EndWar VIP Demo

[Eipok Kruden]

Well, I just recently got an e-mail from Ubisoft saying "Congrats! You're one of the lucky 5,000 winners for the EndWar VIP DEMO contest! We hope you enjoy this advanced look at the game and appreciate your support." I'm downloading the demo right now and once I play through it for a while, I'll write up a review and post it. I'll probably just edit this post for it. Is anyone here looking forward to EndWar? Also, has anyone else here at the escapist won one of the tokens? No flaming or trolling please. Also, I'm not trying to brag about this, I'm just extremely excited

 

[nikomas1]

Haha I'm so looking foward to EndWar, I havn't preordered it but I WILL buy it upon release.
I KNOW it's awesome and all because i got into the private beta/stress test this summer. And a good messeage to everyone, THE VOICE RECOGNITION SYSTEM WORKS!!!!!!!! Take that from me, I'm from sweden and that was probably the american recognition system, Had no problems at all.

On another note I hope that teh europeeans have the choice to use the american accent instead of british enlish, as i speak better american.

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

Can has?

 

[Eipok Kruden]

Haha I'm so looking foward to EndWar, I havn't preordered it but I WILL buy it upon release.
I KNOW it's awesome and all because i got into the private beta/stress test this summer. And a good messeage to everyone, THE VOICE RECOGNITION SYSTEM WORKS!!!!!!!! Take that from me, I'm from sweden and that was probably the american recognition system, Had no problems at all.

If anyone still doubts EndWar's voice recognition system after all those tests and live stage demos, just ignore them. Pay them no mind and let them do some research on some of the game sites. I use gamespot, gametrailers, and ign. I don't trust gamespot for their reviews.......ever, but it's still a great source for what's new in the gaming industry. IGN is still by far my favorite of all the sites though. And I don't usually go to GameInformer. But yea, if you still doubt its voice recognition system, do some research......NAO!!!!

 

[TsunamiWombat]

What exactly is EndWar again other then a game not coming out for PC?

 

[Eipok Kruden]

What exactly is EndWar again other then a game not coming out for PC?

Please tell me you're joking, but if you're serious, check out this link: http://www.gametrailers.com/game/4730.html

 

[TsunamiWombat]

What exactly is EndWar again other then a game not coming out for PC?

Please tell me you're joking, but if you're serious, check out this link: http://www.gametrailers.com/game/4730.html

No, i'm being serious. Tom Clancy is a big meh for me usually. Okay, World War 3, all voice commands, got it.

 

[Raven28256]

I hate VIP demos/betas because everyone becomes flaming retards. Go look at the Gamespot boards. There are about a million "I CAN HAZ TOKEN NAO PLZ!?!?!??!!?! topics, and about 1.5 million "I"LL GIVE YOU -insert thing of value, usually MS points- FOR A TOKEN!!!"

Cocking hell people, it isn't even a beta. It is the ability to download the official demo two weeks before it comes out. Why anyone would give up something of value to trade for a code is beyond me. Not to mention that the fucking game comes out in less than a month...

I REALLY hope that this isn't a preview of the sort of community the game will have...Because if I have to play with a bunch of idiots that were too bloody impatient to wait two weeks for something that they traded $50 worth of MS points for what was very likely a worthless, used code then three years of hype will have been for nothing.

 

[Eipok Kruden]

I hate VIP demos/betas because everyone becomes flaming retards. Go look at the Gamespot boards. There are about a million "I CAN HAZ TOKEN NAO PLZ!?!?!??!!?! topics, and about 1.5 million "I"LL GIVE YOU -insert thing of value, usually MS points- FOR A TOKEN!!!"

Cocking hell people, it isn't even a beta. It is the ability to download the official demo two weeks before it comes out. Why anyone would give up something of value to trade for a code is beyond me. Not to mention that the fucking game comes out in less than a month...

I REALLY hope that this isn't a preview of the sort of community the game will have...Because if I have to play with a bunch of idiots that were too bloody impatient to wait two weeks for something that they traded $50 worth of MS points for what was very likely a worthless, used code then three years of hype will have been for nothing.

