Faces Of War Review

There's no doubt that the RTS genre is progressively moving forward, leaving behind it a barrage of samey and bland titles that have stifled it for a number of years. New features are being tested, and some of the big players in the industry such as THQ are now dipping their toes into the water of Real-Time Strategy. Ubisoft's contribution is Best Way's Faces of War, which the French company is co-publishing with Russian powerhouse 1C Company. The sequel to Soldiers: Heroes of World War II, which was released in 2004, Faces of War features a number of ideas (some borrowed from its predecessor) that Ubisoft no doubt hopes will make some sort of mark on PC strategy gamers.

Once again setting the game in the midst of the over-used Second World War, Faces of War sees players experience battles from the position of Allies, Soviets, and Germans alike. Taking the action right through to the final destruction of Berlin in the Spring of 1945, Faces of War features some of the key battles of WWII, including one of the most disappointing re-enactments of the D-Day beach landing we've seen in a long, long time.

Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, Faces of War utilises the Direct Control mechanic, allowing players to literally take control of a unit's commander. Whilst a solid enough idea in principle, it isn't as well executed as it could be. In order to take direct control, players have to hold down the Ctrl button at the same time as moving the commander with the cursor keys (or press the End key for more permanent control as pointed out by some), though the weakness of the feature in Soldiers remains the same in Faces of War. Taking control of an RTS soldier is certainly something that developers are looking at (the forthcoming Field Ops takes the premise one step further again), but limiting the experience on purpose by utilising problematic control system surely just negates the whole point of Direct Control in the first place? Furthermore, it doesn't help to bring a strong sense of immersion or atmosphere to the game as a whole...

The game has strong levels of AI for both friendly and enemy units, so that they try to make the appropriate decisions according to their situations - in other words, they won't just stand in a street whilst under fire, unless ordered to by players. In addition, units are free from the traditional 'typecasting' of other RTS titles, and aren't broken down into various classes. Instead, each soldier is given an inventory of armaments that can be changed and reloaded at various ammo dumps and caches, allowing them to be far more versatile than usual RTS units. The main form of micro-management in the game, it does however mean that players have to be constantly aware of ammo levels of units, which can get quite strenuous in some of the larger confrontations.

Progressing mission objectives in Faces of War, which add new goals as the battle develops, is another move used by the producers to move away from the 'rushing' tactic that's been dogging the RTS genre for years. As well as this, it also means that players are forced into forming strategies on the fly as further targets are added. Such features are obviously there to encourage newcomers of the RTS genre, though Best Way hasn't forgotten about the hardcore strategy fans out there. As an option before every mission, players can choose between attempting it in 'Arcade' Mode or 'Tactics' Mode, with the latter placing much more of an emphasis on strategies compared to the standard 'Arcade' version. Overall, such decisions make Faces of War a less repetitive RTS experience than others - it doesn't feel like new visuals have just been dropped over a generic RTS structure.

New features and ideas are one thing however, but the experience must be a compelling one if the game is to succeed. Sadly, it's at this point that Faces of War really falls flat; even during some of the more large scale battles of the war, the atmosphere is a soulless one. For instance, you'd expect the D-Day landings to offer an immersive, engrossing, and tense experience...but this is far from the case. The battles just feel underwhelming to the point that you never feel engaged with your units, which doesn't exactly encourage you to protect them against enemy fire.

At a time when the RTS genre has seemingly become fashionable amongst the largest publishers in the industry, Faces of War is one title that doesn't quite make the leap required. In most ways the game feels like so many European developed RTS titles that fail to connect with gamers that it's only the Direct Control function (and the well known logo of Ubisoft) that lifts it ever so slightly out of the crowd of other strategy games developed across mainland Europe. As if that isn't enough, the game is also set face greater difficulty from the end of September, which is when THQ releases it's hotly anticipated RTS, Company of Heroes.