Wargame: European Escalation

[Raven800]

Hey everyone at VG, I just stumbled across this very interesting RTS game and figured I'd submit a personal review on it as I've been playing the beta. So far I'm very pleased with it, in fact, to this moment I've yet to have a single complaint about it. With that said I'll just get right to it.

Wargame: European Escalation is a massive RTS game staged around the Cold War era, where NATO and PACT factions are fighting each other on massive battlefield maps. Each faction has up to 4 different countries in their alliances; NATO having the USA, UK, France and the BRD (Federal Republic of Germany, and the PACT have the CCCP, CSSR, Poland and the DDR (German Democratic Republic). No player is restricted to the type of army they can use as everyone is assigned a "Deck" that can be customized to the player's preferance. With the stage set each side with guns at the ready, which side will you choose?

I'll start by talking about the "Deck" system in this game. Each played is started off with a Deck for each faction. each deck holding basic unit types such as AT and AA infantry, basic logistics, Tanks, Light vehicles and basic support assets like Artillery and mobile AAA. As a player progresses through the game, they gain experience points that allow them to level up. Experience points are gained not only through combat, but through the amount of time a player participates in a battle as well, factering about 100 experience points for 10 minutes plus any additional experience points you in combat, so new players aren't completely left in the dust with nothing but the clothes on their back. As a player gains a level, they also gain Command stars with each level, factoring 6 command starts per indevidual level, and 15-25 star every 5-10 levels. These command stars can be used to purchase new units that can be added into your deck, allowing you to increase your armies size and strength.

Now let's get into the economics of the game. When organizing your deck you have to pay very close attention to unit skills and their deployment costs. Because there are 4 different countries fighting for each faction, there are a variaty of different units that can be deployed from each army. Some armies may have faster units that cost less, others might have units that dish out more damage but cost more, or vice versa. In addition to unit cost and battlefield effectiveness, units also come in limited supply. I'll pull an example from my personal Deck. M60A1 Patton tanks and M551 Sheridans come with 24 tanks each, where as MBT-70s only come with 12, and M1 Abrams come with 8. The M1 Abrams may be the strongest tank in my deck, but it costs 100 CP (command points) to deploy 1 tank, making it 400 CP to deplay a squad of 4 M1's, where as I could deploy 4 MBT-70s for 300 CP at 75 CP a head , or 12 shermans for 360 CP at 30 CP a head. In addition to deploying units you can also deploy units with "battlefield experience" indicated by shevrons underneath the unit image for an additianal percentage of CP, allowing them to be more affective in battle. Though it may seem like a great idea to deploy those M1 Abrams from the beginning, the cost might bite you in the ass later when they get swarmed by a platoon of T-62's. Even if the M1 can take out maybe 3 out of 5 squads of T-62's that doesn't make them immune to shelling, and they can eventually get weathered down, though there are some moments where quantity isn't always better than quality.

As you fight on the battle field, you'll lose more and more CP with every unit you deploy. Gaining CP requires you to capture strategic locations on the map using Command vehicles. Command vehicles are vital to winning the war as they are the only unit that can capture strategic locations. They must be protected at all times as they are the most vulnerable units in the game. They're kind of like the flag to your fort; loose the flag, you loose the fort. Command units are also the most expencive units in the game and come in a very, VERY short supply, so do make sure to take care of them. The more command vehicles you have on the field, the more strategic locations you can capture, giving you an increased number of CP per second. Sometimes Capturing strategic ares requires a bit of strategy as well. Capturing a strategic point only increases the amount of CP you gain per second. It DOES NOT give you a homefront advantage, nor does it give any form of boost to your units, so if there's a strategic area that looks like it doesn't have much cover or protection, it might not be worth capturing.

Getting into Combat now. Combat is fairly straight forward when it comes to head to head fights. The better equipt the unit is, the better chances it has for survival. Units can be hidden from sight in heavily forrested areas, tree colums or hedges. Not only do they offer an element of suprise but it also offers the unit a better chance at engagements from enemies outside of cover, though a Bradley APC is still an APC and will get murdered by an MBT unless it catches the enemy off gaurd with an AT-TOW missle, so pick and choose your engagements carefully. Each unit has a pro and a con; some units are better at AT while others are better at AA, where as some units might be good at AA, where as other units might even better at AA depending on their stats. Somtimes a stinger is useful, but an M40 Chaparral AAA works better due to it's greater range. Each unit has a limited range of sight as well and are also effected by line of sight, so even though taking the high ground will increase your units visual range, any defilade there may be between the enemy and your unit could be used to hide from your outgoing fire.

