Korgan
Arbiter
Removed from inventory, found 3 x-tremely short DoW2-like RPG episodes and 3 utterly useless multiplayer modes (a dumbed down DotA, a dumbed down WC3 hero defence map and a dumbed down WC3 RPG map) inside. And a bunch of new units which are supposed to be optional replacements for some of the old ones but are exactly the same.
So what of it, you ask?
The RPG episodes are a whole lot of fun, damnit! This is almost DoW2 done right - everything's way too easy, unfortunately, but the missions are somewhat original, your units' abilities are varied, flanking and cover are useful (if not vital because of the damn low difficulty), In the Tiger Ace part, you first have to plow through a village, blowing up a British convoy, taking out AT weapons and crushing infantry. Levelling is fast and there are enough abilities for half of DoW2's squads - quite satisfying. Then your tank gets blown up and you must get the crew back to the starting point, stealing ammo, avoiding large enemy groups and calling in artillery strikes on enemy bunkers. Then you return with a brand new tank, keeping all the upgrades and getting a second, basic Tiger, and this time you must support German infantry while it secures strategic points, switching between blowing up buildings and knocking out armor and tank destroyers.
The whole thing lasts for one hour and takes place on one average-sized map, yet it has more love put into it than many "Crawl across the map, kite shit, spam powers" RPG/RTS titles. In fact, I now want a long, difficult and nonlinear tank RPG (not a mecha one) with gameplay like this. I would even forgive it for being set in WW2.
One of the other episodes has a couple of Airborne squads fighting in... well, the Normandy terrain we all know and love. Really quite good, too. I was actually scared for a bit as 30+ krauts rushed at me, then went fuck yeah as one of the squads cut them down with SMGs and I sniped their armor with the other one's recoilless rifles. This one took about 40 minutes.
What the fuck is Relic doing, teasing people with stuff like this, then making sure there's nothing worth *paying* for in the game.
So what of it, you ask?
The RPG episodes are a whole lot of fun, damnit! This is almost DoW2 done right - everything's way too easy, unfortunately, but the missions are somewhat original, your units' abilities are varied, flanking and cover are useful (if not vital because of the damn low difficulty), In the Tiger Ace part, you first have to plow through a village, blowing up a British convoy, taking out AT weapons and crushing infantry. Levelling is fast and there are enough abilities for half of DoW2's squads - quite satisfying. Then your tank gets blown up and you must get the crew back to the starting point, stealing ammo, avoiding large enemy groups and calling in artillery strikes on enemy bunkers. Then you return with a brand new tank, keeping all the upgrades and getting a second, basic Tiger, and this time you must support German infantry while it secures strategic points, switching between blowing up buildings and knocking out armor and tank destroyers.
The whole thing lasts for one hour and takes place on one average-sized map, yet it has more love put into it than many "Crawl across the map, kite shit, spam powers" RPG/RTS titles. In fact, I now want a long, difficult and nonlinear tank RPG (not a mecha one) with gameplay like this. I would even forgive it for being set in WW2.
One of the other episodes has a couple of Airborne squads fighting in... well, the Normandy terrain we all know and love. Really quite good, too. I was actually scared for a bit as 30+ krauts rushed at me, then went fuck yeah as one of the squads cut them down with SMGs and I sniped their armor with the other one's recoilless rifles. This one took about 40 minutes.
What the fuck is Relic doing, teasing people with stuff like this, then making sure there's nothing worth *paying* for in the game.
