Tom Clancy's EndWar

This article is about the video game. For the novelization, see Tom Clancy's EndWar (novel).

Tom Clancy's EndWar
Multiplatform cover box art
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Shanghai
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Designer(s)	Michael de Plater
Engine	Unreal Engine 3.1
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360
Release	Console and handheld: Microsoft Windows: March 3, 2009
Genre(s)	Real-time tactics (turn-based for handhelds)
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Tom Clancy's EndWar is a real-time tactics game designed by Ubisoft Shanghai for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows platforms. The Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable versions will feature turn-based tactics instead of the real-time tactics of their console counterparts. It was released on November 4, 2008 in the United States, November 6, 2008 in Canada, and November 8, 2008 in Europe.A Windows version is expected to be released on March 3, 2009.

Story

In 2016, a nuclear attack occurs in Saudi Arabia, killing six million people and crippling the world's oil supply. The following year, the United States of America and the European Union sign the historic SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield) Treaty, agreeing to co-develop technologies for a comprehensive, interlocking anti-ballistic missile system. The US and EU test launch nuclear salvos against each other, which the SLAMS weapons completely destroy. Emboldened by the success of the tests, the US and EU pronounce "the end of strategic nuclear war," and the world celebrates a new age of peace. But with crude oil at USD 800 a barrel, the EU member-states are forced to consolidate political, economic, and military power to form the "European Federation" in 2018. The United Kingdom and Ireland decline membership, instead merging to form the "New Commonwealth", an ally of the EF. The US and EF regard each other's power as a threat to their own, and the now fractured former allies embark on a costly space arms race with each other. Russia, being the world's new number one supplier of natural gas and crude oil, has its economy skyrocket up with the energy crisis, spending its oil profits on modernizing its armed forces, creating its own missile defense system, and utilizing its new-found power to influence world events.

The militarization of space reaches its peak in 2018, when the United States reveals plans to launch the Freedom Star space station into high orbit by 2020, in an effort to regain its position as the premier world superpower. While partly designed for civilian research purposes, the station will also house three companies of U.S. Marines, who can deploy anywhere on Earth within 90 minutes. International reaction is extremely negative, to say the least. The E.F. and Russia in particular despise the development, seeing it as a way the U.S. could use to neutralize their portion of anti-ballistic defenses and upset the balance of power. The E.F. withdraw from the already divided NATO in protest.

Prelude to war

The prelude to war takes place before WWIII and explains how the conflict began.

On March 23, 2020, European Federation (EF) uplink sites in the "lawless zone" ,where Croatia used to be, are attacked by an as-yet unidentified group of terrorists from a beached cargo ship. They are repulsed by EF Enfocers Corps (EFEC) forces. During the battle, the EF attempts to gain access to the cargo ship that the terrorists use but the ship is destroyed before they can gain access. Details of the attack are kept secret. On April 4, 2020, when the final module of the Freedom Star is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center amid international outcry, the same group of terrorists attack the module and attempt to destroy it, using the same methods as the Croatian attack. Once again they are repulsed the United States Joint Strike Force (JSF) as reports of yet another terrorist attack come in, this time of an assault on the Rozenburg petrol plant in Holland. After being defeated by EFEC forces, the terrorists identify themselves as the "Forgotten Army" comprised of people from a collection of failed states in the Balkans, Africa and South America. Following a final terrorist attack, this time on a Russian powerplant near Minsk, the US finds "conclusive evidence" that the European Federation's defense minister, François Pulain, funded the Forgotten Army with modern military equipment. They send a black-ops team to abduct him while he inspects the Copenhagen uplink network, but an anonymous call by Russia informs Danish police and together with EFEC forces trap the team in one of the uplinks. The US crashes Copenhagen's uplinks and sends in JSF units to extract Pulain. The US successfully repels the EFEC's first attack, but European forces are able to counter-attack and reboot Copenhagen's uplinks in their favor, forcing JSF forces to surrender. While emergency peace talks are held in London, it is revealed(to the player only) that Russia funded the Forgotten Army's attacks as well as planting the evidence against Pulain, citing the need to keep the EF and the US from uniting in order to take Russia's oil. To ensure that war is sparked between the two powers, elements of the Spetsnaz Guard Brigade (SGB) embark on a covert operation to upload a virus into the European SLAMS network at Rovaniemi air base in Finland. The virus causes an E.F orbital laser satellite to shoot down the newly repaired Freedom Star module upon lift off, thinking it to be an ICBM. The entire crew is killed. This act starts a war between the two powers. Russia initially joins the U.S under the guise of "aiding it in its crusade against Europe" and invades E.F. controlled Poland, but the United States sees this as an attempt to reform the Eastern Bloc and attacks Russia. World War 3 has begun.

