Kotaku
The single most exciting and surprising thing to come out of Ubiday earlier this month was news that EndWar is going to use voice command to try and deal with the problems that inevitably crop up when bringing a real-time strategy game to the console.
I had a chance to see the official trailer and talked for quite a bit with one of the developers for the game, but unfortunately the game wasn't actually on hand to see in action.
The most important question, of course, is how will the voice command work because if that's flawed you might as well toss the whole game in the trash.
The developer told me that the voice command will use a series of simple, easy to remember words to let you issue commands on the fly to your units. He called it strategy at the speed of thought. The software the company is using has been thoroughly tested with very few mistakes, I was told, and of course it is still in development.
The team has tested the game with several languages and several accents without running into problems and they hope to ship it in a single SKU, meaning that all of those languages and accents will be packed into one game.
While the biggest news about the game is the voice control, the team is also taking an interesting approach to graphics. They told me they want the game to look more like Madden than Command & Conquer, with a close over the shoulder view. The team said they felt it was very important that the genre be brought into the 3D world much like Knights of the Old Republic and Grand Theft Auto did for their genres.
Finally, the game will have a massive multiplayer persistent online campaign running at all times. The way it was explained to me is that the battles fought online for one side or the other will be constantly tallied and translated into the overall military successes of both sides of the war. This will, in turn, result in real-time shifting of battle lines. The goal, they told me, is to have a single instance, instead of multiple wars running in parallel.
I also asked about the unit types the game would feature. While not all of Tom Clancy's franchises would fit into a World War III game, the developers are trying to make sure the ones that do will make an appearance. So, in other words, you can expect Ghost Recon, but probably not Rainbow Six.
Everything I was told sounded very impressive and I think this game has enormous potential, especially with different franchises they can cherry pick from, but of course, as with all real-time strategy games, it's going to boil down to how it plays, how it feels, whether they strike the right balance, and in this case, whether that voice command actually works.
I'll keep my fingers crossed. Hit the jump for the game's official timeline.
Tom Clancy s EndWar
Global Timeline
2011: SLAMS Treaty Signed
The United States and the European Union sign the historic SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield) Treaty, agreeing to co-develop technologies for comprehensive, interlocking anti-ballistic missile systems comprising dozens of space-based laser satellites, land-based interceptor missiles, and aircraft-mounted lasers. Left out in the cold, Russia accelerates development of its own land-based ABM systems.
2014: "The End of Nuclear War"
SLAMS goes live. The world watches as the US and EU launch test salvos against each other. The results are extraordinary: each nation's missile shield destroys 100% of the "dummy" missiles fired against it. The US and EU governments pronounce the End of Strategic Nuclear War, and on both sides of the Atlantic, crowds celebrate the advent of a new age of peace and security.
2015: Energy Crisis
Like toppling dominos, several major oil companies admit to having "overstated" recoverable oil reserves. For weeks the price of oil spikes to $200 dollars per barrel, and stock markets in New York, London, and Tokyo sink to their lowest values in 30 years. With world-wide energy production slumping, "energy security" becomes the explicit priority of governments around the world. Only Russia, already the number-one supplier of oil and natural gas in the world, benefits from the energy crisis, spending its surging coffers of petrodollars on a revitalized, technologically-sophisticated military.
2016: Birth of the European Federation
Largely in response to the ongoing energy crisis, nearly all of the EU's member states ratify the European Constitution and unite as a single national entity known as The European Federation (EF). The UK declines federation, but retains close economic and diplomatic ties.
2017: Standoff in Ukraine
Seeking to expand its territorial holdings, Moscow succeeds in pressuring Belarus to join the Russian Federation. Ukraine, however, refuses to knuckle under, and in a controversial referendum votes to apply for candidate status with the European Federation. Civil conflict (purportedly fomented by Russian agents) erupts and EF Enforcers rush in to restore order. Russia responds by rolling three tank divisions across the border and shutting down Europe's supply of oil and natural gas via the trans-Belarus and -Ukraine pipelines. After a tense standoff, all sides agree that Ukraine will retain independence for five years and then hold another referendum. Foreign forces withdraw, but an air of mutual distrust remains.
2018: The New Frontier
The United States announces plans to put the "Freedom Star," a massive space station co-administered by NASA and the US Air Force Space Command, into high orbit by 2020. This multi-purpose installation combines civilian projects such as alternative energy laboratories with military capabilities (defensive systems to protect the station against attack from anti-satellite missiles, and barracks capable of housing up to three companies of "space marines" able to deploy anywhere on Earth within 90 minutes). International reaction to this "American Aircraft Carrier in Space" is very negative.
2020: NOW
Three of the Freedom Star's modules have already been assembled in orbit. All that remains to be launched are the barracks and laboratory modules. Despite international protests, the US vows to go forward with the launch of Freedom-IV as scheduled.
