Act of War: Direct Action
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| Act of War: Direct Action | |
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| Developer(s) | Eugen Systems |
| Publisher(s) | Atari |
| Designer(s) | Alexis Le Dressay |
| Release date(s) | March 15, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | RTS |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ELSPA: 16+ ESRB: Teen (T) |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Media | DVD (1) |
| System requirements | Intel Pentium 4 1.5 GHz or equivalent CPU, 256 MB RAM, 6 GB hard disk, 64 MB video card |
| Input | Keyboard, Mouse |
Act of War: Direct Action is a real-time strategy game developed by Eugen Systems and published by Atari. The game is based on the Command & Conquer concept of modern warfare RTS. The game was released in March of 2005, and features a detailed story written by Dale Brown, a retired captain of the US Air Force and a bestselling author. Previews of the game have so far garnered mostly positive reviews.
The game includes a combination of pre-rendered cut-scenes and over an hour of live action film. Live action was shot in Montreal, Canada during the summer of 2004. Pre-rendered cut-scenes were done using machinima technique, wherein one person plays while being recorded from different angles (with all interface elements hidden). The recorded video is then postprocessed and provided with sound effects and dialog.
Act of War features many new gameplay elements, including heavily wounded soldiers being immobilized and unable to engage in combat until they can be reached by medical help, the ability to take prisoner of war, buildings that are realistically destructible, and the ability to create barricades.
Act of War did not add many innovative concepts to the RTS genre, and its most prominent gameplay feature was balance. Unlike most RTS games in which some units are massed and are used almost exclusively over other units for an easy victory, Act of War required you to use practically every unit available, which allowed for great gameplay diversity. The pre-patched version of the game had an issue of the "Sell-all BTR rush", where the player sells everything they have except for one building to make BTR-80s. However, Eugen and Atari released a patch that fixed this issue and is now mostly balanced. A minority of players say that Consortium is now underpowered.
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[edit] Plot
Act of war is set in what is only referred to as "a near future" (possibly around 2007) where a crippling energy economy has forced gas prices in the U.S. to over $7 a gallon. The game begins when an oil facility in Houston is destroyed by a terrorist bombing one week before the "World Energy Forum" in London. Concerned with the possibility of an attack at the Energy Forum as well, the national security advisor is granted permission to activate "Task Force Talon", an elite platoon of soldiers that is unknown to the public, to guard the World Energy Forum. The plot thickens when a major terrorist operation occurs in San Francisco, which results in the US government ordering a full troop recall in order to fight off any further attacks. In the singleplayer, there is only one campaign to play through which effectively puts you in the role of Army Major Jason Richter, where you command the forces of the US army and Task Force Talon around the world and eventually in Washington D.C.
[edit] Factions
US army (USA or US): In Act of War: Direct Action, the United States is being attacked by an enemy force called the Consortium, whose agenda is unknown.
Basically the United States is the conventional war machine with familiar units like the AH-64 Apache, Delta Force, Humvee, M1 Abrams main battle tank and other real-life vehicles including the M109 Paladin and M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System. They also have massive airpower with the greatest variety of planes and helicopters as well as the most upgrades for specialized roles. For example, the F-15 can only attack other air units but it's the best anti-air unit in the game, and the sniper is very effective against other infantry units.
One of their weaknesses may be that they are a bit bottled down by DEFCON procedures. (The game starts at DEFCON 3) Climbing to DEFCON level 2 requires $5,000, and to attain DEFCON 1 requires $4,500 (making $9,500 all together to fully research the technology tree.)
Notable units for this side include the B2 Spirit Stealth Bomber and the M1 Abrams main battle tank.
Task Force Talon (TFT or TF): Task Force Talon is a direct action team put together to carry out almost anything from search-and-destroy assaults to hostage extractions, to simple reconnaissance missions. They are employed by the United States to counter the unknown enemy that calls themselves the Consortium, which fights in unconventional means. Talon has access to all information from all agencies, as well as all technology, be it experimental, classified or even officially "non-existent".
