Order of War Updated Impressions

What would happen if you took battles on the scale of Total War's massive skirmishes and updated them with World War II-era tanks and infantry? That's what Wargaming.net's Victor Kislyi hopes to accomplish with Order of War, the developer's upcoming real-time strategy game that begins--expectedly--with the Normandy landing. We already took a brief look at the game earlier this week on the E3 2009 show floor, but we paid a visit to Square-Enix's sprawling booth to find out just what this historical RTS has in store for beginner and veteran strategists alike.

The first aspect of Order of War that Kislyi pointed out was how massive the battlefields were. He pulled up one of the first campaign missions on the screen, and he certainly wasn't kidding: the map was a huge representation of the French countryside. Wargaming.net intends every environment to be historically accurate. For example, different areas of France will feature authentic architecture so that southern France will look different from northern France. On another map, flooded areas accurately represented what the area would have looked like after Germany flooded the region. Maps will simulate several square miles of terrain, and we saw details packed into every nook and cranny. Milk bottles sat outside farmhouses, and decrepit abodes looked as if they'd just taken a pummeling from soaring bombers.

Expect up to a thousand or more units on the screen at once. It's impressive, given the apparent scale of the battles, that the graphics engine still manages to render so many details. You will be able to zoom far out and look around the battlefield in a 360-degree panoramic view, or you can zoom in and get up close and personal with your tanks. If you really get into following your units around closely, you can activate the cinematic camera. Kislyi seemed quite proud of this feature and spent a lot of time showcasing battles in this manner. When the feature is activated, the camera will position itself in various, random ways to showcase the havoc. It zooms about, follows infantry as it rushes ahead, and swoops and pans as if trying to re-create Saving Private Ryan. Sometimes, it did a pretty good job of it, while at other times, it chose bizarre views that didn't look all that exciting. Nevertheless, it mostly worked well, letting us admire the detailed tanks and decent but slightly awkward-looking ground troops.

Of course, armchair strategists are more interested to find out how the game plays, though Order of War is meant to be friendly to all players--even newcomers to the series. Kislyi says that Wargaming.net spent a lot of time tweaking the game so that it would be fully playable with just a mouse. The developer wants to immerse you in the game and let you feel like a general, so expect your squads to take appropriate actions rather than requiring you to micromanage them. For example, if your infantry is being besieged by tanks, they will throw grenades on their own, rather than forcing you to choose an alternate attack. In fact, there are no alternate attack modes: there is very little micro involved in these massive battles. Squads will break up and flank enemy units when appropriate and lay down suppressive fire. When you leave a particular squad behind, expect it to make smart decisions without your having to babysit it.

Order of War will ship with two campaigns: an American campaign and a German one. Each campaign will feature nine scenarios, and each will begin with a History Channel-type introduction that introduces you to the mission and its context. These intros will take about 30 seconds, and their presentation is pretty slick. The game will feature plenty of similar cinematic touches. Audio prompts will keep you constantly informed of events scattered across the map as they occur. In addition, every five to seven minutes you will receive new orders, presented via in-engine cutscenes. It seems a bit much, though, since such constant interruptions can completely destroy the pace of the action. Judging from their frequency and the slightly uncomfortable voice acting we heard, veteran players may get a bit impatient. According to Kislyi, campaign scenarios should last around 45 minutes. There will also be a multiplayer component (featuring a third faction, the Russians), though oddly, online play will be limited to one-vs.-one and two-vs.-two matches.

As is becoming more and more common in the genre, there will be no base building in Order of War. During the campaign, you can secure reinforcements at scripted times or capture flags to earn resources with which to request reinforcements, as in Dawn of War II. In fact, if you play on easy mode, the game will always provide you with more troops so that essentially you cannot be defeated when playing on the lowest difficulty setting. Kislyi believes that this system will give you the sense of snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat. Obviously, strategy veterans will prefer to avoid easy mode, instead using various tactical options, like garrisoning infantry in buildings or trenches and learning about the various strengths and weaknesses of their tanks. Terrain shouldn't prove much of a tactical consideration, however; Kislyi mentioned that while Wargaming.net did take environmental concerns into account (tanks can't shoot through buildings, for instance), vertical positioning won't have much impact.

In between campaign missions, you'll be able to use points you earned during the prior mission to buy upgrades, though Kislyi downplayed the effect that such upgrades will have on the gameplay. One thing you will never earn, however, are aerial and naval units: battles will be confined to the ground, and each faction will use around 20 different units. We saw these units in two different scenarios, both taking place on large maps with plenty of destructible objects to blow up. One of the maps featured a spooky-looking cemetery, and the cinematic camera showcased the constant battery of machine-gun fire and bright explosions. Controlling units looked easy. You can select squads from the unit cards at the bottom right of the screen, arranging them in control groups, or you can drag the standard selector around the units you wish to order.

Clearly, Wargaming.net is trying to make Order of War as accessible as possible and seems very proud of how easily the game will control using only a mouse. According to Kislyi, the game is a hit in Russia, where it has already been released. Our only concern is whether experienced players will find it a bit stripped. We won't have to wait too long to find out: Order of War will be released in the fall of 2009 on the PC.