GDC 2009: Ubisoft planning R.U.S.E.

The June 6, 1944 D-Day invasion at Normandy was a success for a variety of reasons. One of them was Operation Fortitude, an elaborate deception planned by US and UK military intelligence. Its goal was to fool Nazi Germany into believing that the Allied invasion would come at the Pas-de-Calais in Belgium, the closest landing area to the British mainland. The scheme saw the creation of an entire phantom army division, complete with fake radio traffic, inflatable tanks, wooden aircraft, and mock landing craft.

Today, Ubisoft announced a new real-time strategy game in which such dummy forces will play a key role. Titled R.U.S.E., the game is in development at Eugen Systems, the France-based developer of Atari's well-received Act of War series. Unlike other RTS games, this title will let players trick opponents using deception, using special cards to fool players with nonexistent units, make weak units look strong--and vice versa.

R.U.S.E. will use Eugen's all-new proprietary engine, Iriszoom. As seen in the above video interview, the game will let players zoom in from the top-down tabletop world map to a midrange strategic 3D view, as well as a tactical point of view just above the action. As outlined in GameSpot's exclusive first look at the game, it will be set during World War II and let players choose from one of six Allied and Axis factions.

In development for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, R.U.S.E. is slated for release sometime during Ubisoft's 2009-2010 fiscal year. The Paris-based publisher has also launched a teaser Web site for the game.