Square Enix's first foray into the western market, whilst pretty, leaves much to be desired
17 August 2009 | By Joe Robinson
It’s natural for any business to want to expand, either by building on what they already have, or by venturing into new territory. Square Enix’s decision to compete more seriously in the western markets therefore, even into the strategy genre, is not unexpected. Order of War, a WW2 tactical strategy game will be their first foray on our own turf, and typically the company promises an “epic” and “cinematic” experience that would be worthy of any Final Fantasy. Bravado aside, you would generally expect something decent from one of the more famous videogame developers of our time.
The reality however falls rather short of expectations. It’s not that Order of War is going to be a bad game; it’s just not looking that good either. Despite having some of the tick-boxes any strategy game needs to have, you can’t help feel that something is missing, although it’s hard to say anything definitive as this stage. Given that this is early preview code, there was no chance to test out online functionality, and only a handful of the campaign missions were available to play.
It’s strange, because when you load up the game it certainly looks like there might be something to it. A well crafted intro movie, blending real footage with game footage, as well as computer generated graphics giving the game a very ‘slick’ look, although such is the power of this technology. Going into a game, you see that the graphics are decent enough, and the game world has been put together quite well. When it comes to these kinds of strategy games, there are generally only two options: Grand Strategy that involves the ‘big picture’, and more up close and personal Tactical Strategy. Like the name, the game feels a lot like 1C’s Men of War, but on a slightly larger scale more akin to Theatre of War II, which was reviewed a few months ago.
And there’s its first problem. Square have touted this game as being a truly ‘cinematic’ experience, and on the one hand that’s true because you can activate a special mode a la Empire at War, that makes the whole thing look very movie-like. The only problem is that the game seems to lack the ‘personality’ a movie has to make you A/ care about what’s happening or B/ the people you’re commanding. Theatre of War II had similar problems, but at least in Men of War you had the two friends, no matter how badly voice acted they were.
The campaign mode’s biggest weakness so far is that the levels seem to be made up of nothing but several smaller ‘set pieces’, where you focus on one objective, then the next, then the next, and then you’re done. This wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t so short, and the format actually throws the majority of your tactical thinking out the window, because so far all you need to do is to make sure you have enough of whatever’s available to overcome whatever the enemy throws at you. Each objective is also interspersed with a short in-game cut scene detailing what’s happening, why, and what you need to do about it. Again, the fact that you don’t really care makes this rather useless, but it also has an added affect of making the action very stop-start, which ruins the flow of the game.
The setting as well is hardly original. Whilst many critics complain that World War II in general is becoming stale, developer’s fascination for all things post-Normandy is probably becoming staler. The war had been going on for a whole 4-5 years before that time you know.
The skirmish mode seems to be one of the game’s plus points. Not being tied to a linear story, you have more control over the battle and what happens with it. It’s in this mode that the comparison with Men of War is at its strongest, although that’s probably due to the general ‘style’ of the game as opposed to any conscious copying effort on the part of the developers. Whilst it’s unconfirmed whether or not they’ll be different ‘modes’ to play, the one available for testing revolved around control points which you have to capture. The more you control, the faster you can call in reinforcements, and if you control them all, you win. Assuming then that the online mode will follow similar lines, the game’s probably not going to be a total flop.
You can’t help but feel sorry for Wargaming.net, as it must have been quite a shock for a relatively unknown developer to find themselves spearheading a famous eastern publisher’s market expansion. Whilst the developers have experience in the strategy field, you can’t help but wonder if they lacked mainstream experience to make this work. The game itself doesn’t really do anything new, and as mentioned earlier is really just a combination of Men of War and Theatre of War II.
Perhaps Square’s name alone will carry the title, or perhaps things really will improve between now and release. So far, it’s not looking good. With a Men of War expansion on its way, as well several other strategy titles both old and new still dominating this sector of the market, it’s hard to imagine this doing well without something brand spanking new. Even its relatively simplified handling may not be enough. Still, we’ve been wrong before.