Locations

The game takes place in the same universe as Ghost Recon, H.A.W.X., Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell.

Locations include: Washington D.C., Paris, Copenhagen, Three Mile Island, La Mancha, Pascagoula, Mississippi, Moscow, Springfield, Illinois, John F. Kennedy Space Center (Featured in the Demo), Arrabida, Brenner Pass, Fort Campbell, Matera (Specifically the E.F. Space Center), Maxwell Air Force Base, Ramstein Air Base, Brooklyn Navy Yard (U.S.S. Regan), Wilstermarsch, Dukovany Nuclear Power Station, Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base, Le CEITO (E.F. Training Facility), Sevastopol, Vlorë (Specifically the Vlorë Refinery), The Bedford Level in Norfolk, England, Rovaniemi, Finland, and the Shenandoah Valley.

In an IGN interview, De Plater said the setting of EndWar (as a possible series) is a global battle, but the first installment is focused on the North Atlantic theatre of battle: Europe, Russia and North America. Players will hear reports of events in other parts of the world, such as reactions to the war by the Pope and various other countries, as well as actions in the war that the player takes no part in.

Characters

• Gen. Scott Mitchell: Commander of the United States Joint Strike Force. He will give orders, motivational speeches,and opponent descriptions for any players playing as the US. Former team leader from the Ghost Recon series.
• Gen. Amadou de Bankole: Commander of the European Federation Enforcers Corps. He will give orders, motivational speeches,and opponent descriptions for any players playing as Europe. Presumably from Africa, based on his dialect.
• Gen. Sergei Izotov: Commander of the Russian Spetsnaz Guard Brigade. He will give orders, motivational speeches,and opponent descriptions for any players playing as Russia. Izotov is the man who funded the Forgotten Army's attacks and framed the European government.
• President David Becerra: President of the United States. Described as the first Latino president.
• President Nathalie Pérreau: President of the Europan Federation. First president of the EF
• President Vsevolod Vsevolofovich Kapalkin: President of Russia. Former mobster and smuggler with connections to the oil industry.
• Maj. Alice Dennison: Serves as the Executive Officer for anyone playing as America. Her job is to provide the player with real-time battlefield information.
• Capt. Ilaria Cimino: Serves as the Executive Officer for anyone playing as Europe. Her job is to provide the player with real-time battlefield information.
• Maj. Alexei Noskov: Serves as the Executive Officer for anyone playing as Russia. His job is to provide the player with real-time battlefield information.

Gameplay

Imp Rebs has confirmed 4x4 will be offered in the full version. De Plater confirmed the game to be a Real-time tactics strategy war-game. Units will gain experience as they are used in battle. The emphasis will be more on smaller scale battles rather than the overarching campaign.

Ubisoft also claims that the game is "completely controllable through voice commands." This is demonstrated on a handful of game play videos by de Plater himself.

Factions

There are 3 playable factions in EndWar:

• The Russian Spetsnaz Guards Brigade, which is composed of veterans of Russia's many regional conflicts, specializing in heavy weapons and heavy armor. Their WMD (weapon of mass destruction) is a Fuel-Air Missile. A few Rainbow veterans from Eastern Europe serve as Battalion commanders.