The line of sight mechanic works the same way for artillery as well. When artillery is deployed on the field it can be used to bombard anything within its range, but the farther away the target is, the less accurate your rounds are. However, if you have a forward observer, say a scout jeep or a ranger squad, they can give a more accurate firemission for the artillery team, making their long distance strike much more devistating. Ofcourse, accuracy isn't always everything. If you have enough CP you can deploy a few MLRS squads and just completely carpet bomb an entire Strategic location at the cost of Logistics. You can also use scout choppers to maximise your visual perspective on the battlefield, as well as laze targets for your gunships such as an Apache and send a hell fire right up an enemy tank's ass. The possibilites are endless.

Strategies are fairly simple, yet always unpredictable. There's no set strategy. That said, go in expecting the unexpected. Deploy a well balanced army and you'll be rewarded with the corpses of your enemies. Never rely one a single unit type, and NEVER play a single roll without telling your partner so that they can make the proper adjustments to their deployment. If you're going to spam air units, let your team know so that they can focus on other assets. Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes, it's not always about the size of your army, but how well you use it. The PACT faction, especially the CCCP, are notorious for pumping out platoons of units such as T-62s and T-55's because of their low cost, but even though they may out unumber you, a small group of MBT-70s and Pattons aided by Leapards could wipe them off the face of the earth with ease and cost the enemy major battle points.

Games can range from 1 vs 1 to 4 vs 4, and though that may sound small, settings can be adjusted to increase the amount of CP you start with, so 4 vs 4 can turn into an all out war instead of a quiet skirmish. So far game modes in the beta include "Destruction" where the objective is somewhat similar to team death match; kill enemy units to collect points, collect "x" amount of points to win. The other game mode is "Time" which has you battle it out for a set time limit. This time limit can range from 10 minutes for the casual gamers, to 60 minutes for the higher ranked heavy weights of the game. The objective if generally the same as destruction, and I'm not sure if there's going to be additional game modes on release, but I do know there's going to be a solo mode, which allows you to practice against AI enemies and play a "campaign" mode, and some sources tell me that the company has much bigger plans for the game itself.

I say, "Don't change a thing" as this is by far the best RTS game I've played to date, and anyone who knows me knows that I HATE RTS games, mainly because they're so mainstreamed, like Command and Conquer and Star Craft. In Warfare I feel confortable when playing against other people because the game isn't about how fast you can build your base and army or how quickly you can zerg rush the enemy base. It's about strategically placing units on the battlefield and using them to their abilities when needed. The only thing that gets in your way is lack of communication and lack of witts, and so far I've witnessed neither. Because of its massive maps, gameplay is slower paced as units take a realistic amount of time in traveling large distances, so you don't need the reaction speed of a Star Craft player to react to incoming threats. Communication and the ability to out wit your opponent are the keys to victory in this game, and I for one appreciate it. People who love playing methodical RTS games will love this game, and I'm pretty sure devoted Arma players may like it too as it uses a similar science in its own mechanics. Everything that happens in this game can be reasoned with and applied in real life scenarios. Antisipate, Counter Act, Attack, Regroup, and Dominate the enemy. This has been my point of view, and I hope anyone who ends up buying this game enjoys it as much as I have.

Wargame: European Escalation is available for pre-order on Steam. Take a look and see what you think.

[=VG= BLuDKLoT]

Nice job man! I haven't heard of this one, but I'm not much into strat games. When I found out COH was like that I stopped playing it, lol. Not my style, but nice writing man.

[sgt-barclay]

seen it on steam fancy getting it

[=VG= SemlerPDX]

Awesome review, bro! I've been seeing that you're playing that a lot, figured it must be a good one. Great write up!
!fans

[=VG= tankmaster58]

nice work on the detail of the game

[lupago]

I was looking for some info about it cos i saw some videos and I like that modern combat stragety, eventhought I am new in that kind of games, good review and thanks!