World in Conflict [PC]

A problem with real-time strategy games, particularly the ones with the latest high-end graphics, is that you have to take a break from the action to actually play the game. Who wants to harvest gold instead of admire a detailed firefight? Who wants to build a base when you could enjoy the spectacle of things blowing up? Who wants to save up resources to age up instead of playing with an army from the get-go? The latest real-time strategy games give you amazing toys, and then force you to look away.

World in Conflict, a gorgeous Cold War-themed real-time strategy game, says look away no more! Come for the awesome details graphics, and enjoy them all the way through the match. You can all but press your nose against the monitor the entire time to watch your units fighting. Hang out with your own handful of troops and nothing but. No bases, no separate groups spread out across the map, no resources to track. World in Conflict is almost like a first-person shooter for how it's built to let you focus on where you're looking and what your units are doing.

The trick is that this is a strictly team-based multiplayer game. A draconian paper/rock/scissors scheme resolves most encounters quickly. Helicopters will shred artillery, which will pulverize infantry, which will devastate helicopters. But each player on a team will only be playing with a limited type of units.

So when you first jump into a match, you'll choose one of four specialties: infantry, armor, air, or support units. Your choice determines the cost of your units, which are air-dropped onto the map arrive after a short delay. An infantry player is free to buy helicopters, for instance, but they're going to cost him a lot more than they'll cost an air player.

Yes, units have a cost. But this doesn't mean there's an economy going on here. This is strictly a game about fighting, so each player's bank account has always and only 6000 points. When a unit dies, its cost is immediately refunded. The idea is that you've got to make the most of your points given the current context. Are you an infantry player whose snipers are constantly getting mowed down by tanks? Start replacing your casualties with anti-tank infantry. Are helicopters pounding your artillery? Invest the refunded points in a few anti-air vehicles.