Tom Clancy's EndWar

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A war to end all wars

Published on Nov 7, 2008

This generation of consoles has seen some real innovations in the way we interact with games and technology. The voice recognition in EndWar is arguably its greatest selling point, it has the ability to completely immerse you in the action and play a game in a way that you could never have done before. The big question is, does it work?

Tom Clancy’s EndWar chronicles the build up and battles of World War III. Set in a near future where huge oil reserves have allowed the Russians to create a massive army to take on the Unite States Of Europe as well as the USA, all three factions accuse the others of the usual political rubbish and end up in a big three-way fight. The solo campaign asks you to play as each of the factions in a ‘Prelude to War’ which lays out the basics of the story and from then on in, you choose a faction and start fighting. Familiar faces from the Clancy universe are present, some may recognise Scott Mitchell (from the G.R.A.W. games), now promoted to General, but many will also be disappointed with the lack of an actual narrative involved in EndWar, it’s more about the fight than the political intrigue.

EndWar’s solo campaign is identical to its multiplayer, you have a huge world map with over 40 strategic points that need to be fought over by each of the factions in a global game of Risk. You choose which battle needs to be won and zoom in and fight it out. The only form the story takes is in small pictures and information that pops up after each skirmish, all you really need to know is that the world’s gone to hell and if you win more battles things will get better. As a multiplayer mode we’ve no doubt that this will be tremendous fun; a huge massively multiplayer game and a world map where a constantly shifting battlefield creates ample opportunity for conflict. As a single-player mode it feels somewhat light and inconsequential, each battle only really edging towards the next in a seemingly endless war.

The real meat and potatoes of EndWar is present in the battles themselves. RTS games on consoles have always struggled to compete in the control stakes. EndWar has in some ways done away with many of the problems that are inherent of playing an RTS with a pad and not a mouse. Units can be ordered to specific points or to attack particular units and the game does an amazing job of interpreting your commands. If your speech is concise and spoken properly (ie no slurring) you’ll find that ordering around tanks, planes and everything else is a breeze.

Problems arise when you try to play EndWar like a normal RTS. It’s very difficult to position units into strategic points on the map if there’s nothing there to be commanded to. You can’t say "Unit One move to… the bushes by the brown building", these commands must be completed with the pad, as in fact everything could be. But doing so does detract from the feel of the game. As long as you play EndWar the way EndWar wants you to play it, it’s happy.

Each battle plays out exactly the same. You’ll arrive with your opponents at opposite ends of the battlefield and then you’ll have to race towards ‘uplink’ buildings that have to be secured. Then it’s simply a matter of securing all the uplinks or wiping out the enemy. Variety only comes through the units you use and the problems your enemy causes.

Battles can be won easily by understanding the rock-paper-scissor nature of the units. Tanks beat combat transports, which beat air units, which beat tanks. All other units fall into this template somewhere and it makes the combat rather simple and easy to navigate, but unfortunately a little limiting.

EndWar’s battle will take you the length and breadth of the globe (as long as you like Europe, the US and Russia). Visually EndWar is a mixed bag. You spend much of your time close to the action, so an overview of the events going on around you is only possible from the map. Units have a decent amount of detail but there is some noticeable pop-up in the scenery. Environments look a bit washed out and the camera never really lets you explore as you’re always attached to a particular unit.

EndWar’s single-player game is really basic training for the multiplayer and in no way can be compared to other Clancy games with dramatic storylines. Its greatest success and failure is its control scheme, a success because it actually works and understands what you’re saying and a failure because it will limit your options in battle making the game feel more RTS ‘lite’ than in-depth and tactical. However, EndWar and voice recognition point the way forward to a future of greater immersion and control over our games.

Score Breakdown

Graphics

6.5 / 10

Sound

7.2 / 10

Gameplay

6.8 / 10

Longevity

7.2 / 10

Multiplayer

8.8 / 10

Overall

6.3 / 10

Final Verdict

Strangely it’s not the voice recognition that limits EndWar but the RTS and tactical choices that are overlooked. The single-player is left wanting in favour of a strong multiplayer.