ive cut and pasted this from another source, because i am a lazy lazy cunt. i will say though that it has my three favourite things in RTS: ZOOM, bajillions of units, PC only.
Over 300 different types of modern military equipment to utilise in a game focusing on realism. Fuel, morale, terrain, cover, supply, direct fire, indirect fire, muzzle velocity, angle of attack, armour type, wheeled, tracked, command posts, intel...need I say more!?
Overview:
Wargame: European Escalation is a real-time strategy game on PC, that maintains the two core values of the classic wargame (depth and reflection) while offering a dynamic, real-time gameplay, and an incredibly spectacular and realistic visual experience.
Set in the rarely explored Cold War period of 1975-1985, Wargame: European Escalation explores the battles 'that could have been' if history had taken the wrong turn at some point in the conflict. On both sides of the Iron Curtain that tears Germany in two, the two military alliances, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, are on the verge of war. The zeal of a patrol close to the East-german border eventually leads to a firefight with their enemy brothers. Soon the local skirmish pushes the already-tense relationship between NATO and the Warsaw Pact over the edge into all-out war.
Both superpowers have enough nuclear fire at their disposal to annihilate all life on the planet, but of course this is the very last resort; if an open conflict was to happen, it would take the form of conventional warfare in Germany, and throughout Europe.
The world is about to fall into the feared 3rd World War. Wargame: European Escalation plunges you into the midst of this conflict, through a big and explosive military campaign!
In Detail:
With rare strategic depth, Wargame: European Escalation stays accessible, and gives all strategy fans, beginners and experienced players alike, a unique, innovative and realistic gaming experience.
Whether solo-playing through a large campaign or fighting against other players from all over the world, reflection and situation awareness are determining factors for victory. Players will have to account for numerous parameters, such as covers, supplying and refueling, and morale, which influence the abilities of their units. They will also have to make good use of recon in order to discover what their opponents are planning and to plan their own tactics and battle plans accordingly.
Every one of the 300 units in the game possesses realistically rendered performance and behavior. Players must monitor which weapons systems their units may use, allowing or forbidding certain weapons in order to save precious ammunition. This allows users to tailor their battle strategy to a given situation; it is particularly useful in stealth maneuvers, in which a player could forbid the use of weapons until his troops are at close range and then take his enemy by surprise. When a unit fires a weapon, many parameters (including the optical systems used, the experience of the unit, if it or its target is moving or stationary, and whether it already had fired at this target before) are taken into account in order to determine the probabilities for each weapon system to hit their targets.
Wargame: European Escalation also offers localized damage. For instance, if you take an enemy's armored formation from behind, you will surprise the opponent and inflict maximum damage on his tanks, which have lighter armor and their rear and flank. It's also possible to inflict critical hits that temporarily or permanently damage some embarked systems. The crew of vehicles is also prone to be hit, making a seemingly intact unit impossible to operate.
Morale is another important battle parameter. It is possible, with a barrage, to destroy the morale of the enemy units. Even if they are not destroyed, they will see their abilities reduced and, under the stress, will be much less efficient in battle.
The individual experience of units plays a critical role in the outcomes of battles. During missions, units gain experience points. A small amount of experience is given to your troops for every successful shot, while the total destruction of an enemy unit gives much more experience. The more expensive and experienced the destroyed unit was, the more experience is earned!
Along the battles, your armies will level up through 5 experience levels, from mere rookies to elite units. During the solo campaign, all surviving units will follow you from mission to mission. You will have to protect them in order to benefit from their earned experience in the long run.
An experienced unit will not be more powerful or resilient than a similar, rookie unit, but it will be more lethal because able to act more efficiently. It will be much more accurate with its weapon systems, will spot enemies faster, and will also be less prone to lose morale and abilities under heavy fire. Used with wisdom, a veteran unit will be able to face several units and still be victorious.
In order to support your assault troops, artillery plays an essential role. Though shots are quite inaccurate at first, they slowly gain precision and focus. If an allied recon has a direct line of sight on this target, the shot correction will be much faster. But the artillery has its downside: ammunition heavy, it will need a regular and frequent resupplying, and will be more efficient when placed next to a Forward Operational Base, which means a depot of ammunition and fuel. This makes it a very easy target for the enemy to spot.
In order to maintain the combat ability of your forces, you will need to resupply them. You will have to maintain the stability of your terrestrial and aerial supply lines in order to repair damaged units and provide them with fresh ammo. This will also allow you to make sure your vehicles do not run out of fuel, as everyone knows a stationary tank is a sitting duck waiting to be destroyed. When facing an opponent heavily outnumbering you, attacking his supply lines becomes a particularly viable tactic!
