Hello, NDA Ignoring Bastard

We're pleased to inform you that you have been selected to participate in the Tom Clancy's EndWar Private Beta.
You now have access to the full EndWar Beta website at www.endwarbeta.com and can begin posting on the forums.

Your username is: NDABREAKER2008

Don't forget to check out the "how to play" section for helpful information on getting started. The EndWar Beta will be ready for you soon and once it's available for download we'll be sure to let you know.

I am going to start using NDABreaker2008 as my handle every time I sign up for a beta test, just to see if anyone ever lets me in. Congrats to those who got in! We promise not to say anything to Ubisoft unless they offer us candy. Hit the jump for exciting screens from the beta instructions!

The three gig download will feature three maps for 1v1 and 2v2 matches, but no offline play.

I hope they launch a public beta as well. As with most new ideas, the concept of voice-command mixing with real-time strategy isn't easy to wrap your head around without trying it first hand.

As I mentioned in my preview of the game earlier this year, it seems to work quite well and despite the reduced unit types, I think there's enough depth in the game to keep things interesting.

EndWar [Via Joystiq]

De Plater said that part of the impetus for the game was the fact that, as real-time strategies have evolved, the genre has left a lot of people behind. People like my dad, even people, in some cases, like me. People, basically, who aren't interested in dealing with a Zerg rush five minutes into the game and instead want to play something a bit closer to, say, a detailed and realistic game of chess.

"One of the things we hear a lot of us is 'I used to love real time strategies, but it's gotten too complex'," he said. "So we decided to make a tactical game, slow the pace down. We call this game strategy at the speed of thought."

While the developers put a lot of effort into both the game design and user interface to make it pick-up and play, that doesn't mean it doesn't have depth.

For instance, the game, due out on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this fall, only has seven unit types, such as anti-tank, tank, light infantry and helicopters. But there are about 300 upgrades for the units. And the units, which gain experience during combat, keep both their experience and upgrades from battle to battle on the game's more than two dozen maps. With that in mind, the game has the ability to evacuate units in the middle of battle. If you get them out before they die you can still use them in the next match.

All of the buildings in the maps are destructible. Nothing new, but EndWar has a fairly sophisticated MMO-ish online component that looks at the game's 40 territories at the end of each day and averages out the outcome of all the matches to decide which of the three factions won which territory.

So the pick-up-and-play isn't really about the game being easy as much as it is about it being accessible. A key component of that, of course, is the voice commands which allow someone to play an RTS on large maps on a console without getting frustrated. The voice commands let you manage the battlefield from any location on the map.

"One of the fundamental differences between a mouse and keyboard and this is the level of precision," de Plater said. "So a big part of the AI is that you give commands like a general.

"War should be a series of intelligence decisions."

In other words, you can't tell your units to take cover behind a building during an attack, only that they should attack, the rest is up to them.

Verbal commands are typically broken down into three steps. First you say the unit's name, then the order and finally the goal. For instance, to move a unit you just say "Unit three move to Yankee"

To create a group you say "Calling all gunships create team, red team."

To order a group to attack you say "Red team attack hostile one."

The game is surprisingly good at recognizing not just when you get it right, but even when you say it wrong. The main problem, De Plater said, is where people put the microphone. Too close and it can cause some major distortion issues.

The game starts off with a simple voice tutorial that teaches you, not the game. This way gamers' are taught what to say instead of teaching the game to learn a bunch of different ways to do the same thing.

After talking with De Plater a bit about the game, he handed over an Xbox 360 controller and headset to let me give it a go. Within minutes I was ordering troops around the battlefield mostly flawlessly. In fact, the few times I misspoke and used the wrong command, the game still knew what I was getting at.

The game felt an awful lot like a one-player version of World in Conflict to me. You don't have to construct units or bases, instead, you spend all of your times issuing commands and keeping an eye on the battlefield. The fact that you don't really use the controller for much more than moving around on the map or holding a button so you can talk to your online opponents, the game felt much more immersive than your typical strategy title. I felt as if I was viewing a battlefield from a far, issuing commands to my troops and watching, like one might a chess match, as my tactics and the tactics of my opponent unfolded.

Having said that, there are some potentially game-killing stumbling blocks. I didn't see any issues with the friendly AI while playing around with the game, but when you have zero direct control over your units if they get that wrong then the game is dead in the water.

