In the not too distant future, The US, Russia, and Iraq square-off in a bid
to control the oil-fields of the Middle East and Central Asia. This
conflict erupts into World War III and is the situation at the opening of World
War III: Black Gold. World War III is the latest real-time strategy game
from the team that created Earth 2150 and The
Moon Project, a pair of games which arguably did not receive the level of
attention that they deserved. Players of either one of those games will
certainly recognize their influence on World War III, and will be able to get up
to speed quickly once they pick up on the new units and structures available in
this game.
World War III simplifies the resource gathering aspect of the game by making only
a single resource available: oil. Players place pumps in oilfields and
then they steadily convert the oil to cash without the need for further player
interaction. Cash is used for three purposes: to buy new structures, purchase new units,
and research new technology. Structures make it possible to build base
defenses and to "call in" new units. Units are not produced
directly in the structures, but are flown in to landing pads when they are
completed. This leads to a slight delay between the time a unit is
completed and the time it is available for use. Units are still queued-up,
though, and you must wait for a unit to be completed before the next one is
started. This is a little strange since structures are airlifted in as
well and do not suffer the same restriction. It is not too uncommon for a
new base to be a flurry of helicopter activity as multiple structures arrive at
about the same time. This airlift method of building also makes your new
units and structures vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire before they are
deployed. To compensate for this, the game allows you to specify the map
edge or corner from which new items should be flown in.
The weaponry in World War III is all based on real world arsenals.
You'll have M1s, T-80s, SCUDS, and other modern weapons at your disposal,
although the majority of weapons fall into the armor or helicopter class. Some
units boast special abilities, such as the ability to build bridges or capture
enemy buildings. While they may be based on real world weapons, the game's
units' capabilities only resemble those of their real-world counterparts.
While it is certainly understandable that the designers took certain liberties
in the interest of balanced play, gamers should be aware that they are getting a
real-time strategy game and not a modern warfare simulator.
One real world touch in World War III that you don't see in most strategy
games is the concept of supply. Units can carry only a limited amount of
ammunition and when they run out, they must be resupplied by helicopters from a
supply depot structure. This feature discourages the "build a mass of
tanks and then roll over the opposition" strategy prevalent in too many
strategy games. As soon as the mass of units run low on ammunition, they
would be easy pickings and leave the player wide open to counterattack.
Each side is provided with a tech tree of upgrades to provide access to new
weapons and increase the effectiveness of existing ones. Players do not
need to build various research centers as in most strategy games; instead the
research panel is always available and research may be conducted as long as
there are available funds. Unfortunately, each upgrade can only be
researched in succession and each step seems to take a long time to
complete. You'll be well into the game long before you have a chance to
max out your research upgrades.
World War III excels in the graphics department. The game takes place
in 3D and the fully 3D landscape includes hills, mountains, and valleys.
The maps feature varied terrain and a lot of details such as downed aircraft and
small villages (complete with mosques). The game also models the time of
day and weather. Fog and rainstorms are very convincingly portrayed and
have the expected effect on visibility. As the game progresses, a clock
will keep track of the time of day. At dusk, the lighting becomes slowly
subdued until it passes into the darkness of night. At this point,
vehicles use headlights in order to light up the terrain in front of them.
Of course, it would be a good idea for you to turn those lights off if you're
planning on ambushing the enemy...
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