• The European Federation Enforcers Corps, which is made up of veteran elite counter-terrorist and peacekeeping forces throughout Europe, especially skilled in urban warfare. While their weaponry may not be as precise as those of the J.S.F. and their units are slightly less armored, their strength lies in electronic warfare, as well as non-lethal weapons technology and advanced directed energy weapons. Their ranks notably contain many previous members of the elite counter-terrorist unit Rainbow. Their WMD is a Tactical High Energy Laser.

• The United States' Joint Strike Force, led by Ghost Recon main character Scott Mitchell, is modeled after today's Marine Expeditionary Units. The J.S.F. is built around small, fast units packing a precise punch, and is made up of elite servicemen from all branches of the U.S. Military. They also specialize in access to state-of-the-art stealth technology and battlefield robotics, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Automated Sentry Drones. Their WMD is a Kinetic Strike. A few veteran Ghost Recon members serve as battalion commanders.

Units

There are seven types of units available for direct command: riflemen, engineers, tanks, transports, gunships, artillery, and command vehicles. Troops which have been with the player for many battles will be more effective than fresh recruits. De Plater, Creative Director, says this creates a "Pokémon-like" ownership of the player's units, and will have a large effect on his tactics. "It's a battalion that you own," says de Plater. "You can personalize it. You can customize it. You can choose its motto and its heraldry. You can change its composition and abilities." According to a Pre-GC IGN article: "Each faction has roughly 150 upgrades and units have six levels of experience. These upgrades are where the seven unit types can gain great variety and specialization through three different ways-experience, equipment and training, all of which have different effects and abilities. This allows many of the related unit types other games consider a different class have merely to be folded into one of the eight present in EndWar. For example, a rifleman may be upgraded to a sniper unit rather than having that unit type exist by itself."

Each individual unit can gain many upgrades for attack and defense (e.g. extra armor on sides of tank or anti-aircraft gun attached to tank). Upgrades must be bought from points earned in the game.

There are about 40,000 lines of dialogue, 9,000 of which are "unit chatter" that will give a battalion its own personality. Each unit will have a specific voice to help the player recognize instantly which one is in danger, and these voices show the degree of danger they are in (such as the severity of an injury or the morale the unit has).

The player will not control individual soldiers, but much larger platoons and companies. The soldiers will behave realistically, using stealth and military tactics. Veterans will act based on their experience in previous battles.

Robert Ashley, a writer for Electronic Gaming Monthly reports:

"Squadrons of heavily armed soldiers, when ordered to a cluster of firebombed cars, will automatically take cover in different ways, periodically taking potshots at the enemy through windows and over hoods. If a soldier gets shot, one of his squadmates will drag him back to safety. When the player orders reinforcements, the additional troops deploy from helicopters, rappelling down the ropes like old pros. When ordered to take control of a building, the troops will gather around the entrance and break in Rainbow Six-style-boot through the door and guns blazing. Then they will take sniper positions in the windows."

Craters, walls, debris, and buildings can be used for cover, and units can be pinned down by heavy enemy fire.

De Plater hinted at the game being streamlined with regards to units, resource management, etc. He stated that "every time [they] cut features out, it just made the game better." For example, only 12 groups are allowed under control at once, creating a "Madden at war" style of battle. Also, the resource system will be stripped down compared to other RTS games. Each unit costs the same amount of resources, which are gained by capturing strategic points on the battlefield. Also you get one every 30 sec confirmed by Imp Rebs. Reinforcements will be handled realistically meaning all new units must be transported onto the battlefield by a transport vehicle (or in the case of helicopters, will fly in from off-screen).

