It’s a well-known fact among the gaming community that consoles and RTS games don’t mix very well. The effectiveness of the tried and true keyboard/mouse control scheme that PCs utilize has to yet to be successfully matched by a console controller. While games like the upcoming Halo Wars are trying to remedy the problem by designing for a console from the ground up, EndWar takes a different route. A more vocal route, one might say.

See what I did there?

Tom Clancy’s EndWar takes place in the future, where things have gone to shit, as one might guess from the title of the game. The US and Europe co-develop SLAMS, the Space-Land-Air-Missile Shield, putting an end to nuclear war. Russia wasn’t invited to the party, which comes back to bite everyone in the ass when the world’s oil supply begins to run out and Russia controls what little is left. This divides the world even more, forcing most Western European States to combine into the European Federation.

As if hell hadn’t already broken lose, America furthers the international tension by dominating space. The Freedom Star Military Space Station is capable of putting marines on the ground anywhere in the world within 90 minutes, which makes everyone a little uneasy, understandably. When terrorists attack the launch of the final space station module, inevitable war finally breaks out.

The story in EndWar is good for moving the action forward and little else. Being an American, my heart swells with pride at the thought of us building a Death Star, but the plot is weak and is simply there to set up the action.

If you decide to play the single player campaign, you’ll begin with the Prelude to War tutorial. The tutorial does what it’s supposed to do, but I felt that it does it rather slowly. Four or five missions into the game and I felt like I hadn’t employed any strategy whatsoever, as I was always outfitted with more than enough resources to completely decimate the enemy. I understand that the purpose of the tutorial is primarily to teach, but what better way to learn than through challenge? Enough with the hand holding; I want to scream “Unit 2 attack hostile 4!” like my virtual life depends on it.

My main concern going into EndWar was how well the voice commands would work. I can’t help but think of those terribly automated operators that companies employ to answer their phones. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones where, if you’re lucky, they’ll just ask you to repeat yourself rather than misunderstanding you and connecting you to someone that you don’t want to talk to at all.

As I feared, the voice commands are a mixed bag. While my dirt-cheap Bluetooth headset probably doesn’t help matters, it can’t be blamed for all of the problems I encountered with the computer not understanding me or hearing something different. You can tell a unit to abort an order if the wrong command gets issued, and while it’s pretty fantastic to scream “ABOOOORRT,” it became a problem after a while.

It’s been said that you can play EndWar entirely with voice commands, and while that may be true in theory, you’ll end up using a combination of both your voice and controller.

That isn’t to say the voice commands are a failed endeavor. When they do work, which is the majority of the time, they’re fantastic. However, when you’re in the heat of the battle and they stop working, it becomes a serious issue. Still, Ubisoft has found a very creative way to get around the console RTS control issues and they should be commended for that.

Another issue I had was with the camera system. Your view is limited to the unit you currently have selected. If you want to switch cameras, select another unit. You can rotate the camera 360 degrees and zoom in on whatever you’re looking at, but if you try to move you’re on a pretty short leash.

EndWar is set in the future – 2020 to be exact. We’re reminded of this constantly with all the talk of the European Federation and Military Space Stations; not to mention the futuristic-looking gunships. But despite all of this, your view of the battlefield is seriously limited. Having to select a unit and stay within its sight line is incredibly annoying and switching units in mid-battle and having to regain your bearings is anything but intuitive.

I know that Tom Clancy is a stickler for accuracy, and I love the man because of that, but couldn’t Ubisoft come up with some reason to give us full visual access to the area? The Americans have their Space Station – couldn’t they use some crazy satellite technology to get a real-time view of the battlefield?

Now that I’ve aired my major grievances, I can get down to the actual combat. Aside from being somewhat limited (this seems to be a recurring theme here), it’s really fun. When I say it’s limited, I’m talking about the fact that it only has six core units, with clearly laid out strengths and weaknesses. If the enemy is attacking with tanks, send some gunships to stop them. If you see a group of engineers, riflemen or artillery will make short work of them.

