World in Conflict is simply the best game that I have seen since the N64 era.
The gameplay in this game is what really separates this genre from most other RTS’s. It is designed in a way to only include the best parts of this genre and that is the combat. There is no building your economy in this game just as there is no ‘finishing’ your enemy. This makes it so that only the best parts of the genre are included in World in Conflict. As far as the mechanics of the game go, it is amazingly balanced. Each unit is incredibly strong against another unit. An example of this is a relatively cheap unit, the anti tank infantry. A couple squads of these will take out even the strongest tanks in an instance but if they come across medium helicopters or normal infantry they are nearly completely defenseless. Nearly every single unit in this game has similar examples to this.
The graphics in this game are without a doubt the best that we have ever seen in an RTS game and arguably the best graphics of any game ever. With how many units that are on the battle field and just the general size, it is amazing that you can zoom up at any point in the map and see that the units are very detailed. Everything in this game looks marvelous, from the infantry to the buildings. There is never a time where I thought of something looking bad or even noticing any kind of technical issues.
The story and setting in this game is even perfect for me. I have always had an infatuation with the Cold War era and when you combine that with nearly half of the game is based in my home state of Washington, you have a setting that is perfect for me. It is very interesting to be able to recognize actual buildings in Seattle that would look just random to any other people. The story is very well laid out and you aren’t left for a second thinking of inconsistencies in the story. The game starts in Seattle, moves in the past to Europe, Northern Russia, New York, and ends back in Seattle. This is done so seamlessly that it really adds a ton to the story. Additionally, the cut scenes in this game are incredibly epic and really do a good job of developing individual characters in this game. Most war games fail miserably when it comes to developing characters through cutscenes but this is the only occasion where I have actually seen it work and I absolutely detested the attempts to develop characters in COD3. There are two cut scenes in this game that are more epic than anything I have ever seen. This is the beginning cut scene which you can see on gamespot, and a cut scene in New York. Both of these are incredibly epic and still are fresh in my mind weeks after I have seen them.
The sound and voice acting is excellent. I honestly can’t think of another game that has better sound acting and the sound track and sounds are also top notch. Now, this game may be an RTS but that doesn’t stop it from having one of the best multiplayer modes that I have ever experienced. It is so finally polished that you will waste hours upon hours playing the multiplayer and not even notice how much time has gone by. Because each player only has a single role, it really requires a lot of teamwork and doesn’t ever get repetitive. Now, as an owner of the Pc and X360 there are many great games coming my way. From September-December I have games like Halo 3, Orange Box, Quake Wars, Mass Effect, COD4, Ace Combat 6, Assaisins Creed, Crysis, and Guitar Hero 3 coming. However, World in Conflict is the best game that I have seen since the N64 era. This game is so good that I’m amazed that Gamespot didn’t give this game a 10 because even they couldn’t find anything wrong with this game.