War Times Hands-on Impressions

Though 60 years in the past, World War II remains a very topical subject today, especially when it comes to computer games. Battlefield 1942, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, and Call of Duty are just a few examples of successful first-person shooters that are based on the epic conflict. However, there haven't been many prominent real-time strategy games about World War II released in the US, for some reason. World War II lends itself easily to the genre, since it was basically a war of economic production and attrition, much like most real-time strategy games (where collecting resources, building a base, and amassing an army to defeat your enemies as quickly as possible is the norm). We recently had a chance to try out War Times to see how Spanish developer Legend Studios is turning the war into a game.

War Times has two campaigns that let you play as either the Allies or the Axis in the European theater of the war. The game basically covers everything from the invasion of Poland in 1939 to the fall of Berlin in 1945. Though there are two campaigns, one for the Allies and one for the Axis, you can play as one of four nations. The Allies are composed of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, while the Axis are represented solely by Germany. Each nation not only has its own building options and unique units, but also plays differently, thus reflecting the historical strengths and weaknesses of that specific nation.

The Germans and Soviets, for instance, feature very tank-heavy forces. As a result, they get some of the most powerful armor in the game, including the feared Tiger and KII heavy tanks. The British and Americans have weaker tanks, though to compensate, the Americans have much better aircraft, including the P-51 Mustang and the P-47 Thunderbolt ground attack fighter. Uncle Sam's troops also have access to the B-29 Superfortress, which is a heavy bomber that can wreak havoc on an enemy base. (However, the B-29 was historically used only in the Pacific theater.) The Americans are also the only playable faction that gets to build hospitals and nurses for the medical treatment of wounded units, which reflects the better quality of care that the American wounded received, especially compared to the Soviets. The British have decent tanks, but they specialize in surveillance and defense. In addition to getting a spy unit, the British also get a sapper unit, which can lay minefields that can shatter a tank attack. The British also get a stationary howitzer that can provide tremendous fire support, though the weapon is most useful for defense since its range is limited.

Surprisingly enough, War Times' scenario and level design seem very reminiscent of Westwood's popular real-time strategy game Command & Conquer. For example, you usually have a number of objectives to accomplish in each mission, such as destroying a certain set of antiaircraft guns or seizing a strategically important hilltop. Though resource gathering and base-building play prominent roles in the game, there are a number of game scenarios where base-building is relegated to a secondary objective. There are even some missions where you won't build any bases at all. In these scenarios, you'll be tasked with accomplishing your goals with a limited number of units. For example, in the Battle of Britain scenario, you control the Luftwaffe, and you have to knock out British radar installations and airfields without losing too many aircraft. During the invasion of France scenario, your German infantry have to explore the map, crush any enemy units they come across, and link up with General Guderian before you can build a base.

The game features a relatively simple resource system that's based on ore and oil. And just as the different nations have different battle tactics, they also have different approaches to resource gathering. The Germans and Soviets, for example, automatically collect oil as long as they have an oil rig built over a deposit. However, the Americans and the British must detail workers to transport the oil from the rig to their bases. For most nations, ore is the most critical resource because it's required for building just about everything. So, of course, there usually isn't enough of it to go around. However, the Americans use substantially less ore than their rivals, though oil is critical to them in their drive to churn out large numbers of airplanes and vehicles.

War Times will have support for up to 14 players in multiplayer. There will also be more than 20 multiplayer-only maps that showcase the different terrains available in the game. Additionally, there is a map editor so that you can create your own levels. Though the early version of the game we played seemed to have some issues with unit pathfinding, hopefully these will get ironed out before the game ships later this year.