World in Conflict (PC)

In addition to the requisition resource you have Tactical Aid Points. These are accumulated as you fight the battles and destroy enemies/capture points. They allow you to call in air strikes, artillery fire and for the last option: a fantastic and extremely powerful nuke.

That pretty much covers the basics of the game, there is a tutorial and I'm sure you don't need me to explain how to use the camera. I will note the camera is not a typical RTS camera; it's able to zoom in to the highest level of detail and go out to quite a distance to give you a good look at the battlefield.

The graphics for World in Conflict, when it's running on a truly powerful machine supports DirectX 10 features and looks utterly stunning. There are shadows from the clouds; each texture is sharper and more defined. The smoke and debris are fantastic. On DirectX 9 it still looks amazing.

There are a lot of graphical touches in the game that you might expect from a modern day engine, it pulls them off at a decent frame rate and requires a fairly pumped machine to run the game properly without turning down the settings. It features persistent tracks and scarring for the land, deformation from heavier weapons turns the landscape into a war zone over time.

The use of shadow and lighting is second to none and the game takes RTS destruction to the next level.

The physics are impressive, buildings fly apart and fall to pieces, and the nuke has to be seen to be believed. It all comes together so nicely it has to be right up there with Relic's Company of Heroes in that department.

Animation and modelling are likewise of a high standard. Since the camera has to zoom close in and the cut-scenes rely on in-engine then they are of a quality only to be expected in that case. Vehicles and soldiers are well detailed and the textures look sharp even on a slightly lower setting.

The sound is high quality. The battlefield is brought to life with the crack of rifle fire and the whirl of chopper blades alongside the thrum of a rumbling tank. You also have the voice acting which is pretty decent, there are a couple of off performances and voices that don't quite fit but overall I was happy enough with it.

The music is stirring and just the kind of thing you'd expect to match a very well written storyline.

The AI: On a whole the AI is pretty impressive in the game, you can see it using tactics and working out optional pathfinding to a heavily defended area after a few tries. It will also make use of roles, tactical abilities and other tricks. It knows how the whole rock/paper/scissors game works and therefore exploits this to full advantage against an unsure opponent.

You can also open the Request menu when in a team game with AI, sending a variety of short requests such as: need defence here and attack there. The AI will actually follow those orders and if you request artillery at a point, it will comply. I like this feature and lot and it boosts the game's fun for me since I do like to Compstomp now and then.