Genre: RTS
Publisher: Strategy First
Developer: Legend Studios
Release Date: TBA

Soon to be released by Legend Studios and Strategy First, War Times is a standard RTS set in World War II. The game features four playable sides, full 3D graphics that allow for rotation, zoom, and pitch adjustment on the fly, enabling the player to view the game at an almost infinite number of different angles, completely different units and tech trees for each of the four sides, as well as numerous additional capabilities.

War Times will play as a conventional RTS, tasking the player with gathering both ore and oil, and using them to amass an army via the roughly 80 different buildings and 70 odd units the final version will ship with. The game features four sides, which are the Americans, Germans, British, and Soviets. Each of the four sides will have their own distinctive units and technologies, with general and specific characteristics. This is one of the games main focuses, and seems to be implemented well. Every aspect of combat is covered, with land, sea, and air units, as well as the more covert stuff. The differences between the four sides will give the game a lot of depth and replay value, not mention strategic flair.

Of specific mention would be the games graphics, which looked quite good in the beta. Everything is in full 3D, and has a distinctive style. Featured here is a camera system that allows the player substantial control over rotation, zoom, and pitch. This type of system is becoming more and more popular with this particular type of game, and it really seems to allow for better control over what the player is seeing. What makes the camera system specific to War Times stand out is that is can be manipulated largely with the mouse, which makes things a lot easier.

While playing around with the preview build, the game struck me as being somewhat similar to Earth 2150 and Moon Project, at least in terms of camera control and appearance. Although War Times graphics are distinctly better, there are some similarities. War Times does a good job of capturing that wide open, breathing world feeling that’s so important with games like this one, and it’s going to make the final product so much better. Graphics are definitely a major strong point with War Times.

Maps will feature many different types of terrain, including arid deserts, mountainous valleys, and snowy tundra’s. The terrain will impact vehicle movement speed to various degrees, as well as limit the areas the player can operate in. Additionally, in game weather effects will have an effect on your armies as well as gameplay. All of the maps that I played on looked quite good, and presented several tactical considerations and challenges.

The game includes a campaign that will be playable from both the Axis and the Allied perspectives, and each are made up of missions that are based around actual real life occurances of World War II. War Times will also include a skirmish mode that seems to be focused on getting the player up and playing as quickly as possible. Multiplayer will also be supported, and will feature 3 modes of play, which are melee, total victory, and protect the general.

So if you’re into real time strategy, WWII, or good strategy, you might want to check out War Times. The game is currently finishing up development and should be set for a mid November release. War Times does look promising, and yet another game to look forward to.