Multiplayer would be great, but as with a lot of RTS games it is hampered by problems with cheaters and rushers. By rushers I mean the people that simply build a few troops extremely quick and go straight to your base and wipe you out within the first three minutes of the game because you were busy focusing on other things. It is a lot of fun with friends though. Gather some people together that you know and it makes beating them that much sweeter. That’s the case with any game though. Although the lack of personal feeling in beating someone over multiplayer is fixed with Voice Communication in games nowadays,
Act of War is lacking this. VOIP, or voice over IP has not caught on yet with many games but eventually should be the norm for games like this. It just makes beating your opponent that much sweeter when you can get to know them a little bit over the course of the battle.
The game stacks up well against other RTS of this day and age because it has so much in common with them. The game is eerily similar to Command and Conquer. I guess the guys at Command and Conquer have revolutionized the genre so much that it is hard to find new ways to change the game play. Obviously that is not a bad thing that this game is similar to Command and Conquer. The missions just do not seem to be tough enough to hold you wanting more and more. In other RTS the AI can be extremely tough and keep you fighting on in a desperate hope to win, but in
Act of War you just feel like no matter what you do, you will win.
This is not to say
Act of War is a bad game. Far from it, it is a great idea in today’s world to base a game off of a novel. There is no doubt the story is very well written and it is a very believable thing. The story is the main thing that kept me coming back for more, just being curious as to what happens in the end. I think that will hold true for most people. The story will keep you coming back for more, more than the actual game itself will.
The one thing I’m left wondering after playing
Act of War is this though, is it trying to be a game or a movie? A few of the cut scenes are actually computer generated, but a lot of them are actual acting. The acting certainly leaves a lot to be desired, as I’m not sure where these guys got picked up. You can most definitely tell they aren’t going to be winning an Emmy for their performance in this game though. It’s not an unbelievably strange thing, but in the age of computer games I think the cut scenes should be rendered by the computer. I guess it all comes down to a personal preference. The cut scenes are very long and drawn out, and a lot of times I feel like I’m actually missing the action I want to be involved in because I’m watching real actors carry it out
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