A large portion of the game takes place in urban environments and so the battles tend to play out a little differently than they do in RTS games that feature more open maps. Controlling the major streets is a major factor in victory, and to do so you’ll need to take and hold key buildings on the map. Moving into a building is simple enough; just select your troops and then click on a building and they will go in, automatically battling any enemies inside. However, managing troops garrisoned in buildings is a chore in Act of War. Because of the tight urban environments and camera viewpoint, it can be hard to tell exactly which troops are in which building. You have no control over the troops in the building so you can’t tell them which side of the building to garrison, and there’s no easy way to get all of the troops out of a building. Trying to get my troops in and out of buildings and guessing which building they were actually in proved to be the most frustrating aspect of the game.

Controlling the streets is key to victory.

As for the AI side of things, pathfinding in the game is decent. For the most part your troops get to where you want them to go, but there are occasional signs of screwy behavior that will leave you wondering as to where your troops have wandered off to. This problem seems to be exacerbated by the number of troops that you have grouped which can make moving large masses of units akin to keeping track of second graders on a field trip to a park. The enemy AI is adequate as well, but as in many RTS games you’ll feel that you are up against an opponent without much of a strategy outside of sending periodic batches of troops your way.

Once you’ve played through the game’s campaign there’s not much in the way of compelling reasons for you to go back and replay its missions. At that point you can move to the game’s skirmish/multiplayer mode to extend the life of the game. It is also in this mode that you’ll have your first chance to play the “bad guy” faction, The Consortium.

In multiplayer mode Act of War resembles more of a traditional RTS. The game supports up to eight human and/or AI players and allows for team-based or free-for-all play. The three factions are well-balanced, but no matter what mix of factions you have in a game they almost always boil down to races to produce the biggest army the fastest so that you can overwhelm your opponents with your numbers. Whether or not this is a good thing will be dependent on your style of play. Base-builders need not apply.

Act of War’s campaign definitely provides a change of pace from your typical RTS game. While the multiplayer mode is more standard fare, it is still executed well enough to make the game enjoyable. Overall it’s not the deepest or most engaging RTS you’ll ever play, but it is worth a good look from strategy fans.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 80%.  Act of War is as much a tecno-thriller movie as it is a game, and if you’re a fan of Dale Brown and Tom Clancy you’ll love immersing yourself in this game.

System Requirements:  Pentium 4 1.5 GHz; 256 MB RAM;  64 MB Video RAM; 2x DVD-ROM;  6 GB Hard Drive Space;  Mouse.

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