Real wars an unreal time

The real enjoyment of Real War comes from the skirmish maps and multiplayer scenarios.

Real War Rogue States
Simon & Schuster Interactive
http://www.real-war.com

Reviewer: MAJ Marty McKone

Real War Rogue States is a follow-on game to the Simon and Schuster Interactive-published Real War.

For those who have not played Real War, the game is a real-time strategy (RTS) game set in the modern day.

Players can play the US or a terrorist organisation, the Independent Liberation Army (ILA).

Each side has an arsenal consisting of a wide range of realistic units and structures to aid in achieving their scenario objective.

The game follows the familiar theme of this genre; players must generate supplies, which are flown into various supply points or shipped into ports. These supply points are converted into construction points allowing players to expand their forces.

Additionally, power generation is the second limiting factor which players must factor. Players are required to build additional power generation plants to keep power to their expanding force. Each force is centred on a headquarter that allows players to build air, land and sea commands.

Each of the commands then provides players with the facility to branch out into troop, vehicle and aircraft manufacturing with defensive works being constructed through an engineering command.

After players have developed their force sufficiently, advanced structures become available, opening up further construction options.

An example is vehicle construction with the basic vehicle park where players can construct recon vehicles and light armoured variants.

The advanced vehicle park allows the construction of heavy armoured vehicles and rocket-launchers.

The player can play either the US or the ILA and is provided a handful of single player scenarios, which do little to enhance the game.

The real enjoyment of the game comes from the skirmish maps and multiplayer scenarios. These games have players starting with their headquarters and building up their force with the goal of being the last surviving force.

These types of games quickly escalate from isolated engagements of recon forces and raids by attack helicopters through to mass clashes of armour supported by air, carpet bombing, cruise missile launches from the sea and the odd nuclear strike.

The game’s graphics are average and certainly don’t match the graphics presented in the latest releases of similar RTS games.

The game’s interface is mouse driven, with point and click functionality. It is a difficult interface to master, mainly due to the speed of the game and the overwhelming number of units that can be spread over fairly large maps.

Unfortunately, players cannot freeze play and issue orders, which would have made the game a lot more manageable, especially against the computer in skirmish mode.

The limitations of the interface also mean that there is no real combined arms effect in the game.

Players cannot coordinate their attacks and at best players can hope to get air and land units in the same place hopefully at the same time but their efforts are not coordinated.

Rogue States’ combat mechanics are at times questionable, (watching a B1 bomber being shot down by attack helicopters
and tanks is a bit disconcerting), but overall provide a stable gaming platform.

Every tank round and missile is displayed arcing towards its target.

Damage is displayed in the standard RTS method of a bar above the vehicle showing the amount of damage incurred with some spectacular explosions and vehicle debris being tossed through the air depicting the destruction of the target.

The game’s AI is very sound at the operational level but lacks any real finesse at the tactical level.

Like most AIs in this genre it manufactures at a great rate and sends wave after wave against the player.
It also appears to be able to change from air- to land-centric strategy depending on a player’s strengths.

Unfortunately the AI suffers the same limitations as players and cannot coordinate its attacks and gain any combined arms effects at the tactical level.

In summary, Rogue States is another RTS game on the market.

The skirmishes are by far the most entertaining aspect of the game, especially if being played head to head.
Rogue States should appeal to players who like the Command and Conquer series but prefer a touch of realism with the available forces.