Review: World in Conflict

Kavak

98%

When I played this game for the first time I had the same feeling that R Kelly had after he finished pissing all over those 15 year olds. I felt delighted, amused, and somewhat shaken by the experience. World In Conflict (WIC) is the reason I started playing RTS games again. It simply removed all the annoying aspects of RTS games which make me feel like strangling the developer's child with my own bare hands.
   WIC is straight-up, nonstop hot steamy action all the time, throughout single player and multiplayer modes. I have never gotten as much satisfaction playing a video game as when I was on a mission where one of my objectives was to protect a church in France. I went out of my way to destroy it and I felt so happy.
   The multiplayer mode in this game is so well done it makes me uncomfortable. I had no problems creating my account and I had zero issues connecting to the game's server. There is also a voice chat feature, which some games like Enemy Territory Quake Wars do not have. This enabled me to call one guy's mother a cock-sucking whore in front of at least 50 people. It's almost like having my own radio show.
   The best part of this game is of course the nukes. I have never seen a better looking mushroom cloud on screen since the Hiroshima bombing. And of course, let's not forget the amazing DX10 features that this baby has. World In Conflict has opened doors to the idea of convenient game play, which a lot of game genres should consider.
  
  

MIG

95%

As you can tell by my gamer handle (MIG), I’m a product of the Cold War. I remember watching the evening news as a kid and hearing President Reagan say things like, “They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong.” I can’t remember how many Soviet Vs. USA games I played over the years (Raid Over Moscow, MIG-29, Flash Point Germany, etc.), but World in Conflict (WiC) is the greatest game of them all.
   WiC is a RTS designed to unleash the fury of warfare and remove the worry of resource management. What’s left is one of the greatest adrenalin rushes in gaming history. WiC manages to deliver the impact of a global war, but the actual battles involve relatively small numbers of units. This creates an efficient and engaging battlefield, which allows players to rely on tactics, instead of brute force.
   The game is balanced around the traditional RTS idea of unit Z > X > Y > Z. This creates the obvious necessity to utilize different units or face the risk of being overwhelmed. My only complaint is that the majority of the units (heavy tank, medium artillery, etc.) have identical capabilities. It would’ve been cool to have more differences, but it really doesn’t matter.
   The storyline is exciting, even if it’s unrealistic at times. Seriously, the odds of the Soviets reaching New York City with a significant invasion force, is about the same odds as a democrat reaching the White House in 1990. In the end, the storyline doesn’t matter; the incredible graphics and combat system will leave even the harshest game critic speechless.

Tzo

97%

Reviewing World in Conflict was a pleasure, except it wound up costing me 30 bucks. I bet Mig he couldn’t find a game my rig would not handle flawlessly before 2008. You should have heard him cackle when the bombs started going off in earnest and my FPS dipped down to 20. Oh well, I slightly lowered the settings and now things are going smoothly.
   WIC is not only pretty and fun, the game actually has revolutionary developments that will impact all future RTS games. For example the ability to broadcast your game through various cameras instead of having other players join as spectators, VOIP being included, and players joining in the middle of a game as if it were a real battlefield, not a separate universe.
   The AI present in the single player game is spectacular. When you play through a game like Starcraft each successive level teaches you to use the units farther down the tech tree and then you are thrown into multiplayer. In WIC the single player game has such a good AI it actually teaches you advanced team tactics. The team dynamic in multiplayer is all important. Since you are specialized into one role working with your partner adds synergy which is absolutely essential to winning.
   Infantry being too weak and virtually useless in multiplayer is one of the only problems I had. Tanks run them over like grass and even ones they miss die. Since the American artillery is designed to take out troops it is much weaker than the Russian counterpart because of this.