I also really didn't play enough to get a sense of how challenging the game would be to play. A big issue, I think, is that Ubisoft can't make your units too smart. As many of you pointed out, you don't really want to play a game that essentially has you saying into a microphone "Get out there and kick some ass for me."

Finding the correct balance between no-neck, brainless AI and a self-reliant army of ass-kicking automatons has got to be tricky—and it's where this game will live or die, I suspect.

What does surprise me is that, at least based on my time with it, the unusual interface, using mostly your voice to control the game, won't be an issue at all. It seems both seamless and a function that actually adds quite a bit to the experience.

SPZ - Rifleman - Wolves

Micro Summary:
The Spetsnaz Guard Brigade Wolves may very well be the single most feared military unit in the entire world. Known for their ruthlessness and brutality, the soldiers who make up this elite group have seen so much of war that they've grown accustomed to its horrors.

Summary:
It is without a doubt that the Russian Spetsnaz Guard Brigade Wolves believes it is better to be feared than to be loved. They are known for their toughness, brutality, and ruthlessness in combat. This has led to many critics who say that the Wolves are little more than sociopaths and thugs who enjoy killing. However, this criticism is both unfair and untrue. The men and women who make up this group have just seen so much conflict and war that what is considered inhuman to others no longer fazes them. Also, considering them just "thugs" would be a fatal mistake as they are among the most skilled and experienced soldiers in the world.

Tech Commentary:
Russia decided to stay with what works. The AK-74 and its variants are still in use in 2020, despite being a design that was created in 1974. A number of improvements have been made upon its 5.45mm ammunition, but the rifle itself is essentially unchanged. The only difference is that now an array of attachments are easily installed on the weapon and the muzzle brake has been improved.

Snipers in the Wolves are armed with the OSV-120 sniper rifle. This is the newest and most advanced rifle in the SPZ arsenal. When evaluating weapons for SPZ use no existing designs met its requirements for a high-caliber sniper rifle. This led to the development of the OSV-120 in 2009. The design was finalized in 2016. Since then the weapon has gained a reputation for reliability and accuracy.

SPZ armor is worn on the inside of the uniform rather than the outside. The armor itself is heavy and can be both uncomfortable and difficult to move around in. It also gives SPZ soldiers a large, bulky look. This, combined with the tenacity and determination of your average Wolves soldier, can make an SPZ charge a very fearsome sight.

Specifications:
Length: N/A
Width: N/A
Height: N/A
Weight: N/A
Power plant: N/A
Primary Armament: AK-74 and variants, OSV-120 12.7mm sniper rifle.
Special Features: Can take advantage of cover, garrison buildings, can capture uplink points.

Effective Against: Engineers, Riflemen
Vulnerable To: All Units

JSF - Infantry - Rifleman

Micro Summary:
The standard JSF Rifleman is anything but standard. They come from all branches of the military, such as the Army Rangers, Navy SEALs, and Ghost Recon. Every JSF Rifleman undergoes a one-of-a-kind advanced training school developed by U.S. Special operations Command (SOCOM) that further hones their impressive abilities to a razor's edge.

Summary:
Soldiers come from every branch of the U.S. military to become a member of the JSF. Walk into any JSF barracks and you'll see men and women from Marine Force Recon, Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Green Berets, Air Force Pararescuemen (PJs), and even Ghost Recon teams. This means that many fresh JSF recruits have already undergone extensive training before they even put on the JSF uniform. The purpose of JSF training is to unite all the different doctrines from other special operations unit into one, unified doctrine. JSF instructors have learned to glean the best parts of every special operations branch and implement it into JSF training.

Tech Commentary:
JSF riflemen are armed with the Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle Advance 1, or SCAR A1. The events which led up to the adoption of this weapon are actually quite controversial. The rifle itself is of Belgian origin and was originally designed in two variants, one chambered in 5.56mm NATO and another which used 7.62mm NATO cartridges.

The current SCAR A1 is essentially the same weapon, only it has been redesigned by a U.S. company to chamber the newer 6.8mm Cartridge. The US claimed that the SCAR A1 is a different weapon with its own patent due to the changes US arms makers implemented to enable the weapon to chamber the 6.8mm round. This claim infuriated the original manufacturers of the weapon and numerous lawsuits followed, none of which have been settled. Despite its rocky adoption, the SCAR A1 has proven to be a formidable rifle and a marked improvement over the US Military's previous weapon systems.

