E3 06: Theatre of War Impressions

LOS ANGELES--Do you like an obsessive amount of detail? If so, then Theatre of War is for you! Although the World War II RTS market isn't exactly an underexploited one, publisher 1C is betting that an obscene level of informational detail and micromanagement will lure in players.

We happened to see the game last year at E3, but for a rundown, the title places you in command of a large squad of units, usually consisting of around 30 to 40 individual units, which see action in all the major battles of World War II. While we don't have any particular storyline details at the moment, the game seems more oriented toward selling a sense of realism: we're told that it was in preproduction for four years, with a team of three historians researching arcana like the weight of individual shells, maximum velocity and ranging for the infantry bullets, and so on.

The game ties all of this together with an intriguing artificial intelligence and role-playing elements for the individual soldiers in your squad. You're not solely controlling infantry, of course; you'll also have tanks, artillery units, and other elements at your disposal. Although the game gives you a huge amount of information to manage if you wish, right down to the individual loadouts for each of your soldiers, you won't have to go too hands-on if you don't wish to; you're instead going to be focusing on the strategic aspects of gameplay rather than the brute tactics required to win the battles.

Most of the time, your soldiers will attempt to take the smartest action available to them, without requiring input from the player. In one instance, we were told that if you're attacking a tank battalion with artillery units, and the soldiers manning the artillery were killed, other soldiers nearby should automatically run over and attempt to man the artillery gun themselves. They likely won't be as proficient at it as pure gunners would be, but they'll still be doing more for your cause than they would be with their rifles. They'll also duck or take cover dynamically based on the environment through which they pass.

1C is promising the following features: five full campaigns for five different nations, including the underrepresented Polish and French factions; 30 maps based on real-world locations; and more than 150 vehicles, 200 uniforms, and 100 types of small arms. The game is currently listed with a fourth quarter 2006 release date, so keep an eye on GameSpot for more information in the near future.