No, it`s not the same when the ground you`re entrenched in has got "United States" written across it on the map. No, it`s not the same either, when you`re evacuating your neighbors next door rather than promoting propaganda on the other side of the Prime Meridian. And no, it`s definitely not the same when the air strike you just called in is carpet-bombing a quaint slice of suburbia that could`ve been cut from a Thomas Kincaid canvas.

It`s the late 1980`s, the "Star Wars" program is in full swing, and it looks like in this alt-history scenario that the Berlin Wall isn`t coming down anytime soon. World in Conflict`s mantra is "War is coming home." But not only that, war is hitting home. It`s hitting home in the port city of Seattle, Washington, where the Seahawks and the Mariners roam. It`s hitting home where a National Guardsman can`t get his paycheck sent to his wife and kid because, even as our nation`s borders are collapsing, bureaucratic red tape is holding strong. And the scenarios are hitting home as these personal vignettes -- beautifully directed, as well as nostalgically-narrated by Alec Baldwin -- tell the tales of U.S. soldiers alternately building character under fire, or withering under pressure. These stories aren`t just hitting home, they`re hitting homeruns.

And it`s these emotional differences that set World in Conflict on such a high shelf. Yes, the topography is faithfully recreated, the military units are realistically rendered, and the pyrotechnics are face-meltingly gorgeous. Producer Massive Entertainment used a masterful brush to paint all of those things. But it`s the steaming, fresh-from-the-oven American apple pie that elevates the onscreen action to such an affecting level.

Gamers have defended Middle-earth in countless iterations of Lord of the Rings, invaded Azeroth in real-time strategies and massively-multiplayer affairs, and even reshaped the United States` infantile footsteps by way of Age of Empires 3 or even Medieval 2: Total War. Those realistic fictions, however, while providing plenty of scenario-settings for the mind and the eye, don`t aim as readily at the heart when propped shoulder to shoulder with World in Conflict. Sure, the brain is a sophisticated piece of circuitry that can tell clear-cut differences between real life and video games. But trust me, it`s impossible to declare neutrality in a game that will find something you consciously (or unconsciously) hold sacred as an American, and then puts a laser-guided bomb through its chimney or burns a swath of napalm across its backyard -- all within the first few chapters of World in Conflict`s opening.

Following the new real-time strategy model, World in Conflict eschews raw material resource management for strictly military resource management: land, sea, and air units. No trees to cut down, unless you`re bowling them over with an M1A1 Abrams tank; no monetary concerns, since calling in a well-timed artillery barrage is worth more than your life in greenbacks; and there`s no food to shovel into a warehouse, since MREs will be the last meal most of these soldiers will eat anyway. And don`t worry about constructing buildings; your job will involve a lot of the opposite.

You are Lieutenant Parker. Dependable. Calm under fire. Obedient, but speechless. The cutscenes cover up direct facial shots of you, pulling off a pseudo Mr.-Wilson-in-Home-Improvement effect, allowing players to step a little more directly into the protagonist`s army boots. Parker is a field commander with the best the U.S. has to offer in grade-A, global domination hardware: light, medium, and heavy tanks; armored troop transports; amphibious vehicles; scout, transport, medium attack, and heavy attack helicopters; HMMWV transports (that`s "Humvee" to you, civilian); and don`t forget the anti-air vehicles, medium and heavy artiller...