To call in new units it costs 1-6 CP (Command Points), Command Points are also used to call in airstrikes, force recon and electronic warfare, the 3 kinds of offmap support. Command Points regenerate at a rate of around 1 per 30 seconds and are also gained for killing enemy units, you gain a bonus of 4 Command Points for capturing an uplink.

Riflemen: These are standard infantry, and with upgrades they can 'Deep Strike' to any area on the map (for an extra charge of 6 Command Points + the 4 CP for calling them in). They are effective against gunships while they are in cover, as well as against engineers. They can utilize stealth to avoid being spotted by hostiles. They can capture uplink points, but upgrade them slower than engineers. The Russian riflemen are called Wolves, and are part of Spetsnaz. European riflemen are called Kommandos, and are lauded for their diversity, as they stick to the tactics of their original national units, making them extremely difficult to predict. The American riflemen are called Ghosts, and recruited from various aspects of the United States Armed Forces, including Marine Force Recon, SEALs, Army Rangers, Green Berets, Pararescueman (PJ's), and even Ghost Recon teams

Engineers: These are anti-tank troops, although while in cover they are effective against almost everything apart from distant artillery and riflemen. Engineers can plant land mines every 25 seconds, and can also use heavy machine guns as a special ability to damage riflemen and gunships more effectively. The Russian engineers are known as Bears, and part of Spetsnaz, like the riflemen. European engineers are called Grenadiers, and are renowned for their non-lethal weapons. American engineers are referred to as Pioneers, and are equipped with full body armor, although their weaponry is less advanced than their European counterparts.

Transports: These units are effective against gunships and riflemen, and can transport infantry, although they are highly vulnerable to tanks and entrenched engineers. Russia employs the BTR-112 Cockroach, which is described as having the ideal balance of transport and anti-aircraft functions. Europe uses the German AMZ-26 Badger, which is remarkably fuel-efficient, and boasts a lethal heat-ray. America uses the M118 Fastback.

Tanks: Tanks are extremely efficient against most armored vehicles, although they are vulnerable to entrenched engineers, artillery strikes, gunships and minefields. The Russians employ the T-100 Ogre, described as being the World War III equivalent of the Tiger I tank of World War II, and is extremely mine-resistant, apparently to compensate for the lack of Russian mine sweeping technology. The Europeans employ the Panther 1A3, developed by some of the best corporations across Europe, and utilizes an arguably cruel microwave-emitter. The Americans use the M5A2 Schwarzkopf, named after Persian Gulf War general Norman Schwarzkopf.

Gunships: Gunships are fast-attack helicopters that can be used to scout the battlefield for artillery and air strikes, and are also efficient tank-killers. They are nevertheless very fragile, and can be destroyed by transports or entrenched engineers. Russia uses the KA-65 Howler, which is described as being the most armed and armored helicopter in existence. Europe employs the PAH-6 Cheetah, a hydrogen vehicle, which is also equipped with laser-guided missiles for increased lethality. The United States uses the AH-80 Blackfoot, allegedly based on a canceled 2004 design that was recovered during the arms race.

Artillery: Although relatively slow and extremely fragile in close-quarters, artillery can devastate ground units from a distance. The Russians employ the KV-20 Zhukov, a twin-barreled platform allegedly promoted by Vladimir Putin, has a South African design that is less accurate than its foreign counterparts, but with a higher rate of fire. Europe uses the AMZ-50 Marksman, which is the fastest and lightest artillery unit in the world, and has a series of generators linked to the main gun, allowing for the Marksman to charge its own battery whilst firing. America utilizes the M320 Spartan, which is described as being little changed from decades ago, with minor technological improvements.

Command Vehicle: Command vehicles allow the player access to an overhead-view situation report, as well as access to UAV scouts. All command vehicles are guarded by escort units, which are efficient against infantry and helicopters. Command vehicles also have relatively large health levels, allowing them to last longer than most other units in combat. Russia uses the MAZ-660 King Spider, which keeps an array of low-tech backup equipment, and is the only Command Vehicle guarded by soldiers, not electronic drones. Europe employs the LV-20 Charlemagne, which does not use conventional weapons, but a variety of laser-based technologies. The Americans use the C1A5 Archon, which employs a 20mm chain gun for close support.

