. The command tree can be scrolled through using the controller, but watching it done through speech makes the controller seem antiquated. One might begin with the phrase "Calling all" follow it by "riflemen" and then finish it with "create group." Said without pause, this will create a group that holds all riflemen for future commands. Likewise, you can quickly switch the camera to a specific unit, command units on the other side of the battlefield to attack a specific point or enemy, or give out a great number of other directives. This is already a huge leap over the limited voice commands we've seen in several past Ubisoft games.
Though Ubisoft claims the AI will be good enough to direct everything by voice, there is still good reason to use the controller in tandem with it. In fact, this is the method the developers used as we watched them demo a level. Creating mixed unit groups, done with just a few presses on the d-pad, looks like it may even be easier done than said. This is done with the aid of the heads-up display plastered across the bottom of the screen. There, one can find all of the info you need on all of your units. Movement, attack status, health, and grouping info is all there for each unit. Additionally, attacks and alternate fire commands can be delivered with the controller to ensure that assaults are felt exactly where they should be.
RTS Light?
Although EndWar has been designed from the ground up with the console in mind, hardcore strategy players shouldn't expect the game to shy away from depth. With Michael De Plater on board as the Creative Director, a man who previously is credited with design work for the Total War series, the team is being run by a man who knows the RTS genre. Although you won't be required to learn any complicated tech tree to start playing or even have to build a single building or harvest resources, the game will still require quick thinking and planning.
Twelve units, the top number available to command, may seem small compared to the large scale wars other RTSs offer. Things appear lighter still when you add in the fact that there are only seven unit types. The variety comes through the tech upgrades and specialization. Each player has a persistent battalion which gains upgrades and experience through battle which are carried from one fight to the next. If a unit dies in battle before it can retreat (players have ample time to call in an extraction for pinned units before they die), it loses all experience and upgrades it had built up. Each faction has roughly 150 upgrades and units have six levels of experience. These upgrades are where the seven unit types gain great variety. Many of the related unit types other games consider a different class have merely been folded into one of the seven present in EndWar. For example, a rifleman may be upgraded to a sniper unit rather than having that unit type exists by itself.
Each unit can take advantage of its surroundings in a variety of ways, too, just as other RTSs do. Infantry units can be stationed within fully destructible buildings for protection (try holing up in the White House or the Smithsonian), make use of walls or other structures to avoid fire, or be suppressed by enemy attacks. With a persistent battalion, paying attention to these options looks like a must for long term success.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/813/813722/tom-clancys-endwar-20070820040403406-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/902/902336/img_4809866.html)
The buildings can be used to your advantage, be it for defense or stealth, but the central goal on most maps is a series of missile defense bunkers. When captured, these structures allow the owner to call in reserves when units go down or retreat, as well apply upgrades. Though there isn't any sort of magic or supernatural power system as some other RTS games offer, these missile defense bunkers will enable off-map support commands that take the place of those missing powers. Air strikes, space based kinetic energy weapons, and other highly destructive attacks fill this role. The only one we've seen so far is one of the kinetic energy weapons -- rods from God. These space based weapons drop large rods with pinpoint accuracy. After falling through the atmosphere, they're moving quite fast and have a heck of a lot of destructive power.
Ubisoft's goal is to make the player as immersed in the world as possible. This started with bringing the camera down to the battlefield itself, continues with the persistent battalion, and gets capped off with personality. EndWar will have roughly 40,000 lines of dialogue, 9,000 of which are unit chatter. The plan is to not only endear the squads to you, but to make it possible to know which unit is calling for help just by the voice you hear. Filters are being applied to these voices, too, allowing the player to tell how injured a unit is based on the timbre of the call for help or understand how low morale has gotten.
So EndWar has a new control setup, a new camera, and looks set to include the depth in strategy that RTS fans demands. That's all well and good, but what's the point? The point is to win the third world war that erupts in the near future of 2020. Involved in the war are Russia, the European Federation and the United States and its up to you to lead one of these factions to victory. There will also be a fourth NPC faction that will play a smaller role; terrorists. Being a Tom Clancy game, all tech is based on reality, so the weapons and vehicles up for grabs in EndWar are all extensions of current technology, planned weaponry, or armaments in the prototype stage right now.
Everything in EndWar revolves around the artificial intelligence. So much so that several members of the development team told us that if the AI isn't rock solid, the game won't succeed. Everything from the unit actions to the music that reacts to what is happening on the battlefield to the story relies on the AI. Yes, even the story.
According to Ubisoft Shanghai, the game turns non-linear after the first six levels that are scripted and tell the story of each of the three factions as they are led into war. Once through the six levels, the player picks a side to fight for and is given command of a battalion. As a commander, you're free to choose where you think you'll be most effective across the 40 roughly one square mile maps spread out across the North Atlantic. The map we saw was located in Spain, a mostly flat, brown affair with scattered buildings, castle-like structures, trees and windmills.