Order of War is due out for release later in the Autumn for PC.
The reality however falls rather short of expectations. It’s not that Order of War is going to be a bad game; it’s just not looking that good either. Despite having some of the tick-boxes any strategy game needs to have, you can’t help feel that something is missing, although it’s hard to say anything definitive as this stage. Given that this is early preview code, there was no chance to test out online functionality, and only a handful of the campaign missions were available to play.
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| Calling Airstrikes adds a certain ‘uncertainty’ to gameplay, which is good. | Being able to shoot down said airstrike however, is better. |
It’s strange, because when you load up the game it certainly looks like there might be something to it. A well crafted intro movie, blending real footage with game footage, as well as computer generated graphics giving the game a very ‘slick’ look, although such is the power of this technology. Going into a game, you see that the graphics are decent enough, and the game world has been put together quite well. When it comes to these kinds of strategy games, there are generally only two options: Grand Strategy that involves the ‘big picture’, and more up close and personal Tactical Strategy. Like the name, the game feels a lot like 1C’s Men of War, but on a slightly larger scale more akin to Theatre of War II, which was reviewed a few months ago.
And there’s its first problem. Square have touted this game as being a truly ‘cinematic’ experience, and on the one hand that’s true because you can activate a special mode a la Empire at War, that makes the whole thing look very movie-like. The only problem is that the game seems to lack the ‘personality’ a movie has to make you A/ care about what’s happening or B/ the people you’re commanding. Theatre of War II had similar problems, but at least in Men of War you had the two friends, no matter how badly voice acted they were.
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 |
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| Like Men of War, there is a whole range of units and types for you to wield. I’m a bit of an artillery freak myself. | Fortifications like these are unfortunately tied to the campaign maps they feature in. |
The campaign mode’s biggest weakness so far is that the levels seem to be made up of nothing but several smaller ‘set pieces’, where you focus on one objective, then the next, then the next, and then you’re done. This wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t so short, and the format actually throws the majority of your tactical thinking out the window, because so far all you need to do is to make sure you have enough of whatever’s available to overcome whatever the enemy throws at you. Each objective is also interspersed with a short in-game cut scene detailing what’s happening, why, and what you need to do about it. Again, the fact that you don’t really care makes this rather useless, but it also has an added affect of making the action very stop-start, which ruins the flow of the game.
The setting as well is hardly original. Whilst many critics complain that World War II in general is becoming stale, developer’s fascination for all things post-Normandy is probably becoming staler. The war had been going on for a whole 4-5 years before that time you know.
The skirmish mode seems to be one of the game’s plus points. Not being tied to a linear story, you have more control over the battle and what happens with it. It’s in this mode that the comparison with Men of War is at its strongest, although that’s probably due to the general ‘style’ of the game as opposed to any conscious copying effort on the part of the developers. Whilst it’s unconfirmed whether or not they’ll be different ‘modes’ to play, the one available for testing revolved around control points which you have to capture. The more you control, the faster you can call in reinforcements, and if you control them all, you win. Assuming then that the online mode will follow similar lines, the game’s probably not going to be a total flop.
 |
 |
|
| Towns and Cities are recreated almost to scale, which is another plus. | The game tries to capture the essence of large-scale battles, but doesn’t quite succeed. |
You can’t help but feel sorry for Wargaming.net, as it must have been quite a shock for a relatively unknown developer to find themselves spearheading a famous eastern publisher’s market expansion. Whilst the developers have experience in the strategy field, you can’t help but wonder if they lacked mainstream experience to make this work. The game itself doesn’t really do anything new, and as mentioned earlier is really just a combination of Men of War and Theatre of War II.
Perhaps Square’s name alone will carry the title, or perhaps things really will improve between now and release. So far, it’s not looking good. With a Men of War expansion on its way, as well several other strategy titles both old and new still dominating this sector of the market, it’s hard to imagine this doing well without something brand spanking new. Even its relatively simplified handling may not be enough. Still, we’ve been wrong before.
Order of War is due out for release later in the Autumn for PC.
