Tom Clancy’s EndWar was a 2008 real-time strategy game that was popular on the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360. Today Ubisoft announced that they are rebooting the series and going free-to-play by making the game browser-based online. The original game was received reasonably well by players, but some fear that this new version will be less well-crafted when there is no charge. You can decide for yourself by watching the trailer or signing up for the beta and giving it a shot.
EndWar’s Gameplay
In this tactical and strategic MMO you play as either the European Enforcers or Russian Spetnaz in a post-apocalyptic World War 3. Since a Saudi Arabian nuclear terrorist attack in 2016 the world has been struggling to survive and you play as the leader trying to save your homeland. There will be battles, army management, personnel decisions, and all the choice you would expect as the last leader of a warring empire. The single-player campaign is probably not worth your time, but the multiplayer combat might be addicting for some. Collecting, upgrading, and improving units could bring the same satisfaction gamers get out of collectible card games, but then players get to use those units. EndWar tries to combine many genres including MOBA, action, RTS, CCG, and casual so it is certainly an interesting concept.
Controversy Over EndWar Online
The original EndWar was an excellent multiplayer RTS, but it had flaws. The single player was flat. The voice-commands were buggy. The combat was generic. Some players are wondering if making it browser-based will cheapen it further or make the idiosyncrasies unbearable. It comes down to the hot-button topic of whether free-to-play cheapens games or makes them more accessible. In EndWar’s case I think Ubisoft can pull it off, but only time will tell.
