War Front E3 2005 Impressions

We had the opportunity to go behind closed doors today with publisher CDV, who's showing multiple new games at E3 2005. One of the titles that we happened to see was War Front, a new alternate-history WWII real-time strategy game. We sat down with producer Elmar Grunenberg to get the inside scoop.

Developer Digital Reality (perhaps best known for Haegemonia) isn't presenting much of a false front when it comes to the game's features. The developer and CDV are pretty forthcoming about their comparison to games like Command & Conquers: Generals when detailing its gameplay. You're going to have fairly standard RTS features, such as base-building, unit construction, resource-capturing, and so on. Where Digital Reality is attempting to diverge from the pack is with the game's storyline and visual effects.

The story of the game is, as mentioned, an alternate-history exercise in which the assassination attempt on Hitler's life in the early 1940s is successful. Finding itself suddenly free of the madman's reign, the new government takes over and stops the more self-destructive policies of the Nazi regime, such as the persecution and extermination of minority scientists. However, they still find themselves embroiled in war. Since they technically began the war with invasions and annexations, the opposing allies aren't necessarily going to let them off scot-free. The cessation of the scientific purging, however, allows the Germans to focus their war-research effort on superweapons. To counteract the preponderance of German technology, the US and the USSR both bump up their own superweapon programs to the highest priority. The end result is a group of combatants with a number of unique weapons that appear in the 1940s when they only became part of the military bag of tricks decades later, if ever, in the real world.

We had the opportunity to check out some of these weapons for ourselves. While much of the vehicle tech in the game is based on authentic World War II technology--you'll see Panzer tanks and B-52 bombers, for example--some of them are noticeably upgraded, such as a Soviet supertank with five turrets that can apparently independently target and fire at multiple targets. The developers are also currently thinking about implementing some sort of Soviet freeze ray that will be used on buildings to halt production on them. The Americans, on the other hand, have a powerful earthquake bomb that can damage areas in a pretty wide radius around its impact point. There are definitely more of these superweapons waiting to be revealed, though, as they're something of the raison d'etat of the game.

Another thing that CDV showed off, and which it's justifiable proud of, is the game's graphical engine. Although this is only a very early build of the game, and a lot of things could happen between now and its release, this is definitely one of the better-looking action RTS games that we've seen in person. The engine features a lot of graphical buzzwords like dynamic lighting, but all you really need to know at this point is that it looks real "purty." The lighting is, indeed, probably the most noticeably cool part of the game, especially during the nighttime missions, when you can use flares to light up incoming planes, or set buildings on fire to illuminate the area around them.

The game also features a fine eye for detail, as well. Panzer tanks feature camouflage netting on their turrets that sway when they turn, for instance, and they also constantly emit turret exhaust. The fully destructible buildings also have a good amount of detail. For example, there was a farmhouse in the demo, which featured a number of fully modeled cornstalks and scarecrows in the yard, as well as a smoking chimney. When the camera zoomed in on the inside of the house, we were surprised to see that there was actually furniture inside. However, this insane kind of detail probably shouldn't be expected for every building in the game.

What's probably the most impressive part of the game at the moment, at least graphically speaking, are the explosions. These aren't some piddly poofs of smoke, now--we're talking humongous blasts that would put Michael Bay to shame, especially when you destroy a vehicle. Even at the farthest available setting, a B-52's impact with the ground will release a flare of light and a huge explosion that takes up around one-third or a half of the screen real estate for a moment. In other words, you're going to know when you've blown something up.

There are also a few other details that Elmar was able to show off. One is the inclusion of destructible bridges, which can sometimes prevent nonamphibious vehicles from crossing a body of water. To prevent this from getting too frustrating, though, there are bridge-constructing units that can be ordered to construct a makeshift bridge across a body of water, so long as it isn't too wide. Also, the stationary turrets in the game can be selected and fired from a first-person view for extra precision, and other units may be usable in this way as well, if you're willing to sacrifice your ability to scout around the entire area.

We came away from War Front thinking that the game is probably going to shape up into something pretty fun to play. The graphical power of the game is pretty obvious when you see it in motion, and the alternate-history timeline should provide for some pretty unique surprises in the single-player campaigns. Our only concern is that the tried-and-true gameplay mechanics might strike some RTS gamers as being a bit too familiar for their own good. However, the game is still a good ways off from being released, so there's plenty of time for tweaking and tuning. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more details on War Front.