"Act of War: Direct Action is a brilliant piece of interactive entertainment that has been forged through the collaborative work of a collection of talent from beyond the games industry, " said Aidan Minter, Product Manager, Atari Europe. "Bringing together a New York Times best-selling author, a feature film production company and a highly talented software development studio has resulted in a new benchmark for what is possible in the genre, and made clear Atari's resolve in pushing the boundaries."

Act of War: Direct Action is a graphically stunning and frighteningly plausible tale of suspense, international intrigue and geopolitical military conflict. Through a techno-thriller story constructed by military expert and author Dale Brown, this real-time strategy experience puts players squarely in control of counterterrorist forces to defend cities of the world. As commander of a newly formed anti-terror military unit known as the Talon Task Force, players will need to recruit combat units, develop technologies, manage finite resources, and deploy their forces against a cunning and ruthless terror network. The single player Act of War: Direct Action demo is taken from the game's sixth mission set in Egypt entitled 'Falling Hawk'.

Developed by Eugen Systems with a storyline and game universe created in cooperation with Dale Brown, New York Times best-selling author and expert on US military, global conflict and future military technology, Act of War: Direct ActionTM is scheduled to release across Europe on March 18, 2005 for the personal computer.