The developers have thrown out a lot of the mechanics that have come to typify the genre, streamlining the affair down to the truly important, core, tactical elements. It seems almost certain that the developers have taken inspiration from a lot of the deeper tabletop games that are around, with matches focused around controlling objectives, rather than annihilating the opposition. The majority of levels feature a sizeable number of control points scattered across the map with each side struggling to claim ownership of them. Once one force secures the majority of these a victory countdown timer is started, giving the losing side several minutes to try to rectify the situation.
The game keeps the number of units at a player's control down to 12 squads a side. Resource generation has been automated with the command points used to purchase units and mission supports accruing at an equal rate for both parties with additional command points awarded whenever an objective is captured. While some might see this as a dumbing down of the game to cater for console gamers, this could not be further from the truth. In reality it keeps the focus of play on securing objectives and ensures that the game remains dynamic. The winning side is forced to constantly defend against well balanced counter attacks from the opposition. This pushes the emphasis of the game towards very precise positioning of the limited number of units at a player's disposal. Ultimately what decides victory or defeat is the tactical ability of the commanders, rather than the ability of one player to micromanage faster than the other.
There are seven main unit types, including a variety of infantry, armoured vehicles and helicopter gunships which are all linked together in a rock, paper, scissors style set of relationships. Again, on the face of things this makes the game sound a little simplistic and if skirmishes ended up boiling down to this level that would indeed be the case. However units can often be used to effectively take on their betters if utilised in the correct manner, be it through employing hit and run tactics, keeping the opposition distracted or using cover effectively.
In addition to the combination of the game's nigh on perfect balance and the way it has focused in on the real fundamentals of strategic play so effectively, is the novel control scheme. The game can be played completely with the headset, via an highly accurate voice recognition system, and issuing orders in this manner is a real thrill. For more complex commands the pad is still required and seamlessly mixing between the two of these makes for an incredibly quick and easy interface, particularly notable for a strategy game on a console.
Barring the use of a special unit type, which allows access to an overhead map, the game is seen from the perspectives of the various units under your control. This makes helicopters and infantry stationed in tall structures very useful as they allow a much clearer view of the surroundings. It is an effective way to model the reality of battlefield visibility and when these units are lost the player is in real danger of being outmanoeuvred.
Regrettably, despite implementing such an excellent set of gameplay mechanics in Endwar, the developers have managed to systematically cripple each of the game’s modes. The online portion is broken down into one-off Skirmish matches and a persistent, online war called Theatre of War. In Theatre of War players align themselves with a faction and engage in what should have been a truly fantastic experience, fighting over territories scattered across the world map. Unfortunately, over time units accrue experience and new upgrades can be bought for them.
Now, this could have been a great opportunity to tailor the available forces, giving more diverse tactical options. However, virtually every upgrade is actually a pure brute force improvement, such as increasing a unit's damage or health. This effectively turns the game into an RPG and it’s not uncommon to play games where the opposition are so vastly levelled up that your units simply cannot touch them, losing despite being the better tactician. When victory is decided by who has put the most hours in rather than ability, then a strategy game loses its reason to exist. This is a problem that will only worsen with time as while the war gets reset periodically, upgrades and experience do not.
Another issue is that depending on the map one side will have access to particular mission upgrades that the other will not. When only one party has access to air strikes, let’s just say it can be a little unbalanced. The single player portion of the game is essentially an offline Theatre of War with a poor, unrewarding AI. It throws its units forward in one big lump and excels due to its ability to micromanage closely grouped units far better than a human can.
Where the game does shine is in its Skirmish mode, where both sides are evenly matched. However Ubisoft have utterly ruined the lobby system, making it impossible to find a match unless you actually invite people into the game. Minor niggles also include the fact that you can only play 1v1, 2v2 or 4v4 matches, with nothing in between, and the fact that the more interesting upgrades such as minefields and stealth abilities are unavailable.
Once into a Skirmish match, this all becomes irrelevant, however, as the player is transported to a world where every unguarded moment can see an early lead slip away. No other strategy game requires such constant attention throughout the whole match. No matter how far in the lead one side may appear, it is always possible to turn the tide of battle; indeed the closer they are to victory, the more spread out their units become and the easier it is to exploit weaknesses and oversights. Combine this with the well balanced set of units and a fast, reactive control scheme and the result is a blisteringly competitive game. There’s never any doubt that the reason you lost was because you were too slow or too overwhelmed at certain critical junctures in the battle, the mark of a truly great strategy title.
What is so frustrating about Endwar is that underneath everything, it is a brilliant game. The designers have just made it extremely difficult to get at this by wrapping the core gameplay with a number of ill-conceived modes. It can only be recommended if you have friends with online accounts to play with, as the single player and Theatre of War modes are utter duds. For those who can rely on a few buddies though, the game will provide some of the tensest, most exhilarating and downright challenging games you’ll have the pleasure of experiencing. Ultimately it is truly disappointing to see something so brilliant created, only to have the game’s own designers so fundamentally undermine their own efforts, effectively ruining the experience for the majority of gamers.