I spent some time with RTS developer Petroglyph (Universe At War) at Trion’s booth this afternoon. I was shown an impressive new RTS title they have in the works known as End of Nations. This mostly complete war game is about two factions — you and your friends versus the Order of Nations. The Order of Nations essentially controls Earth. I don’t have the full details of the story, but the most promising aspect of this game is how it can integrate your friends into the action.
So while End of Nations has a full on campaign, with an ending, your friends can hop in and join your battle, and you can join theirs, at anytime. Some fifty or so players can get together in co-op fashion against the CPU making for some epic warfare, if I understood that right. End of Nations has an online persistence about it that didn’t sound unlike what MAG has going on for the PS3. That is, there are multiple factions and the landscape of who controls what territory is constantly changing.
Players can view available missions and check out the state of the world from the GIN, Global Intelligence Network (I believe that’s what it stood for). There is also a scrolling news ticker down at the bottom of the screen, highlighting those players who have recently been behind some of the game’s major events. Also available in this pre-mission area is the Armory. From here you can see what vehicles
and gear you have earned and you can even changes its appearance with different colors (especially cool when the unit in question has multiple areas that can be colored differently) and you can also choose from several decals. That’s a simple bit of customization that seems to have been forgotten in most RTS’s, so kudos to Petroglyph for adding that here.
Our time with End of Nations was somewhat limited, so I don’t feel I have a full grasp of all of the mechanics and ins and outs of how this MMO/co-op functionality works, but I can tell you that it’s shaping up to be quite a robust title. If it ends up working half as good as it looks, it may be worth any RTS gamer’s time, as this title was simply gorgeous.
Check back for more information for End of Nations over the coming months.
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