People are idiots, stop complaining. It's the way of life. Stupid people piss smart people off and the smart people make the stupid people's lives miserable by doing all kinds of crap to them. lol The internet brings people together, even the braindead people.

 

[Raven28256]

I hate VIP demos/betas because everyone becomes flaming retards. Go look at the Gamespot boards. There are about a million "I CAN HAZ TOKEN NAO PLZ!?!?!??!!?! topics, and about 1.5 million "I"LL GIVE YOU -insert thing of value, usually MS points- FOR A TOKEN!!!"

Cocking hell people, it isn't even a beta. It is the ability to download the official demo two weeks before it comes out. Why anyone would give up something of value to trade for a code is beyond me. Not to mention that the fucking game comes out in less than a month...

I REALLY hope that this isn't a preview of the sort of community the game will have...Because if I have to play with a bunch of idiots that were too bloody impatient to wait two weeks for something that they traded $50 worth of MS points for what was very likely a worthless, used code then three years of hype will have been for nothing.

People are idiots, stop complaining. It's the way of life. Stupid people piss smart people off and the smart people make the stupid people's lives miserable by doing all kinds of crap to them. lol The internet brings people together, even the braindead people.

You know what is really stupid? There is one guy who got ripped-off twice and he is still begging for a fucking code...

Is there no end to human idiocy?! Every time I think I have seen the dumbest person ever, God says "Hell no, look at this guy!"

Oh, and one was running around begging for a code, talking about how hyped he is for this game, about how he was tracking it for over two years...Then posts a topic bitching that the game is an RTS. Fucking brilliant. You have been tracking a game for years and claim you are very excited over it and never bothered to learn what genre it is.

 

[Eipok Kruden]

I hate VIP demos/betas because everyone becomes flaming retards. Go look at the Gamespot boards. There are about a million "I CAN HAZ TOKEN NAO PLZ!?!?!??!!?! topics, and about 1.5 million "I"LL GIVE YOU -insert thing of value, usually MS points- FOR A TOKEN!!!"

Cocking hell people, it isn't even a beta. It is the ability to download the official demo two weeks before it comes out. Why anyone would give up something of value to trade for a code is beyond me. Not to mention that the fucking game comes out in less than a month...

I REALLY hope that this isn't a preview of the sort of community the game will have...Because if I have to play with a bunch of idiots that were too bloody impatient to wait two weeks for something that they traded $50 worth of MS points for what was very likely a worthless, used code then three years of hype will have been for nothing.

People are idiots, stop complaining. It's the way of life. Stupid people piss smart people off and the smart people make the stupid people's lives miserable by doing all kinds of crap to them. lol The internet brings people together, even the braindead people.

You know what is really stupid? There is one guy who got ripped-off twice and he is still begging for a fucking code...

Is there no end to human idiocy?! Every time I think I have seen the dumbest person ever, God says "Hell no, look at this guy!"

Oh, and one was running around begging for a code, talking about how hyped he is for this game, about how he was tracking it for over two years...Then posts a topic bitching that the game is an RTS. Fucking brilliant. You have been tracking a game for years and claim you are very excited over it and never bothered to learn what genre it is.

OMG ROFL!! You serious? He didn't know it was an RTS for the consoles? That was built from the ground up to be awesome? And it uses voice commands for EVERYTHING? He's been "tracking" the game (probably on gamespot, lol) for years....right. Anyway, now to business. I am far too busy to write a full review going into every part of the game and I haven't really put my eagle eye to every little pixel shown, but I will write a much shorter review.
EndWar is what it was supposed to be. It will revolutionize and completely reinvent RTS games on the consoles. It is brilliantly done with amazing graphics for an RTS of this scale. The voice commands work really well except for a few instances when it confuses what you're trying to say, but I don't mind that much because you can just say your order again less than a second later and the game will get it right. Everything that goes wrong is extremely minor and can be fixed within a second or two. Once you get used to all the commands and the feeling of yelling them at your troops, it becomes much easier. I memorized all the commands in around 5 minutes and it took around half an hour to get fully comfortable with shouting them at my units. Every half an hour or so, the game will get a voice command wrong, but it's never a problem since I can just say the command again a second later and everything is corrected before the troops can do anything I didn't want them to. The AI for all the units is amazing. It's like the AI in Rainbow Six or GRAW. The infantry will take cover to be more effective, retreat if overwhelmed, hide in forests or garrison inside buildings (which does take time since the troopers have to systematically clear the building and get to defensive positions in real time). It is truly wonderful watching your engineers come out of some woods as your snipers back them up and your helicopter gunships take out the enemy's tanks. As all that is happening, you call an airstrike on a transport convoy and your tanks flank the enemy's artillery and take them out. After I play the game a bit more, I'll write up a full in depth review going into absolutely everything presented in the demo.

