A Cunning R.U.S.E

I saw this game on release a while ago now and it didn't really catch my eye. I don't know why, it just didn't.

However I finally decided to give it a chance.

R.U.S.E is a real time strategy game set during World War 2.

You play the role of General Sheridan, a U.S Army officer as he reminisces over his journey through the war, starting in North Africa and finally to Europe.

Near the start of the game you are joined by a (very stereotypical) British Intelligence officer Colonel Andrew Campbell. This Character assists you through the game offering hints and tips.

The game itself sees you taking control of large Armies on a table top, as if you were in a war room. It is your job to build bases, take on the enemy, and secure the objectives.

I say table top, but a nice little twist allows you to zoom fully out and look down on the battlefield as a table top (you can even see chairs and desks around the edges) or if you zoom fully in, you can see the battlefield in a Command and Conquer style.

Alas yes I dropped that name, I admit, it is easy to draw similarities between the games. You have to collect resources in order to build units, point and click etc etc. Don't be put of straight away though, yes its very similar, but there are other aspects that are appealing and help this game stand out.

First lets cover the time period itself. Yes its WWII (stop yawning) but the developers really did their homework on this. The battles you take part in all centre around real battles, the units are numbered and named the same as those who actually took part. Place names are the same and the size of allied and enemy forces are accurately represented.

For a history buff like myself, I thought this was a really nice touch.

The actual story line itself is quite good, you know me by now, I wont say much on that, but it is delivered with cut scenes where the artwork and voice acting is surprisingly good, making the game quite believable and mingling nicely with real world events.

Another thing that stood out to me was a particular game play aspect, known as a 'Ruse' (hmmm where did they get the name from again?)

A 'Ruse' can allow you to identify enemy movements, hide your own forces, make enemies flee quicker, speed your forces up, there are loads. All can be an advantage, but the AI has them too and uses them effectively, which can change your way of thinking and planning.

There is a rank system involved, completing certain actions allows you to level up, unlocking different friendly forces etc. This gives you a reason to do secondary objectives which are often overlooked in these kind of games.

Lastly the AI itself, both friendly and enemy is pretty good. Friendly forces react to close enemy movement without hassle, retreating and attacking without you having to hold their hand all the way, which really comes in handy when the action starts to pick up later in the campaign. Enemy AI will react differently almost every time depending on what you do, so each game can be unpredictable.

Alongside the campaign is an online mode and a 'Battle mode' allowing you to go against an enemy AI on any map.

The campaign itself is long and tricky in parts even on the Normal difficulty setting and with the other modes available, playability on this game is quite high.

However any game has its bad points. For me these included the in-game visuals, they seemed pretty basic for a new-ish game, which was disappointing considering the cut scenes look very good.

Secondly it has to be that this game is quite time consuming, don't get me wrong I like it when a game lasts, but at times it can be borderline dull. Especially early on when the battles are quite straightforward and you don't have a lot of different assets to call upon.

Having said that though its worth sticking with it, as the action, difficulty and satisfaction all increase quite rapidly.

If you are a fan of strategy games or history in general, then this game is definately worth a look, however if your not a fan already, I don't think this game will swing your opinion.

Its fun and challenging, easy to learn but difficult to master. But sadly all things considered, its just an average game. I enjoyed it, but its not for everyone.

Thanks for reading this review and thank you to www.boomerangrentals.co.uk for supplying the game.

Cheers

Toby

By the way, if anyone picks this up, let me know what you think!