JSF riflemen are fully wired and carry the latest in communications gear and body armor, all of which is a direct descendent of the Land Warrior program. JSF snipers have access to semi-automatic .50 caliber sniper rifles which can be upgraded to use anti-material shells for additional firepower.

Specifications:
Length: N/A
Width: N/A
Height: N/A
Weight: N/A
Power plant: N/A
Primary Armament: SCAR A1/M120 .50 Caliber Rifle
Special Features: Can take advantage of cover, garrison buildings, can capture uplink points.

Effective Against: Engineers, Riflemen
Vulnerable To: All Units

EUR - Infantry - Rifleman

Micro Summary:
Being a Kommando in the Enforcers Corps is considered one of the highest honors a soldier can have in Europe. The Enforcers Corps excel in urban and counter-terrorism tactics and many of its founders and ranking officers are former Rainbow Six members.

Summary:
The Enforcers Corps Kommandos includes members that come from many elite special operations groups. This variety is considered a advantage by European commanders. Kommando units are encouraged to stick with the tactics and doctrines of their original units rather than confirm to one universal rule set. This means one group of Enforcers Corps Kommandos may behave and function in a manner that is radically different from another. European commanders feel that this will help keep their enemies off balance and allow for more specialized deployments. All Enforcers Corps battalions excel in urban and counter-terror operations.

Tech Commentary:
Various conflicts in the late 20th and early 21st Century showed how lacking the 5.56mm NATO round was. When the European Federation broke away from NATO it was decided that the Enforcers Corps needed to adopt a new rifle cartridge. Ironically, the Europeans decided to go with a 7mm NATO round that is actually a modernized version of a .280 caliber round created in the late 1940s. Immediately after the decision was made to adopt this cartridge, manufacturers in Belgium (E3000 Carbine), France (FMS AG2 Assault Rifle), and Austria (UAR 7 Bullpup Support Weapon), began mass production of 7mm weapons earmarked for Enforcers Corps Kommandos use.

Tactics and strategies vary from one Enforcers Corps Kommando group to another. European commanders see this as an asset as enemies are always kept on their toes and individual groups are able to make a niche' for their abilities as well as make a name for themselves. The Enforcers Corps Kommandos are especially known for their superb skill in urban combat. Few soldiers can match their ability to storm buildings and secure Uplinks. Much of this is due to the dissemination of CQC tactics from a large pool of elite urban combat and counter-terrorist groups such as GSG-9, and GIGN. The fact that the Enforcer Corps are in many ways a descendant of Rainbow Six also furthers this strength.

Members of the Enforcers Corps Kommandos pride themselves on their professionalism and hold themselves up to a very high standard. In a sense, they are the perfect modern-day embodiment of the medieval Knight, chivalrous, brave, and steadfast in their beliefs. However, this should not be mistaken for softness. Enforcers Crops Kommandos are capable of carrying out their orders with chilling efficiency and are not afraid to make sacrifices for the "greater good".

Specifications:
Length: N/A
Width: N/A
Height: N/A
Weight: N/A
Power plant: N/A
Primary Armament: E3000 Assault Rifle/UAR 7 Bullpup Assault Rifle/ JO-2 .50 Caliber Sniper Rifle
Special Features: Can take advantage of cover, garrison buildings, an capture uplink points.

Effective Against: Engineers, Riflemen
Vulnerable To: All Units

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. Brian Crecente

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.

News
Tom Clancy's EndWar will be a real-time strategy game that relies entirely on voice command to deal with the issue of controller complexity.
Haze will sport four-player drop-in co-op among other things.
Ubisoft landed a deal with Paramount to work on a game based on their upcoming movie Beowulf.
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, the sequel to the popular Wii game, was unveiled.

Video, screens and impressions
Assasins Creed speech and new trailer
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Haze
Tom Clancy's EndWar
Settlers: Rise of an Empire
Blazing Angels II
Brothers in Arms Hells Highway
Naruto
My Word Coach
My Life Coach
Jam Session
Surf's Up

Check back tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. pacific sharp for a day's worth of impressions, interviews, screens and videos. Brian Crecente