Gamers choose to play on the side of the Axis or Allied forces, select their squad, and customize their characters from over 40 male or female operatives. Each
squad member can be created from a variety of nationalities, and will possess a unique personality, background and in-game dialog. Player units will also benefit from a rich character development system, with 9 preset skills for each character, and over 50 skills that can be developed throughout the course of the game. This enables players to use their own game style, from brute force to cunning stealth. With over 75 authentic WWII weapons, the path to victory unfolds through a campaign of 24 non-linear daytime and night missions, and includes randomly generated encounters of varying styles and difficulty.

"Silent Storm is one of many eagerly awaited games debuting in 2004 that we are co-publishing with JoWooD Productions. Silent Storm is representative of the high quality and gamer appeal that consumers will see in titles published by Encore in the coming year," said Michael Bell, Encore's CEO. Added Andreas Tobler, CEO of JoWooD Productions Software AG, "Silent Storm represents some of our best work to date. This game has been exceptionally well received in Europe, and we are eagerly anticipating similar success in North America."

The realistic environment is one of Silent Storm's most unique features. This true 3D environment enables players to use it to their tactical advantage; by destroy buildings and structures, players can take out the lower portion of an enemy building and watch the upper stories collapse on their foes. Silent Storm's 3D engine also incorporates real bullet tracing, realistic weapon trajectories, as well as speed and piercing performance for bullets, grenades and rockets. This realistic
environment will also include hidden enemy caches containing rare and top-secret experimental weaponry.

Silent Storm is published for Windows® PC, and should arrive on store shelves by the end of this week at a suggested retail price of $49.99.For more information on Silent Storm, visit the website at www.silentstorm-online.com.