World in Conflict

World in Conflict - (PC)
Developer: Massive Entertainment
Format: PC
Genre: Strategy

Making strategy fun and doing it in style!

'The evacuees are safe. Now we can focus on killing Russians'. World in Conflict would get few prizes for political correctness - but that's probably the only plaudit this groundbreaking strategy title isn't going to win anytime soon. Voted 'Best Strategy Game of E3 2007' World in Conflict welcomes you to a nightmare vision of the future where cold war-era superpowers battle it out against each other, set to the backdrop of familiar cities and locales getting wiped out.

The game starts with Seattle being invaded by the Russians (who incidentally also invaded Europe) and from there on in it cracks on at the kind of pace normally reserved for arcade shooters; not the chin-stroking genre of military strategy. This is largely due to World in Conflict's novel approach by disregarding all base building and resource gathering. There's no place in this game for housekeeping duties, the battle is a rolling one and you're led to each objective by a skilfully crafted narrative that doesn't make you feel like you're playing on rails.

Visually, this is the most impressive strategy game to ever grace a PC and you'll need a high end one to play it (we thought we had one until the video repeatedly froze on one of the many spectacular cut scenes). But cut scenes are not the meat of the eye candy - that rests on a fully manoeuvrable 3D camera that can be elevated up and down via the mouse wheel to focus on a specific one vs one battle or on an entire battlefield.

But single player eye candy is only half of the serving - multiplayer is where real innovations shines through. The keyword is teamwork - you get to select one division of military power (infantry, artillery, air and support) and need to work with your co-players to secure victory. There's no time to rest on your lasurels - this is rapid, engaging fun.