 

[bluerahjah]

Just out of curiosity, about how many vocal commands are we talking about here?

 

[Baby Tea]

Oh man I'm psyched for this game. I've got a soft spot for Clancy games, and I really HAVE been watching this one since it was announced. I'm psyched about the voice commands, since I think it'll help (Or even remove) the crutch that simply is: An RTS on a console.

Booyah!

 

[Walden]

Even though I don't own any of the consoles, I'm still excited for EndWar, though mostly because of the voice recognition software. That's probably the biggest UI advancement since joysticks. I want the port for this thing so badly, but right now that looks as though it'll be a forlorn hope.

 

[Eipok Kruden]

Just out of curiosity, about how many vocal commands are we talking about here?

A lot of them, but they're easy to remember. Each of your units has a number over them and each of your enemies has a number over them so you don't actually have to designate which unit is which number. There's commands like "attack," "secure," "move to," and "retreat." For instance: "Unit 1 attack Hostile 2," "Unit 3 secure Delta," "Unit 5 move to Foxtrot." You can also upgrade command bases so you can use upgrades. Each base can be upgraded to allow the use of a certain ability. There are 3 abilities in total: airstrike (allows you to call in an airstrike on a hostile or a certain point on the map," "Electronic Warfare (allows you to disable an enemy base or enemy vehicles which prevents any abilities the target might have)," and "Force Recon (allows you to call in AI controlled Ally troops like tanks or fast attack vehicles and infantry to guard or attack any base on the map; however, they cannot secure bases for you)." To use one of these special abilities, you must have enough command points (command points regenerate over time, but they can be earned faster by securing a base or killing an enemy unit), and once you do have enough, you simply say "Airstrike Hostile 4," or "Crash Alpha" or "Force Recon Delta." You can control up to 12 units at a time and you can create task groups by holding down the left trigger and selecting units with the up button, deselecting them with the down button, and moving from unit to unit with the left and right buttons (all on the d-pad). Once you have selected all the units you want in that task group, you simply press the y button to save the group. Once you have saved the group, you address it by saying its name, for instance: "Group one attack Hostile 7." There aren't actually that many commands now that I think of it, there's just so many possibilities. I guess that's the review for gameplay and controls. I'll talk about Graphics and presentation later.
EDIT: You can only upgrade a base for a single upgrade, but if the enemy secures that base, they instantly get that upgrade, so it's best to upgrade all your bases just in case the enemy secures one of them. You don't want to lose one of your abilities so easily. Oh, and also, if an enemy crashes one of your bases (electronic warfare), you won't be able to use that base's upgrade for a while (at least until the effect of the crash goes away).

 

[bluerahjah]

Just out of curiosity, about how many vocal commands are we talking about here?