All members of Task force Talon are handpicked as the best of the best from all branches of the US army, and are equipped with the most modern, high-tech equipment available.
Task Force Talon focuses more on versatility than the United States Army. For example, a recon buggy can be upgraded with rockets to make it a decent air counter as well as a scout unit, and whereas the US F-15 only can fire Air to Air missiles, the TFT F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can fire air to air missiles as well as provide very effective bombing raids.
As opposed to the US Defcon levels, TFT has two separate upgrades which can be researched in any order, the DRONE tech, and the SHIELD tech. While the SHIELD upgrade initially gives defensive capabilities like Healing and Repairing, it eventually gives access to build the Mjolnir Super-Heavy Howitzer, Talon's tactical superweapon. And while the DRONE tech focuses more on increasing offensive capabilities, by giving access to a Spinner command center as well as Airstrike capabilities, it eventually grants access to build the "Guardian Drone Ballistic Defense", a building which deploys anti tactical/superweapon capabilities.
One weakness is that TALON's units and upgrades are very expensive. This means that losing too many units early in an online game could quickly decide the outcome of the battle.
Notable units for this side is the S.H.I.E.L.D. unit, an infantry wearing a robotic exoskeleton suit equipped with a 20mm Vulcan Cannon and Javelin Rockets, and the Spinner drone, a remote controlled robot tank that can change its weapons from an anti-tank gun to an anti-air missile launcher to a bomb drone launcher. In the expansion pack Act of War: High Treason, the Spinner has another variant called the Titan Missile Spinner which launches Titan "Tacit Rainbow" cruise missiles that can hit targets sitting on the other side of a map.
Consortium (CST, CS or Consort): The Consortium is a group of oil companies and terrorists bent on creating an oil monopoly. Not much else known about the Consortium nor if there are underlying motives other than wealth.
The Consortium operates in two modes, "Undercover" and "Revealed". In Undercover mode, the Consortium resorts to bribing mercenaries, terrorists and possibly even certain governments into doing their dirty work, relying more on massing "low-quality" units for a low price rather than having a few strong ones. Notable units are the standard AK-74 infantry unit and various weapon systems from Russia and other countries of the world. In revealed mode, the true extent of their power is revealed. Ironic as it may be, in "revealed" mode almost all units have "stealth" capabilities. When in revealed mode, the consortium gains access to building high tech experimental units like YF-23 Black Widow II stealth planes (a US fighter in real life), Akula Stealth Tanks (unmanned cloaked tanks armed with twin railguns) and highly trained Optical-Camo soldiers (soldiers wearing active camouflage), both of which are the Consortium's signature units. The Consortium also gains access to powerful railgun technology in "Revealed" mode.
Their trademark weapon is their tactical weapon, the "Falling Star", a project originally started by the US government, in which a communications array forces satellites to fall upon a targeted area. It can be upgraded with ebola, causing more injuries to infantry units.
In the single player campaign, the Russian antagonist Zakarov has convinced the Russian 11th Armored Corps to join forces with the Consortium, and thus players will initially see T-80 Tanks in the Consortium's armory. Later on as the game progresses, the player will soon find out that the Consortium's influence extends far beyond Russia as they fight renegade US Army forces that have sided with the Consortium.
Consortium is considered a somewhat hard side to play, seeing as it requires good use of almost all available units and abilities, therefore, there are almost no new players playing Consortium.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- The official forums for Act of War: Direct Action
- Eugen System Forum
- Instruction for using bigbrother cheat code.
[edit] The Expansion
Act of War has an expansion pack called Act of War: High Treason. In this expansion, the current president is killed and the candidates are attacked during the elections. It features naval combat, mercenaries, about 2-3 new units per side (excluding naval units) and a lot of new upgrades. (See official website.)
Demo Downloads:
