Tom Clancy's Endwar Voice-on Preview

Initial Impressions

Naturally though, there are some concerns. We played through a few singleplayer levels of the game based in Paris and one thing which immediately leapt out to us as a major concern was that the graphics for the game are a little rough.

There was very little in the way of anti-aliasing, plus low-res textures and samey unit animation all played their part in graphics-based disappointment, and it’s a little hard to know how to react to that. One part of us is immediately sympathetic to the plight of these endangered polygons – the game isn’t even released yet and there are bound to be issues and glitches in the game which haven’t been ironed out just yet.

Then again, Endwar runs on the Unreal Engine 3 and doesn’t seem to be graphically pushing the envelope. Running on an Xbox 360, everything graphical should be a known quantity to Ubisoft and it seems that the graphical polish on Endwar just isn’t as shiny as the competition.

Whether or not this visual lack-lustre is a limitation of the engine or game doesn't really matter - Endwar will face stiff competition from the likes of Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 and from what we saw Endwar is on the backfoot graphically speaking.


The other problem is that our time only allowed us to play through two levels, neither of which struck as being large, detailed or frantic enough to truly hold our interest for long.

It’s perhaps a trifle unfair to judge the entirety of the game on this one experience, but that’s the boat we find ourselves in and all we will say is that if someone chose these levels as best highlighting what the game can do then they may need their head examined.

Which is a shame because the game can obviously do an awful lot and the voice command interface really adds a lot to the immersion the game can offer. In fact, it’s more than just a little bit bizarre to see how much more attached you end up getting to your units just because you’re being forced to address them openly, directly and loudly. They stop becoming ‘units’ and start the transformation into ‘soldiers’.

That all gets especially true as your units start upgrading too and your infantry gain experience and abilities over the course of the game. Add into that the capacity for upgrades, special abilities and customisation and the game soon starts to compensate for the relatively meagre selection of unit types.


Besides, for every negative we can think of about Endwar we can also think of one or two positives. The game is obviously a labour of love for many of the developers and it’s clear than an awful lot of work has gone into not just perfecting the admirable science behind the vocal recognition software, but also the balancing and technicalities of the game itself.

There are still a few things which need to be cleared up to satisfy our curiosity – is the game part of an entirely new franchise Ubisoft are launching and will the game be staying as an Xbox 360 exclusive, for instance. These are matters on which Ubisoft is keeping understandably a bit quiet on for the moment.

Still, whether or not the franchise looks set to spore one thing is certain for the moment and that’s that Real-time Strategy buffs are in for a definite treat when it comes to Tom Clancy’s Endwar. The game may still look a little bit rough and may be a bit on the small-scale side of things, but the game is very fast-paced and has a deceptive level of depth once you’ve got to grips with the voice controls and are able to order groups to take cover in buildings or unleash special abilities.

Endwar is an interesting looking game and while it obviously isn’t going to be the definitive Tom Clancy experience by the look of things (that honour still lies with Rainbow Six), it could certainly be one of the most interesting console games of this year regardless.