Graphical sexiness!
Now I don’t normally devote a page to the graphics in a game purely because I’m a firm believer in a good game being a balance between the two but I’m going to make an exception for World in Conflict as to be honest, it’s the best looking RTS I’ve ever seen.It starts out innocuously enough with nicely drawn 3D models, rolling non-blocky countryside and a fairly standard number of houses, buildings, trees and the usual stuff you’d expect to see. If you take the time to take a closer look though, you’ll see just how much detail has gone into the environment. Ok, up close it looks a little rough but for the purposes of an RTS, I don’t think you’ll have ever seen better.
Click for larger imageAnd once the action kicks off World in Conflict becomes one of the most visually stunning games this year… and very firmly sets a benchmark that other RTS games are going to have work very hard to match. Like that clichéd scene where the plain secretary takes off her glasses and shakes her flowing locks free to transform into a bit of a stunner, World in Conflict let’s you know that it’s a powerhouse of graphical goodness as smoke, debris and rocket trails fill the air.
Click for larger imageThough there’s a physics engine running under the bonnet, buildings collapse in a scripted fashion but blimey, when they go it’s something to see. The physics works more on the units themselves with artillery barrages blowing everything to hell and vehicles that are hit by fire when they’re on the move will careen out of control before disintegrating. You have to see the trees swaying under the shock of nearby shells exploding to understand how good this looks and the concussion ripples from large explosions are just right and not arcade-style over the top.
Carcasses of destroyed vehicles don’t disappear either, though they do little to slow an enemy down and you’ll often see unharmed units ploughing over and through them to achieve their goals. That said, destroyed vehicles can offer a refuge from incoming fire as they’ll block shots as do buildings. So fighting in a built up area has a real tactical edge to it as you may not be able to bring all your units to fire at the same time.
Click for larger imageThere are limited weather effects in World in Conflict but really these are just a bit of window dressing and have no effect on unit abilities or sighting enemy units. Similarly, there’s no day/night cycle either which might have opened up the possibility of a whole new set of tactics but I guess, seeing as many missions cover short spaces of time, in real time, there’s no need or time to watch the sun go down.
And of course all this fire power landing in a relatively small area has a devastating effect on the landscape. No, it’s not deformable terrain, though you can make craters, but everything you’d reasonably expect to collapse under withering artillery or tank fire will crumble away, leaving a blasted, ruined moonscape afterwards. I thoroughly recommend getting hold of some MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) tanks and then using the easy-to-use camera controls to follow them in… not only does it look bloody fantastic but it sounds awesome as rockets whiz past your ears before pounding the enemy.
Click for larger imageBut the big daddy, the real awe-inspiring effect, comes in the multiplayer game where you can drop a tactical nuclear warhead on the enemy. To see the screen flash out and then watch as a truly immense mushroom cloud grows to tower over the landscape is incredible. The first time I saw one go in I was so awed that I just stopped playing and watched the cloud grow overhead… never mind that I’d just lost all my units in the blast… it was just one of the ‘Wow’ moments to which screenshots can never do justice. No, really… it’s bloody amazing.
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