Three cities will also be included to fight in; Washington D.C., Paris, and Moscow. In between each fight on these maps, the frontlines will be updated through a simulated war. Fight well and take a key location and you may find your faction pushing forward. Retreat and…things might not be so rosy. When you next enter battle, a briefing will be created based on what you just did, how the war is going around you and around the world, and what the effects of this upcoming fight might be. In this way, there isn't any set number of missions before the game ends; it ends when you either win the world war or lose it. This emergent story feature wasn't on display, so we can't say how well it will work but it sounds like it will offer a great deal of replayability.
Take the War Online
The single player campaign sounds cool, but it was what we were told about the plans for the persistent online multiplayer battles that had us most intrigued. When a player signs online, they'll have to pick which of the three factions they'd like to fight for. From there, the world war begins. Across 40 territories, constant battles will wage as each faction attempts to take control of them all. Choose where you want to fight and you'll be hooked up with an adversary, just like any other game. However, at the end of the day, all of the fights on that battlefield will be tallied so that new front lines can be drawn. If the Europeans hold a territory, for example, but the Russians beat them a majority of the times the battles were fought there on a particular day, then the Russians will take control of that region when the next day's battles begin. The same battle may wage tens or hundreds of times in one day and the spoils go to whichever side is most effective. The goal: Help your faction take control of every area. If one team does manage to win, the game will reset and the world war starts over. Ubisoft didn't rule out a little "interference" on their part if one faction was getting a little overambitious.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/813/813722/tom-clancys-endwar-20070820040405937-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/902/902336/img_4809864.html)
Just like the offline game, the online game starts players with a basic army that they'll be able to upgrade and improve through battle (you won't be able to bring your offline army online to fight). Also like the offline game, if a squad dies, regardless of how much work has been put into improving it, the squad really dies and its owner will have to restart from scratch. Retreat to fight another day may often be a smart move. These persistent squads make experienced units incredibly important. But what if you only have strong aerial units? Well, then you'll just have to hook up with a fellow ally that can complement your strengths. Up to twelve players can play in a single fight at once with six on a side (Battles involving all three factions simultaneously won't be possible). Rather than taking your whole army into these huge battles, you'll take command of just a few of your most experienced squads as you work in conjunction with others to win.
Clan support will be included to help coordinate these individual fights, matching up allies that will be able to fight well together, and the overall faction strategy. Since you can fight multiple times on a single battlefield in a single day to help improve your faction's chances of taking or holding that territory, having a unified plan of action for attacking and defending will be especially important.
The online options won't end there. Plans are in place for video replays, with the top players on the leaderboards having their recent victories on display for all to watch and learn. Ubisoft Shanghai is also working to integrate the game with a dedicated webpage. The team is using Battle.net and Bungie.net as examples, but wasn't willing to commit to any specifics other than being able to interact and lay out plans with other clan members through the site. And of course, we can bet on downloadable content expanding the war into new territories and providing new units and upgrades. This is a new franchise and we all know how much Ubisoft loves franchises. Future games that build on what EndWar starts are almost a sure bet.
Tom Clancy's EndWar is as amitious of a project as we've seen. It sounds great on paper, but we've only seen a small bit of what has been promised. The game is still a year away from release and a lot of work remains to be done. Even the visuals and animations, though decent at this early stage, have a ways to go. The basic gameplay is up and running though and it already looks fun and unique. If the unit balancing plays out as promised and the online game plays as cool as it sounds, this could easily be yet another hit Tom Clancy title.Source: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/813/813722p1.html
Wow. The EGM article got me pumped, now I really excited.
Real-time strategy rethought.
by Erik Brudvig
August 20, 2007 - Gaming at the speed of thought. That's the way Ubisoft Shanghai describes the gameplay of Tom Clancy's EndWar, the first original IP the studio has worked on. It's a real-time strategy game by any definition, but it hardly fits the traditional mold. In fact, as a strategy game designed from the ground up to be played on a console with a controller, EndWar has little in common with the PC design standard.
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 were both good real-time strategy games that worked well on a console thanks to a slick control scheme EA worked out. However, few would argue that they work better on the PC. It's inherent in the way the games are designed. A mouse and keyboard simply work better for the classic real-time strategy game. And that is where Ubisoft is looking to break new ground. Throw out all of your preconceptions about the RTS genre: This is EndWar.