Despite the game’s limited offerings, there’s still plenty of room for strategy. You’ll gain Command Points by securing uplinks and simply surviving in battle and you must choose the best way to spend them. You’ll also have to decide where to deploy your various units to maximize their effectiveness. While the game could definitely benefit from being a larger experience overall, that’s what a sequel is for.

The online multiplayer, called Theatre of War, is easily the game’s best feature. Before you can do anything, you must choose which of the three factions – USA, EU, Russia – that you will align yourself with, as well as pick your battalion, each having their own specializations. After that, you’ll be thrown into an online persistent battle for worldwide domination. From here, you can see what territories your faction controls and you can choose from a wide variety of missions; each victory will bring you closer to world domination.

Theatre of War is a stroke of genius. EndWar could’ve easily had run-of-the-mill online multiplayer and it would’ve been a blast to play. Instead, they give you a persistent world and a goal, one which you share with thousands of people. As a gamer, I like something I can really get involved in, and this is exactly that.

I don’t feel comfortable saying that EndWar should be purchased. It’s absolutely a rental, as it’s unique and it’s quite good. At its core, it’s a lot of fun, which is the most important thing. Ultimately, however, a lack of battlefield control, brought on by a restricting camera system and voice commands that sometimes don’t work, prevent it from achieving greatness. I can only imagine hardcore RTS fans picking this one up.

If you have been looking forward to Tom’Clancy’s strategy game, EndWar, and you own an Xbox 360, you will get your shot at a multiplayer beta come early October.

The catch (and ultimately what makes this a “VIP demo“) is that you will need to pre-order the game (I see a trend developing here) in order to receive a token which grants you access to download the game. The press release states that slots are limited and tokens will be given out on a first come first serve basis.

A full copy of the press release is available after the jump.

UBISOFT ANNOUNCES TOM CLANCY’S ENDWAR(TM) PRE-LAUNCH VIP DEMO

San Francisco – August 26, 2008 – Kicking off the countdown to the game’s release this fall, Ubisoft announced today that a pre-launch VIP demo of Tom Clancy’s EndWar(TM) for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft will be made available to consumers prior to the game’s release. Tom Clancy’s EndWar was recently named the Best Strategy Game of E3 2008 by Game Critics Awards, the first time ever a console game has received this award.

“We believe EndWar will revolutionize the strategy genre on consoles and are thrilled gamers will be able to get a little taste of why we are so excited about EndWar’s release this holiday season,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. “With its innovative voice command and intuitive game design, fans will be able to learn first hand how a console game was able to win the judges over and win Best Strategy Game of E3 for the first time in a category previously dominated by PC titles.”

The pre-launch VIP demo will feature multiplayer functionality and serve as a final stress test for the online systems of the massive war game, allowing fans to try EndWar’s voice command¬ enabled strategy prior to its release. With only a limited number of slots available for access to the VIP demo, fans that pre-order the game at participating retailers will be given access to a unique token on a first-come first-served basis that will allow them to download the VIP demo from Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 VIP demo of Tom Clancy’s EndWar will begin in early October.

Tom Clancy’s EndWar will ship in North America this fall for the Xbox 360 video game system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and Nintendo DS(TM). For more information go to www.endwargame.com or www.endwargame.com/vipdemo.

Ubisoft’s name comes from the word “ubiquitous”, which means to be everywhere at the same time. With the many branches Ubisoft has throughout Europe and Canada, there’s a reason for the name.

Locations in Barcelona, Shanghai, Dusseldorf, Bucharest and Casablanca (just to name a few) make the company seem like the in-house producer of spy novels rather than a high-end video game developer.

And that assumption isn’t too far off target. After all, Ubisoft has more than dabbled in the subject matter, being the creator of both the Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter series.

