Act of Aggression

Soldato
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This is looking stunning :D

Eugen Systems, the studio behind the million-unit selling Wargame series of RTS games and the critically acclaimed Act of War (2005) or R.U.S.E (2010), is back! Set in a modern, techno-thriller setting, their new game promises to be a perfect cocktail of political intrigue, high fidelity visuals and solid mechanics with old-school RTS values.

Act of Aggression vows to bring about a return to the 90’s Golden Era of real time strategy games, delivering all of the core mechanics sorely missed by many RTS fans: base building, resource management, unit production and dynamic, immersive battles will meet high fidelity production values and intelligent modernization. Today's images and teaser trailer provide a first look at the game, to be showcased at the Gamescom next week.

In what is shaping up to be their most ambitious project since Act of War, Eugen Systems will deliver a real-time strategy experience set in the 2020’s in a darkly realistic future where 3 major factions fight for their interests. In a world where international crisis and financial order is set in a seemingly unending loop, the shadowy organization known as “The Cartel” attempt to complete a secret agenda with high-tech technology, stolen prototypes and stealthy operatives. Against this looming threat stands the Chimere, a UNO funded, classified military organization specialized in fast strikes, which attempts to maintain global peace and order. Finally, somewhere between the two stands the US Army, worn out by two decades of being kept on a war footing with too few replacements, but still fielding a great deal of battle-hardened veterans.

Act of Aggression will include two separate single player campaigns, featuring traditional RTS storytelling and game mechanics: gathering resources, building a base, producing units ... but also supplies to keep the war machine rolling. In true Eugen style, expect vast, skill-based multiplayer modes where technological upgrades, resource storage and base defenses will play an integral role in the battle. Extend your base, defend your structures, and create new bases to control key strategic areas on the map. Unleash infantry, mechanized vehicles, tanks, artillery, helicopters, planes, and super weapons, earning experience as you destroy the enemy’s forces and preserve yours (as they get more experienced), unlock skills and abilities to turn the tide of war by specializing them in roles, such as anti-air, anti-tank, etc... With steady development of new technologies, your production capacities will grow always more powerful, unlocking new buildings, units, and ultimate weapons far beyond technologies of today!

Eugen Systems will be attending the Gamescom this August, where they will be showcasing some of the new technology and ideas behind Act of Aggression, which includes a presentation including in-game assets, and a technology demo showcasing the spectacular new engine.


Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5f2iWIlM5I
 
I''ll "give it a go" and if its anything like the games from the Golden Age, I will make it a permanent addition to my hard drive.

It looks a lot like Generals, and that isn't a bad thing. Will report back after a few games.
 
we need to bring back rts games and especially ones that are a test of thought and strategy rather than mouse and keyboard micro speed skill like starcraft II is.
 
Right, I've had a good few hours on it now and whilst I have only played the single player I have the following to say:

This is Act of War 2. A prettier, buggier version of the rather good Act of War we got in 2005. Don't go in to it thinking any more than that.

Is it that golden ear RTS we were looking for? No.
Is it worth £35? No.

Get this if you can get it for £20 or if you have a few mates to play with on the Multiplayer.
 
Right, I've had a good few hours on it now and whilst I have only played the single player I have the following to say:

This is Act of War 2. A prettier, buggier version of the rather good Act of War we got in 2005. Don't go in to it thinking any more than that.

Is it that golden ear RTS we were looking for? No.
Is it worth £35? No.

Get this if you can get it for £20 or if you have a few mates to play with on the Multiplayer.

Thanks I'll wait till its quite cheap.
 
The cdkeys sites have it for £20 - no region locks. Just got it through quidco :) The reviews are generally positive on steam.
 
Its got better graphics than Act of War, but that's it. The mission FMVs are so low budget, poor voice acting and generally 'tacky' to the point where I'm just skipping them now. Act of War went all out with real actors and HD videos. Plus the unit animation (particularly the infantry) were sublime and would still stand up to today's standards (not that I've actually seen anything better I might add).

That being said, it's a welcome addition to to what feels like a dieing genre. The mission's are quite challenging and your unit AI is smart. They don't just sit there getting spammed by artillery, they'll either move out of range or engage. I was impressed. The drone view is a nice touch too.

All in all its after near 15 years its nothing we haven't seen before but it's worth a blast, just not at £35.00.
 
So, after several hours I have completed both campaigns as well has had a few games on the old skirmish. The longer I played, the more I came to realise that this IS Act of War 2. There are several very similar units, super weapons and counters are handled the same way, it plays the same but on a slightly bigger scale.

Have uninstalled it now after finishing it, won't be on it again. It was entertaining enough for a few days but it can't hold a candle against any of the Golden-Era stuff and aside from the graphics, Act of War was, IMO, a better RTS. There is some potential for online play, but 2 out of 3 factions are pretty boring to play and only get a few cool toys.

One of the big problems, and this was for Act of War as well, is that infantry is just far to squishy... and it costs are similar to that of the tanks and helicopters. It just doesn't warrant anything apart from top teir unit spam. The US faction has a modified Abrams tank that can shoot the hell out of helicopters as well as anything on the ground. The main cannon 1 shots infantry as well. The EU faction has a tank that can kill everything as well as incoming missiles (has 30mm cannons for infantry, anti-tank rockets for armor and anti-air missiles for the rest) - note this is almost exactly the same as in Act of War. The Evil team has a stealth tank that has machine guns on it as well.

The only counter, that I can see, for the above is the Air Strike units, but you designate an area for them but everything apart from the Evil Teams giant napalm bomber takes far to long to get there. If you have played Act of War airstrikes happen very quickly, here they take ages to act out. What you do, instead, is just bomb their base... a wave of 3 of the Evil Teams bombers can level a base in about 10 seconds from calling them on.

The problem in playing it is that its extremely rock, paper, scissors... with everything having all three. Bombers can shoot anti-air missiles, tanks have machine guns to decimate rocket troops, artillery shoots so far that the only answer is more artillery, building something that is a counter to the super weapons costs more to "re-load" than the super weapon its self.

A shame... but back to Supreme Commander and Rise of the Reds for me!
 
It will be interesting. For me my golden era was Dune 2 :), Supreme Commander I really didn't enjoy. Reading the RPS review and the subsequent comments seem to give some interesting slants on the game so i'll give it a go and if I have anything to add I will post here - though I suspect I may crash and burn:)
 
It was good fun, but hasn't got much to keep you coming back like some of the classics do. Don't pay £35 for it and it's all okay.

I think it has reviewed well just because we haven't had even a 6 or 7 out of 10 RTS game for so so long.
 
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