Tom Clancy's EndWar

[The Subtle Arts]

Being a fan of RTS I am looking forward to this. Over the years many strategy games that have been ported over to console have had their moments but still not capitalising on the experience of PC gaming. Hopefully with the ingenuity of this title that might change using all elements of this generation of consoles.

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Tom Clancy's EndWar is a real-time strategy game in developement by Ubisoft. (yes an rts, but unlike C&C.) It is not a shooter, nor is it a fps-strat hybrid like BS:Midway. There is no specific Release Date yet, but it is expected "Fall '08". The story centers on the outbreak of WWIII in 2020 over dwindling natural resources and the militarization of space, focusing on the North American and European theatres of battle, with the player taking the role of a military commander in the conflict.

Players command a personalized, customizable force of 12 units. These persistent Units carry over from battle to battle, gaining experience, improving, and upgrading. (including turning into sniper, splinter cell, and ghost recon teams!) Seven categories of units: riflemen, engineers, armor(tanks), transports, gunships(helis), artillery, and command vehicles- all with HUNDREDS of upgrades available. Veteran sprites will banter about past battles!

Online Multi-Player will have ALL players participating in ONE huge mmo-type global WAR (similar to Chromehound's Neroimus War) with clans available. No fees beyond the standard xbl Gold account. Individual battles will be 6v6 max. Three playable Factions: the European Enforcers Corps, the United States' Joint Strike Force, and the Russian Spetsnaz Guard Brigade. (there is also a fourth NPC terrorist faction.) Gametypes include Attrition, Siege, and Sabotage. 40 Maps with various terrain and locations, including Washington DC, London, Paris, and Moscow. There is an SP campaign, and a skirmish mode with coop.

There is no base building or resource gathering. The View is a low, line-of-sight view similar to Madden Football; there is also an in-game 'Commander's Map'. The controls will be easy and intuitive to use since the game is (truely) designed for the 360. (this is not another C&C clone.) You can Voice Command everything, if you want- "Unit 3 attack Hostile 1. Unit 5 capture Bravo....... ALL units attack Hostile 2!!!" -very cool.

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If your a 360 owner and you fancy trying the beta then here is the link.

Its 3GB so clear some space!