Act of War - PC
After two previews are finally are quite detailed's time to consider the final version of Act of War, in distribution on Italian territory now for a few days. What we are facing is, confirming the good things seen in previous releases "beta", a product that deserves to be taken into account by all those fans of the genre are even vaguely Strategic Approach to Command & Conquer. Is not a random quote, one just made??, since the product Atari liberamene takes cue from Westwood production under different points of view. First of all, the use of real actors for the cut-scenes that tell a story (written by Dale Brown, American author Tom Clancy at least as good), which takes us into a near future where given the constraints of natural resources (read oil), the conflict between nations and international terrorism is focused precisely on the exploitation and use of black gold. And the quote with the writer of Baltimore (responsible for titles such as Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear) is not accidental, as in Act of War will find a charismatic figure in the same way the various Dingo Chavez, Jack Ryan, around which revolve the whole story. Jason Richter, put in charge of the Talon, will be called to command their troops during missions proposed by Eugen Systems in a game system, which will alternate missions in style "piles and sticks" to others where a small group of units with us will be required to complete the task set.
The Plot
The near future. The world is facing the worst energy crisis in history due to the drastic reduction in the production of oil team. Only one company resists downward trend, American Trans Global Energy (TGE), led by CEO Harold Kingman. The G8 and the owners of energy companies are going to meet in London to discuss the situation at the World Energy Forum (WEF). Just before a refinery explodes Trans Global Energy in Houston and the president of the United States has a strong suspicion that it is the work of a terrorist group, but can not order a total mobilization to avoid the risk of increasing the panic of the population. For this instead creates a special secret task force, led by Talon Jason Richter, whose first task is to oversee the WEF in London. While Talon deals with the terrorist threat the CEO of TGE - Harold Kingman - is kidnapped. The first investigations do not yield results, except that the "terrorists" involved are professionals, perhaps even mercenaries. Before you can continue the investigation, another attack, even more terrible and devastating, takes place in San Francisco. Attempts to reaction of the U.S. military are ineffective because the terrorists are very well organized and blocked the entrances to the city by controlling a missile system with both air and sea. The Task Force Talon manages to infiltrate the city to save the troops were stranded, but despite the success of the results of the battle of San Francisco are terrible: thousands of civilians dead and hundreds of buildings destroyed, and - most importantly - no news of terrorists that seem to have abandoned their weapons and have mixed in with the population.
The reaction of the United States shall be: full mobilization of the army, recalling all troops stationed abroad and red alert across the country. Only Richter realizes that the real target of the terrorists was the call of U.S. troops in the country so that the rest of the world is now at their mercy. The task force will start immediately to Egypt where he was able to defend from attack by mysterious foreign military troops of the new refinery Trans Global Energy. Tracks led hours from Egypt to Russia, where the oil Yegor Zakharov is rapidly climbing the pyramid of power. With the support of the army and of large groups of people, he plans to implement a coup to seize power in Russia. Talon, with the help of Russian troops managed to defeat and capture Zakharov, but to return home Richter and his can not believe their ears: Zakharov was released immediately because the terrorists who had put in check San Francisco now have occupied Washington DC and issued an ultimatum ... If any American force attack Zakharov, the U.S. senators in the hands of terrorists die ... any force objecting to the American Task Force Talon ...
Nothing new under the sun, then, because in fact the mechanics of Act of War are a bit 'those that characterize the strategy in real time, right from Command & conquer on. However, what distinguishes the product Atari, is the introduction of some elements such as line of sight and the ability to carry out ambushes, embellishing a title otherwise too classical. But if the first will be revealed as a component of the second floor, the same can not be said for the opportunity given to your men (as well as your competitors, mind you), to take possession of buildings "strategic" for location and value money (taking possession of some banks may divert funds to your account) and above all to be able to disguise the vegetation and easily get rid of the enemy, not sure of beings seen by your opponents. But beyond this, Act of War shows the good and bad the classic style of the genre.
One of them (which not even the giants were able to escape), is to be found in a lack of balance in units of their forces. As also pointed out in our two previews, snipers and tanks seem to enjoy a disproportionate firepower, which is not an appropriate counterpart in the enemy ranks. This state of affairs will bring the solution to many of the proposed missions (ranging from the recovery of hostages "excellent" the total destruction of the enemy), using diagrams battle that leaves little room for imagination and creativity. Often a single group of snipers, supported by helicopter act on the care of the ground units, they can easily get rid of a good number of tanks and armored structures. A disproportionate power, then, that hardly accords with the reality, but that is a call for the player too irresistible to "shorten" and have the best opponent without going into the strategic side of the game.
From all this it can be seen as Act of War winks to a more arcade and less simulation. The upkeep of Warcraft 3 and the control points of the Battle for Middle Earth are just a distant memory, as in this case, the construction of means and unit is left to the discretion of the player, who will therefore find almost endless armies manage and focuses more on the use of brute force to the detriment of the end of the working brain. Even the management of resources you are unlikely to cause a big headache, given the many possibilities of gain provided by the system. Besides the possibility to directly extract the oil from wells scattered around the map (which is not present in all locations), you can "draw" money from the capture of enemy soldiers (who tortured you can reveal the dislocations of the opposing forces), and the conquest of banks or other focal points of the Exchequer. An almost constant flow of money, therefore, which will allow more than one occasion, to have the field armies made up of units inspired by the real U.S. armed forces (SWAT teams, marines, etc.), other units such as biomechanical or combat drones, which are the result of the work of genius of Eugene Software.
The merits of Act of War reside mainly in being able to nail the player to the chair not only to get the better of their artificial contender, but also to be able to see the development of a story that, although linear in its development, can create a set of twists and reversals in the face of a typical spy-movie successful. Add to this interface simple game but complete missions updated in real time from your command center and game environments as less realistic (The defense of the Capitol and the White House are two obvious examples), to have the picture of a title that hardly disappoint the true fans of the genre. The excellent work of conceptual and scenic Act of War is reflected in the superb graphic design of the game, able to offer a true cornerstone of the RTS genre.
The construction of cities such as Washington and London, richly detailed and probably played not only have the merit to positively influence the gameplay (Act of War also has the merit to rewrite the concept of urban warfare in a video game), but drag the player in a environment so well reconstructed and full of situations related to the reality they create a suspension of disbelief as to break down the barriers between video intermission and game situations. It follows that the continuum between video and game (forgive the pun) to create an interactive movie so well thought out and could hardly leave the player before the game over. Act of War game and finished in the drawer, then? Needless to dream, because just to finish off and give the bottom of your desire to strategy in real time, the title Atari also provides you with the classic skirmish mode where you can finally take control of the three factions in the game: Unit talon, Consortium and U.S. Army, allowing you to give you this thrashing against the AI ??on maps specially created for the occasion. The skirmish mode is only a prelude to what awaits you on the Internet where Act of War can perhaps give the best of themselves.
The main shortcoming of Act of War (and perhaps the only one), is to not bring anything truly innovative within the genre of strategy in real time. In this sense, Eugen Software would surely have done something more. But is that really the only comment we can make this little-known team, able to fill that void post C & C Generals created after the last production Electronic Arts. Act of War title is a must-have, especially if you are looking for an RTS fast and furious, well made ??from a technical and naturally led to intense multiplayer sessions.
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