Mission Supports

There are also three mission supports that can be upgraded:

Air strikes: they damage or destroy units. The European aircraft used for this role is the Eurofighter Hailstorm, which is apparently based on the Eurofighter Typhoon and the JAS-39 Gripen. The aircrafts for America are the A-20 Razorbacks, fictional craft resembling a swing-wing F-22 Raptor. Russia's strike fighter is the Su-38 Slamhound, which is based on the Su-47 Berkut.

Electronic warfare: disrupts enemy communications, forces the shield down, and immobilizes enemy vehicles.

Force Recon: a support that sends a regular army unit to a captured uplink. It consists of up to one infantry unit, one FAV (Fast Attack Vehicle) unit and two tank units from a regular army.

Mission Types

Missions in the single player campaign are divided into four separate groups based on location or accessibility and are conquest, assault, raid and siege.

Conquest: These battles are most straight forward. You start with three units and have access to reserves which can be called in and off map support. The aim of this mission type is to gain control over half of the uplinks for a five minute period, or destroy all enemies. When over half the uplinks are controlled, Defcon One initiates and access to WMDs is granted.

Assault: These battles are a straight fight to the death, no taking uplinks, no destroying buildings, the only way to win this battle is to wipe out every last enemy unit.

Raid: These battles are like conquest mode, but you have to sabotage the enemy by destroying half of the key buildings within ten minutes or defend against the enemy for ten minutes, rather than taking uplinks or defeating all enemy forces.

Siege: These battles are exclusive to capital cities and require you to capture or defend a critical uplink identified by being larger than all other uplinks. The attacker must secure the uplink before reinforcements arrive in ten minutes, making the task a lot harder. The defender will be given eight units and must hold on to the uplink for ten minutes time, at which point a large force recon team deploys. Until the timer runs out, the defenders must do without any off-map support, including reinforcements and evacuation choppers, forcing units to fight to the last man. Off-map supports, including WMDs and reinforcements, are half the CP cost.

In all mission types, the player can win by annihilating the enemy force. Also, WMDs can be used.

Voice

The game features optional voice commands so that the player may use a headset to give orders to their troops, although the troops will only react to valid and game-related orders in certain languages, but are able to understand many accents of those languages. Officials at Ubisoft Shanghai said it was also possible to control the game using voice commands only. Hearing enemy soldiers communicate gives the player a strategic advantage to counter their attack with one of their own. Ubisoft has even created a video showing parrots commanding units using their voice.

Point of View

The view in the game is from the perspective of one of the units under the player's command. The camera can be panned 3-dimensionally and swapped between units but is not directly under the control of the player. Enemy units will only be detected if they are within the Line-of-Sight of a unit; doing away with the fog of war common in most strategy games; however, a player with enough investment into the space program can use satellite feed to see all units on the map.

In addition to the units' point of view, there is a tactical map or "sitrep" (Situation Report) view, which shows the entire map with the locations of all allied and any visible enemy units which can be used to issue commands.

Marketing

The special edition of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 included a video with the first live gameplay footage of this game. There have been online advertisements, as well as an EndWar website at Endwargame.com

Downloadable Content

Since release, Endwar has received the "Escalation" downloadable pack on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace which contains 3 new unit upgrades (1 per faction) and 4 new maps playable in skirmish, as well as additional achievements/trophies. Another set of upgrades were released, entitled the "Faction Elite pack" which included 6 new unit upgrades (2 per faction) and 3 new battalions (1 per faction).