A lot of them, but they're easy to remember. Each of your units has a number over them and each of your enemies has a number over them so you don't actually have to designate which unit is which number. There's commands like "attack," "secure," "move to," and "retreat." For instance: "Unit 1 attack Hostile 2," "Unit 3 secure Delta," "Unit 5 move to Foxtrot." You can also upgrade command bases so you can use upgrades. Each base can be upgraded to allow the use of a certain ability. There are 3 abilities in total: airstrike (allows you to call in an airstrike on a hostile or a certain point on the map," "Electronic Warfare (allows you to disable an enemy base or enemy vehicles which prevents any abilities the target might have)," and "Force Recon (allows you to call in AI controlled Ally troops like tanks or fast attack vehicles and infantry to guard or attack any base on the map; however, they cannot secure bases for you)." To use one of these special abilities, you must have enough command points (command points regenerate over time, but they can be earned faster by securing a base or killing an enemy unit), and once you do have enough, you simply say "Airstrike Hostile 4," or "Crash Alpha" or "Force Recon Delta." You can control up to 12 units at a time and you can create task groups by holding down the left trigger and selecting units with the up button, deselecting them with the down button, and moving from unit to unit with the left and right buttons (all on the d-pad). Once you have selected all the units you want in that task group, you simply press the y button to save the group. Once you have saved the group, you address it by saying its name, for instance: "Group one attack Hostile 7." There aren't actually that many commands now that I think of it, there's just so many possibilities. I guess that's the review for gameplay and controls. I'll talk about Graphics and presentation later.
EDIT: You can only upgrade a base for a single upgrade, but if the enemy secures that base, they instantly get that upgrade, so it's best to upgrade all your bases just in case the enemy secures one of them. You don't want to lose one of your abilities so easily. Oh, and also, if an enemy crashes one of your bases (electronic warfare), you won't be able to use that base's upgrade for a while (at least until the effect of the crash goes away).

I assumed each unit would have a number designation to it, really all I've seen on this is the trailer, but I'm still looking forward to this. Oh, and unlike some people who've been following this for years, I am aware it's an RTS.

 

[Baby Tea]

Ok, so I've been playing the demo all weekend online against people (18-2 W/L ratio! WOO!) and I have to say: This game is freaking awesome.

I'm an RTS fan, and this is THE best RTS I've played on a console. I know that isn't saying much (Console RTS games being what they are), but it also ranks right up there for overall favorite RTS. Seriously.

You don't have to build your base, you just have your units to worry about (Think Company of Heroes...also an awesome game). But even that isn't micro managed, because you can only have 12 units available in battle at once. This, thankfully, means you aren't yelling "Unit 24! Attack hostile 36! Oh wait! I mean unit 23 attack hostile 31! Oh wait!" It's just easy to command everyone.

This brings me to voice commands. Oh man, every RTS to come out on a console needs this. It works so well. Yes, I'll admit it has a hiccup every now and again, but every time that happened, it was because I got so used to talking normally that I slurred a bit when giving my orders. I though you'd have to be like: Unit (Wait for menu) 1 (Wait for menu) Attack (Wait for Menu) Hostile (Wait for menu) 2! But no, it picks up on everything. I'm saying full sentences in my headset and my troops on on the way.

Finally, the game is very well balanced (Although I think engineers are a tad tougher then they should be). It's classic rock-paper-scissors combat for units, but everything us usually a rock AND paper, or scissors AND a rock. There is no 'super unit' at all. And the game keeps the action coming when it get down to the wire. Example: When one player captures the majority of the Control Spots (5 out of 8 in the case of the demo), all unit costs are cut in half (2 CP instead of 4) to keep the action frantic while you desperately hold onto the points/try to take them back. Plus, the losing player gets a 'WMD'. This may sound 'unfair', but as soon as the losing player launches the WMD, the winning player gets one too. That being said, the losing player can withhold use of the WMD and the winning player doesn't get one at all.

I know this is a bit long, but I'm extremely impressed with this game. Controls are fantastic, the voice commands work very well, the game is very well balanced, and it's simple enough to keep you sane in battles, but deep enough to offer some really good strategy for those of us you crave it. If you haven't downloaded it and enjoy RTS games: Go get it. And feel free to look me up on XBL! I always enjoy a good match!

 

[ElephantGuts]

I got in the demo too, but I haven't played it yet. I doubt I will any time soon, with Far Cry 2 coming out tomorrow. But I was in the super-secret beta. It was super-secret. I actually wasn't particularly impressed with it back then, but obviously I'm sure it has changed a lot since then and I look forward to buying it if it's good.