Tom Clancy's EndWar Preview

For gamers, no popular fiction writer has become as ubiquitous in the gaming world as Tom Clancy. Attaching his name to a variety of franchises both critically and commercially successful, like Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six, Tom Clancy is quite the force in the industry. Now, Clancy’s name is being attached to a brand new IP, EndWar. A real-time strategy game with some innovative new features, Tom Clancy’s EndWar is shaping up to be an exciting title and a refreshing take on the genre.

The single-player campaign in EndWar takes place in the events leading up to and during World War III. Giving you control at different points of the United States, Russia, and a united European state, you’ll approach the conflict from all sides and points of view to learn its causes and effects.

The most compelling feature in EndWar is the use of voice-activated commands. Using an Xbox LIVE Headset, you can deploy units, move them to locations, or issue them attack commands. The game is very responsive to commands, making the Headset the best means of commanding your units in the midst of the game’s fast-paced strategy action.

In EndWar, the game’s missions are pretty varied, and you’ll have to perform missions where you must eliminate hostiles throughout an area or protect an area from attackers for a certain length of time. The units in the game utilize a rock-paper-scissors system of checks and balances. Transports are more powerful than helicopters, which are more powerful than tanks, which are more powerful than transports, meaning you’ll have to think carefully about what units you pair up against certain types of hostiles.

Aside from the game’s single-player campaign, there is also some very robust multiplayer modes, including the Theater of War. This mode is one of the bigger features in EndWar, and is essentially a persistent online universe where the player chooses one of the game’s three factions and fights for superiority through a series of skirmishes. You and members of your chosen faction will fight it out for control over areas on the game’s map, earning points and taking over strategic pints to help your units, like air bases for air strikes and so on. This mode is quite deep and should provide players with a ton of content.

EndWar is turning out to be a fun and engaging strategy title with innovative controls and great multiplayer gameplay. Look for a full review soon.