Game Reviews - Indews

Act of War: Direct Action Rating:
Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 9
Sound: 8
Concept: 8
Tilt: 7
Overall: 9

Great RTS games are few and far between. For every great title comes at least ten below par games that can't quite suffice. However, there are also those games that tend to walk the line, not really wavering into either department but rather just offering a fun, if unoriginal, experience. Act of War: Direct Action is one such game.

In the game play department, Act of War: Direct Action is pretty much just a standard RTS title in most regards.. However, it does supply some unique variations. Mainly, Act of War differs from other RTS titles in how the game handles resources. Rather than the standard RTS where you make gatherer units and order them our to harvest one of many different kinds of raw materials, Act of War instead allows you to build an oil derrick and a refinery and let the cash flow in. Additionally, the city itself (where all of your missions are based, within a city) can lend its hand by allowing gamers to place units itself of buildings such as banks and milk it for all its worth, generating an even larger cash flow. The last form of making cash comes in the form of POW's. That's right, if you can capture wounded enemy units you can hold them and periodically make money off of the captured men, an interesting alternative, indeed.

The game is beautiful in most regards, looking better than many current RTS titles. The live action cut-scenes were done well and units, although they look very similar to units found in many other RTS titles, are very well modeled and animated. Also, the cities are downright gorgeous. Although the cities can get confusing with how large they tend to be and how populated they are, the cities also provide plenty of eye candy with how much effort the development team put into spicing them up. There are tons of buildings and detail put into the massive levels.

By far and away Act of War is simply one of the best sounding RTS games I have personally ever heard. Voice acting is done extremely well, bringing the characters and the story to life, the sound effects are crisp, clear, and vibrant, really drawing you in to those hectic battles, and the music is definitely above par. Overall, the sound is one of the best aspects of the game and really helps to give the game a great polished feel to it.

Act of War does provide some good replay value. Although the single player campaign mode isn't overly long, it does provide some room for replaying it. However, once you get the hang of things you should take your abilities online and battle it out with other gamers. The multiplayer is very fun and anyone who enjoys the overall game play should find plenty of great moments in the multiplayer aspect of the game.

Act of War: Direct Action emerges as a fairly solid RTS. Granted, it could have used a bit more polish in the home stretch; however it still ends up being a fun game that should provide plenty of entertainment to RTS fans. It isn't the next classic that will go down in history, but it still should find a good place on your shelf.