Trailer

The first EndWar trailer shows an overhead map of Western Europe with only Spain and half of France under U.S. control, while the Russians occupy the rest of the continent. The camera then zooms to an ongoing battle in Paris, where a local Joint Strike Force commander, Major General Smith, directs the action from a mobile headquarters vehicle by using an interactive holographic map display. Outside, U.S. soldiers armed with XMX assault rifles, along with advanced M118 Fastback IFVs, DPV jeeps and M5A2 Schwarzkopf tanks, attack Russian forces holding out at the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre museum. Eventually, the US troops call in air support in the form of AH-80 Blackfoot attack helicopters and V-25 Goshawks transports, forcing the Russians to fall back. However, the assault is short-lived, as in addition to a mechanized counterattack, the Russian forces launch several UCAVs that shoot down the helicopters right on top of the soldiers. Realizing the desperate situation, General Smith issues voice attack commands to a Kinetic Strike satellite hovering over Europe. Russian soldiers surround him as he emerges from his command vehicle.

Just before the Russians take him in as a prisoner of war, the general says, "Now." The satellite fires at least three kinetic rods down on his position, obliterating himself and the Russians, as well as large sections of Paris. Smith's death would be mentioned in passing on the EndWar novel.

The trailer depicts several major cultural icons from Paris, including the Eiffel Tower and a heavily damaged Luxor Obelisk.

The music used in this trailer was composed by Michael McCann and can be found at his website. The music of a different trailer is The End of the World by Skeeter Davis

Novelization

Main article: Tom Clancy's EndWar (novel)

Endwar was published as a novel, on February 4, 2008 in paperback form. The back cover says "Based on Ubisoft's bestselling game, Tom Clancy's EndWar", despite the game not yet having been released at that time.

Reception

The Guardian gave the game a 4/5 [1] It was praised for its "Highly addictive solo play...the game comes into its own with the massively multiplayer online Theatre of War." while being docked somewhat for "occasional voice recognition blip".

The website www.gametrailers.com gave EndWar a 9/10 saying that it was "Console strategy done right."

GameRac.com gave EndWar a 8/10 saying that the multiplayer is very addictive but its single player missions are not as good as other Tom Clancy games.

IGN rated EndWar as an 8 out of 10 taking marks away for the "Uninspired single player campaign" but still saw it as a more than solid RTS.

Game Spot's Kevin VanOrd rated EndWar as a 7.5 out of 10 [2] praising its "Innovative voice command mechanic" and stating "Persistent online campaign makes matches feel meaningful" but berated it for its lack of story and "simple rock-paper-scissors skirmishes".

1Up and Electronic Gaming Monthly both gave the game a C.

Aggregator site Metacritic gave EndWar a score of 77 for the 360, 76 for the PS3, 69 for the Nintendo DS and 68 for the Sony PSP.

Xbox 360 Beta

A private beta test version was playable among Xbox Live Gold members. It included three maps and both 1v1 and 2v2 matches. The beta test began June 16, 2008 and ended July 9, 2008. Participants were placed under non-disclosure agreement until the game's first commercial launch.

Demo

The VIP demo for Xbox 360 users who pre-ordered the game was released a little more than a week late on October 11. The demo features one single-player story mission, one map that is playable in Skirmish mode with either 1 vs. 1 or 1 vs. AI, and a Voice Command Trainer.

The VIP demo has a campaign mission at Kennedy Space Center. The Skirmish mode features the European Federation versus the United States over the Kennedy Space Center in Conquest mode. The demo was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace on October 15, and on the Playstation Store on October 30th.

There is also a special code that appears when the user exits the demo, which is used to unlock a special Spetznaz battalion for use in the full game.

References

• [3] The Guardian review.

External links

• Official Game Homepage at ubi.com
• Tom Clancy's EndWar Community Official EndWar Commuity.
• rev64 Official EndWar teaser-site. Requires password "s9p1z6" , to view two hidden video clips.
• Tactical Warfare Sometimes it is hard to find people to play 4v4 with on Endwar. This site has a multitude of players looking for allies.