By taking position on specific key areas and on the battleground, you are able to gain command points and control reinforcement zones. Attacking becomes gratifying, as it allows you to call in for reinforcements, fresh units replacing your losses and changing the course of battle. However, only the fragile and costly command vehicles are able to claim to such areas, and you will have to protect or hide them if you do not want to see your last hopes of victory slip through your fingers!
The Engine:
Wargame: European Escalation is powered by the second generation of the performing IRISZOOM™ Engine. This powerful and high-performance engine allows the game to deliver spectacular clashes rendered in incredible detail.
The IRISZOOM is able to render millions of objects on maps as large as dozens of square miles. The impressive zoom feature allows you to dive down in an instant, without any transition, to the heart of battles involving hundreds of tanks, helicopters, or infantrymen, in order to follow your units during the fight.
This is a grand visual showcase that takes life before your eyes. From the explosions to the lighting, the raging fires to the high-resolution textures, and the sound effects to the numerous post-processing effects, everything has been designed and developed to produce a photo-realistic rendering of the battlefield.
This is complemented by highly detailed models of more than 300 different playable units: tanks, ground-assault helicopters, infantry, anti-air defense pieces, artillery, transport vehicles, supply trucks, recon units... all boast their own models, rendered in very high detail and faithful to their real-life counterparts. Zoom down from the sky to reveal even the smallest bolts and tank treads! Flying units also have their own flying models and move in the more realistic way above the battlefield.
In addition to its deep and tactic gameplay, Wargame offers a particularly impressive and spectacular visual experience. Never before has a strategy game seemed so realistic!
Multiplayer:
Wargame: European Escalation provides a multiplayer experience as rich as the one it offers through its solo campaign.
Friendly games are possible in order to take part in a short and fun skirmish between friends, but competition is also very present, with official rankings supported and calculated through an Elo system.
Develop your tactics and unlock new units in order to add them to your 'deck' for you next battles. Will you choose a crushing strategy with huge numbers of weak yet cheap tanks, or will you try and manage small squads of expensive but skillful elite units?
With more than 300 units with unique characteristics, tactical possibilities and strategic combinations are nearly unlimited. Wars of harassment with fast but fragile units, choking techniques by attacking the enemy supply lines, squashing under overwhelming numbers; all strategies are viable if you plan carefully! In the end, only the tactical acuity of the players will determine the outcome of the battles. Do you have what it takes to reach the higher echelons of the official world ranking?
Gameplay trailer + gameplay perview (albeit in german, they love their wars!)
BTG
looks very similar to ...
uh whats it?
think brad think.
world in conflict.
which wasn't bad, just never really DOVE into it..like Supreme commander :/
BTG
also, you might like to know that THQ said they're going to be making another company of heroes. which would be awesome if they don't try to make it 'more accessible" cause that would just piss me off.
pkcRAISTLIN
yeah, it may look similar to WiC on the surface, but its completely different. WiC was extremely rock/paper/scissors and very micro-heavy, with extremely short ranges and small maps. W:EE features 10x the amount of units, soft counters, ridiculous huge maps, simulated ballistics, and a zoom :p
will be much more hardcore than WiC, though still accessible (as far as i can tell).
I like company of heroes, but again, small skirmishes with a handful of units at point blank range is so 1990s. onward and upward!
pkcRAISTLIN
Fledz
Gah, I can't do RTS anymore. Don't know why but I've lost complete interest in the mouse-click spam fests that they've all become.
BTG
If you pre-order it now, you can get access to the multiplayer demo/beta.
pkcRAISTLIN
yeah i bought it. having a blast. think the UI needs a bit of work, but mostly stopped noticing that now. very tactical game at a pretty slow pace.
Alex
quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
yeah i bought it. having a blast. think the UI needs a bit of work, but mostly stopped noticing that now. very tactical game at a pretty slow pace.
PKC. Is it like any other strategy games?
pkcRAISTLIN
quote:
Originally posted by Alex
PKC. Is it like any other strategy games?
not really...
the devs say their inspiration were old turn-based games like steel panthers and panzer general series. it's kind've like supreme commander with the zoom and icons, but nothing like it in gameplay.
the obvious comparison is with RUSE but i never played that, and as far as i can tell its quite different (and much better).
here's a complete game with commentary. gives an ok overview of how the game plays.