Ubisoft got its start as a publisher, and much like Electronic Arts, used this as a springboard to make its own in-house software. Starting in France in 1986, they received their first recognition as a developer with the creation of Rayman, a title originally designed for the flop that was the Atari Jaguar and the more standardized MS-DOS operating system back in 1995.

Rayman was your typical 2D side-scrolling adventure, but it served its purpose in getting the company noticed, and Ubisoft was able to continue future creations with decent capital. Giving the hero a wide variety of powers helped the game achieve enough variety to create a fan base and later Rayman adventures.

Ubisoft continued to produce quality carts in the years to come. They would really start to make big strides once development began for the newer generation of console titles. Ubisoft really started to make a name for itself with the PS2, XBOX and Gamecube clientele. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell in particular was a huge leap for them and their famous Montreal office.

Splinter Cell proved successful with fans of the stealth/action category made famous by its Konami counterpart, Metal Gear Solid. Sam Fisher, a character now synonymous with the genre, was a more grizzled, realistic, and relatable character than the super-soldier archetype of Solid Snake. His was a more realistic world, using more realistic weaponry in more realistic settings.

The addition to the highly popular multiplayer capabilities introduced in the sequel Pandora Tomorrow would only sweeten the deal, and many gamers found more joy in the highly playable Splinter Cell series than Kojima’s cinema-heavy Metal Gear Solid series. He was the Pepsi to Metal Gear’s Coke, and many gamers welcomed the change.

After Ubisoft successfully went toe-to-toe with a genre monopoly, they decided to reanimate a classic game themselves. In 2003 the Montreal branch released Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time , an artistic interpretation of the original series created by Jordan Mechner. The game successfully captured the urgency and acrobatic prowess of the original, while delivering an amazing story arc with top-notch narration.

Flipping over parallel bars, running on walls, and sliding under closing spiked gates has never been this much fun, and fans who fondly recalled the 1989 original rejoiced. Like Splinter Cell, the game gave birth to several sequels. While Mechner would not continue with Ubisoft in the development the next two games, they continued to garner success (albeit with a much darker tone and subject matter). Ubisoft had another hit that would continue to attract critical praise.

Ubisoft has made plenty of must-buy titles in its short existence, and published dozens of others. The sleeper hit Beyond Good and Evil, the Myst series continuation Myst IV: Revelation, and the stylized first person shooter XIII are some examples. But what makes Ubisoft hold its own with the other big hitters on this list is its commitment to a promising future.

By the end of this year we can expect to have Assassin’s Creed, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and Haze. Next year shows no sign of letting up with potential blockbusters FarCry 2 and Tom Clancy’s EndWar rounding out 2008’s lineup.

What puts Ubisoft in the running for best developer of our generation is the fact that many will buy these titles simply because they’re brandished with the Ubisoft logo. They have built a name in the past, which continues in the present and should continue into the future. Ubisoft picked its name wisely – ubiquitous is truly what they are.

Must Haves:
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (Multi),
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Multi),
GRAW 2 (Multi)

Have Nots:
Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force (GBA)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

World War III and its hypothesized aftermath has been the subject of countless novels, films, video games and even music for the last sixty years. Basically, since the defeat of the Axis Powers in 1945, people from nations around the globe have prophesized about what the parameters would be for the next Great War. As Americans, we have been subject to these possibilities since their inception. But as time marched on, our speculations as far as the “who” and “where” of the next world conflict have evolved.

In the 60’s it looked as if it was going to come from Cuba. In the 80’s it seemed mainland Russia would be the source. Today our attention is focused on the Middle East and North Korea. Enter Tom Clancy. A man who has sold over 80 million books, lent his name to over 12 games and has had adaptations of his novels turned into 4 well received feature films tackling this very subject. In Clancy’s latest effort, EndWar, he goes about doing what he does best…telling us how the bombs are going to fall.