We'll start with the camera, because that is the aspect of EndWar that most sets it apart from classic RTS games. EndWar eschews the classic top down, overlord perspective that strategy games have made a standard. Instead, the camera takes on the view of one of the twelve squads under your command. The camera can be swiveled around with the right thumbstick, but otherwise it will just move along with the unit. This camera view allows EndWar to do away with the fog of war so commonly used in RTS games. If it's in your line of sight, then you'll know the enemy is there. If not, well then you'd better find them ASAP. To quickly look around the battlefield, rather than scrolling around, the camera can be hotswapped from one unit to the next. The view can also be pulled back to a tactical map similar to what you see in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter to lay out waypoints and other commands, but the bulk of the action will take place down in the dirt.
Given direct control over a squad, we watched Ubisoft play through one gameplay session focusing on directing and attacking. The rest of the units did a fair job of conducting the battle with only a handful of commands as the AI did its thing. But directing every squad on the field, hotswapping from one squad to the next frantically issuing orders looks like it could get confusing. That's where the voice command comes in. As we said before, even with EndWar not due out until 2008, the system already works quite well. So well, in fact, that it didn't have much trouble recognizing the thick accent of a native-French-speaking Ubisoft employee.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/813/813722/tom-clancys-endwar-20070820040400703-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/902/902336/img_4809868.html)
The commands are basic and build together in a tree structure toward the more complex. The command tree can be scrolled through using the controller, but watching it done through speech makes the controller seem antiquated. One might begin with the phrase "Calling all" follow it by "riflemen" and then finish it with "create group." Said without pause, this will create a group that holds all riflemen for future commands. Likewise, you can quickly switch the camera to a specific unit, command units on the other side of the battlefield to attack a specific point or enemy, or give out a great number of other directives. This is already a huge leap over the limited voice commands we've seen in several past Ubisoft games.
Though Ubisoft claims the AI will be good enough to direct everything by voice, there is still good reason to use the controller in tandem with it. In fact, this is the method the developers used as we watched them demo a level. Creating mixed unit groups, done with just a few presses on the d-pad, looks like it may even be easier done than said. This is done with the aid of the heads-up display plastered across the bottom of the screen. There, one can find all of the info you need on all of your units. Movement, attack status, health, and grouping info is all there for each unit. Additionally, attacks and alternate fire commands can be delivered with the controller to ensure that assaults are felt exactly where they should be.
RTS Light?
Although EndWar has been designed from the ground up with the console in mind, hardcore strategy players shouldn't expect the game to shy away from depth. With Michael De Plater on board as the Creative Director, a man who previously is credited with design work for the Total War series, the team is being run by a man who knows the RTS genre. Although you won't be required to learn any complicated tech tree to start playing or even have to build a single building or harvest resources, the game will still require quick thinking and planning.
Twelve units, the top number available to command, may seem small compared to the large scale wars other RTSs offer. Things appear lighter still when you add in the fact that there are only seven unit types. The variety comes through the tech upgrades and specialization. Each player has a persistent battalion which gains upgrades and experience through battle which are carried from one fight to the next. If a unit dies in battle before it can retreat (players have ample time to call in an extraction for pinned units before they die), it loses all experience and upgrades it had built up. Each faction has roughly 150 upgrades and units have six levels of experience. These upgrades are where the seven unit types gain great variety. Many of the related unit types other games consider a different class have merely been folded into one of the seven present in EndWar. For example, a rifleman may be upgraded to a sniper unit rather than having that unit type exists by itself.
Each unit can take advantage of its surroundings in a variety of ways, too, just as other RTSs do. Infantry units can be stationed within fully destructible buildings for protection (try holing up in the White House or the Smithsonian), make use of walls or other structures to avoid fire, or be suppressed by enemy attacks. With a persistent battalion, paying attention to these options looks like a must for long term success.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/813/813722/tom-clancys-endwar-20070820040403406-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/902/902336/img_4809866.html)
The buildings can be used to your advantage, be it for defense or stealth, but the central goal on most maps is a series of missile defense bunkers. When captured, these structures allow the owner to call in reserves when units go down or retreat, as well apply upgrades. Though there isn't any sort of magic or supernatural power system as some other RTS games offer, these missile defense bunkers will enable off-map support commands that take the place of those missing powers. Air strikes, space based kinetic energy weapons, and other highly destructive attacks fill this role. The only one we've seen so far is one of the kinetic energy weapons -- rods from God. These space based weapons drop large rods with pinpoint accuracy. After falling through the atmosphere, they're moving quite fast and have a heck of a lot of destructive power.
Ubisoft's goal is to make the player as immersed in the world as possible. This started with bringing the camera down to the battlefield itself, continues with the persistent battalion, and gets capped off with personality. EndWar will have roughly 40,000 lines of dialogue, 9,000 of which are unit chatter. The plan is to not only endear the squads to you, but to make it possible to know which unit is calling for help just by the voice you hear. Filters are being applied to these voices, too, allowing the player to tell how injured a unit is based on the timbre of the call for help or understand how low morale has gotten.
