Real-time strategy games like Starcraft and Command & Conquer are among the last remaining genres that haven’t been usurped from the PC by consoles. Everyone wants to be an armchair general, but RTSes have always relied on the mouse and keyboard for issuing relatively complex commands to your armies. Developers have to transplant the genre from its computer origins to the living room with titles like Command & Conquer 3, but nobody has really cracked it yet.

The latest attempt is Tom Clancy’s EndWar, which takes the ambitious route of eschewing a keyboard in favor of a voice command system. According to most reviews, it’s not as complex as a modern PC RTS, but they nailed the voice controls. As for the rest of the game, opinions vary.

EndWar is a lighthearted romp through World War III. Not the apocalyptic nuclear kind, though, that would be a downer. This is the fun kind of war with tanks and planes and futuristic weapons and evenly matched sides that Tom Clancy fans and other military fetishists like to dream about, but that we probably won’t see anytime soon.

It’s an approach that has worked pretty well in video games, so well that it led Ubisoft to purchase the name “Tom Clancy” from its original owner. (I like to pretend he now goes by the moniker of “the author formerly known as Tom Clancy.” Sadly, I know that’s not really how it works.)

Pretty much every review has only good things to say about the voice command system, including Gametrailers.

Ubisoft has made a pretty big deal about the game’s voice command features, and the good news is you can actually believe the hype. The recognition works very well, letting you quickly order advanced commands, walkie-talkie style, using simple sentences. It’s not required, and you can do everything with the controller, but voice controls are incredibly efficient and leave your hands free to manipulate the game’s camera or focus on another task altogether. If you speak clearly and remember the commands, you’ll get a lot out of it and will prefer to play that way. It’s a great control method, but whether you play it in front of other people is your call.

Gamespy has an interesting note about the voice system.

The importance of this instant feedback cannot be overstated because, in the heat of a particularly vicious firefight, your units may remember things that you’ve forgotten. You might absent-mindedly send your tanks to take out enemy gunship helicopters (a bad match according to the rock/paper/scissors chain), but your tank units will immediately notice your misstep and respond accordingly with a, “I don’t like it, but whatever you say.

The console controls do, however, come at the cost of some complexity.

The tactical options in Endwar are complex enough to allow for creative play, but playing the game is almost insultingly easy. Without the usual RTS clichés, Endwar is the first to work on console; there’s no build tree to work through, no complex resources to mine, and no complex controls to master. Instead of a high-level tactical view, you’ll play from a third person perspective, only able to see as far as your most forward unit; you’ll jump between your twelve units with simple commands or button presses and direct them in a similar manner to squad-mates in, say, Ghost Recon.”

With that streamlined experience, IGN notes that newcomers to the genre will probably be the best served by EndWar’s simple rock-paper-scissors mechanics.

The accessibility and relative depth of EndWar is good news for those out there that have looked at the real-time strategy genre with a skeptical or confused eye in the past. If you haven’t played an RTS before, this is a good place to start. Those who are old-hats might find some things lacking such as the uninspired single-player campaign and the fact that there isn’t much noticeable variety between the three factions. The lack of pizzazz, unfortunately, won’t do anything for either camp.

In fact, it does seem to be the PC RTS enthusiasts seem to be the most put out by the changes to the formula. 1up’s review ends with:

The voice command system in EndWar is terrific, and hopefully, future games will take advantage of a similar control scheme. It just isn’t enough by itself to raise the game beyond “mediocre RTS.” It’s definitely worth checking out to see voice command done right, but overall, it lacks the depth and substance to bring anyone over from superior PC alternatives.

 

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