EndWar is a real time strategy game being developed by Ubisoft’s Shanghai team and is the first game of it’s kind being made under the Tom Clancy moniker. The Clancy name is something that is synonymous with tactical and squad based shooters like Rainbow Six, as well as their highly successful espionage series Splinter Cell (which also has a new entry for next gen consoles being slated for next year). These games focused the player’s attention on a particular soldier or group of soldiers. Now, Ubisoft wants to draw that focus back to consider the entire war that you are engaged in. From infantry to artillery, you will be in charge. The player will be given the opportunity to govern the movements of an entire front.

RTS games have been attempted on consoles before (some with less than favorable results), but none like this. Ubisoft and Creative Director Michael De Platter want you to be the general. They want you to bark the orders…and they do mean literally. Part of the reason that many attempts to transfer the magic of strategy games from PC to Console have failed is due to the poorly adapted control schemes. In reaction to that, De Platter and company have designed the game to be played with the XBOX headset.

You tell squad Red-5 to attack Alpha and they snap into action: hugging cover and staying in formation along the way. Good A.I. will definitely need to play a part in all this, but if it works as its supposed to it should help take out a lot of the Stalinistic authority needed to watch over each individual soldier, freeing you up to consider the entire battalion’s course of action. This doesn’t mean that the controller will be completely struck from the record though. Think of it as playing the role of a walkie-talkie. You press the right trigger to initiate the voice recognition and issue your orders accordingly through the headset.

A heads up display will be available for referencing your available commands, however any orders you’ve memorized can be issued without bringing up said display. Stubborn D-pad purist can rest easy knowing that the directional buttons can still be used to tell your army to move, attack, defend and capture. So, anyone that has played previous entries of the Clancy canon (GRAW, Rainbow Six: Vegas) should be comfortable with the setup.

The success of this bold technology relies on the voice recognition accuracy. According to De Platter at the game convention in Leipzig, Germany the team has achieved 90% accuracy thus far and are shooting for 95%. It’s good to see how much attention Shanghai is putting on this aspect. There’s nothing worse than ordering a platoon to take out a beachhead gun emplacement, only to witness your men start grilling burgers while their comrades are viciously mowed down – all because the computer mistook your Midwestern accent of the word “execute” as “barbecue”.

Aside from the exciting prospect of using your voice to command your legions, another thing that makes this title immediately standout are the amazing battle possibilities that will be found on XBOX Live. The game in fact has been designed specifically with online involved, which is evident due to the variety ways in which EndWar can be played. Any of the missions can be taken on in Single Player, Multiplayer or Co-op mode. Not only that, but there will also be a massive multiplayer online campaign available to the swarms of XBOX Live account holders all over the world.

Command a particular section of your faction’s military force along with your comrades. Your battle record will tip the scales of the entire war. Win a battle and you’ll advance the line. Lose a skirmish and that line will recede (along with you receiving a barrage of voice modulated ridicule from the 13 year old Erwin Rommel wannabe on the other side).

There will be about 40 fully destructible battlefields to wreak havoc in when the game is released, with almost inevitable online additions in tow. The battlefields will be set in locales such as Paris, Washington DC, Moscow, Germany, New York Harbor, Spain and rural America. The screen will be packed. Each one is clocking in at hundreds of megabytes each, according to De Platter. Upgrading will also play a large roll in EndWar with over 300 equipment and training upgrades available for your units (Riflemen, Engineers, etc.) and vehicles (tanks, helicopter gunships, camera drones, hunterkiller robots, sentry drones and planes).

All in all EndWar is looking very promising. If Ubisoft can deliver on their claims then a must have addition to your XBOX 360 library will be out the first quarter of 2008. Considering Halo 3 will be launching in September, EndWar may be sliding in at just the right time to snag a good amount of players needing a break from Master Chief in search of a new online fix. After all, why be the puppet when you could be the man pulling the strings.

Sources: www.endwargame.uk.ubi.com , www.ubi.com/us/news/info , www.computerandvideogames.com