So EndWar has a new control setup, a new camera, and looks set to include the depth in strategy that RTS fans demands. That's all well and good, but what's the point? The point is to win the third world war that erupts in the near future of 2020. Involved in the war are Russia, the European Federation and the United States and its up to you to lead one of these factions to victory. There will also be a fourth NPC faction that will play a smaller role; terrorists. Being a Tom Clancy game, all tech is based on reality, so the weapons and vehicles up for grabs in EndWar are all extensions of current technology, planned weaponry, or armaments in the prototype stage right now.
Everything in EndWar revolves around the artificial intelligence. So much so that several members of the development team told us that if the AI isn't rock solid, the game won't succeed. Everything from the unit actions to the music that reacts to what is happening on the battlefield to the story relies on the AI. Yes, even the story.
According to Ubisoft Shanghai, the game turns non-linear after the first six levels that are scripted and tell the story of each of the three factions as they are led into war. Once through the six levels, the player picks a side to fight for and is given command of a battalion. As a commander, you're free to choose where you think you'll be most effective across the 40 roughly one square mile maps spread out across the North Atlantic. The map we saw was located in Spain, a mostly flat, brown affair with scattered buildings, castle-like structures, trees and windmills.
Three cities will also be included to fight in; Washington D.C., Paris, and Moscow. In between each fight on these maps, the frontlines will be updated through a simulated war. Fight well and take a key location and you may find your faction pushing forward. Retreat and…things might not be so rosy. When you next enter battle, a briefing will be created based on what you just did, how the war is going around you and around the world, and what the effects of this upcoming fight might be. In this way, there isn't any set number of missions before the game ends; it ends when you either win the world war or lose it. This emergent story feature wasn't on display, so we can't say how well it will work but it sounds like it will offer a great deal of replayability.
Take the War Online
The single player campaign sounds cool, but it was what we were told about the plans for the persistent online multiplayer battles that had us most intrigued. When a player signs online, they'll have to pick which of the three factions they'd like to fight for. From there, the world war begins. Across 40 territories, constant battles will wage as each faction attempts to take control of them all. Choose where you want to fight and you'll be hooked up with an adversary, just like any other game. However, at the end of the day, all of the fights on that battlefield will be tallied so that new front lines can be drawn. If the Europeans hold a territory, for example, but the Russians beat them a majority of the times the battles were fought there on a particular day, then the Russians will take control of that region when the next day's battles begin. The same battle may wage tens or hundreds of times in one day and the spoils go to whichever side is most effective. The goal: Help your faction take control of every area. If one team does manage to win, the game will reset and the world war starts over. Ubisoft didn't rule out a little "interference" on their part if one faction was getting a little overambitious.
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/813/813722/tom-clancys-endwar-20070820040405937-000.jpg (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/902/902336/img_4809864.html)
Just like the offline game, the online game starts players with a basic army that they'll be able to upgrade and improve through battle (you won't be able to bring your offline army online to fight). Also like the offline game, if a squad dies, regardless of how much work has been put into improving it, the squad really dies and its owner will have to restart from scratch. Retreat to fight another day may often be a smart move. These persistent squads make experienced units incredibly important. But what if you only have strong aerial units? Well, then you'll just have to hook up with a fellow ally that can complement your strengths. Up to twelve players can play in a single fight at once with six on a side (Battles involving all three factions simultaneously won't be possible). Rather than taking your whole army into these huge battles, you'll take command of just a few of your most experienced squads as you work in conjunction with others to win.
Clan support will be included to help coordinate these individual fights, matching up allies that will be able to fight well together, and the overall faction strategy. Since you can fight multiple times on a single battlefield in a single day to help improve your faction's chances of taking or holding that territory, having a unified plan of action for attacking and defending will be especially important.
The online options won't end there. Plans are in place for video replays, with the top players on the leaderboards having their recent victories on display for all to watch and learn. Ubisoft Shanghai is also working to integrate the game with a dedicated webpage. The team is using Battle.net and Bungie.net as examples, but wasn't willing to commit to any specifics other than being able to interact and lay out plans with other clan members through the site. And of course, we can bet on downloadable content expanding the war into new territories and providing new units and upgrades. This is a new franchise and we all know how much Ubisoft loves franchises. Future games that build on what EndWar starts are almost a sure bet.
Tom Clancy's EndWar is as amitious of a project as we've seen. It sounds great on paper, but we've only seen a small bit of what has been promised. The game is still a year away from release and a lot of work remains to be done. Even the visuals and animations, though decent at this early stage, have a ways to go. The basic gameplay is up and running though and it already looks fun and unique. If the unit balancing plays out as promised and the online game plays as cool as it sounds, this could easily be yet another hit Tom Clancy title.Source: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/813/813722p1.html
Wow. The EGM article got me pumped, now I really excited.