TeAM YYePG

BATTLESTATIONS: MIDWAY
PUBLISHER: THQ DEVELOPER: Mithis Entertainment RELEASE DATE: February 2006
OVERVIEW
Battlestations: Midway has flown under the
radar for some time now, so let’s get some
basic intel out of the way. As you can probably
guess from the name, Midway takes place
in the Pacific theater and has you playing as
both the American and Japanese navies (you
unlock the latter). Destroyers, aircraft carriers,
subs, recon planes, bombers—you command
about 70 craft in total (45 at a time in singleplayer
mode). A solo campaign eases you
into the higher ranks, but the basic premise is
this: You direct where your fleet goes, and
then you hop down to the ship/sub/plane
level to do the dirty work.
THE ACTION
Whatever you have in your task force is
instantly accessible, thanks to a simple bar
along the top of the screen. Each craft handles
uniquely with simple controls—this isn’t
a sim, after all. In seconds you’re on a sub,
sneaking behind enemy lines and sinking
supply ships. Next you’re jumping onto the
bridge of a destroyer for a completely different
experience. A simple onscreen indicator
tells you how many of the ship’s deck guns
can be trained on the target in the
crosshairs; as soon as you can “cross the
T,” unload with everything you’ve got and
then go on a bombing run over the airfield.
GHOST WARS
PUBLISHER: Hip Games DEVELOPER: Digital Reality RELEASE DATE: February 2006
OVERVIEW
Digital Reality is setting its sights on modern
warfare with Ghost Wars, which may be the
most ambitious game yet in the burgeoning
action-RTS genre. The best way to sum this
game up in 20 words or less: It’s a squadbased
RTS with a huge focus on action scattered
around the globe in modern combat
operations. On the surface, the game actually
looks a lot like Atari’s Act of War. Great visuals
(each vehicle is composed of about 2,500
polygons, and every character has about
3,700 polygons) are obvious from the screenshots,
but there’s a lot more happening
here—as we witnessed firsthand during a
playtest of a level set in Cuba.
THE ACTION
There’s no micromanagement here—just
asses that need kicking. Squad tactics are
the focus, so you get to select your elite
special-ops forces before embarking on a
mission. After the drop, you’ll direct troop
movement as you would in any other RTS—
the real difference becomes obvious in the
field, where you can leap right into the
action. Jump into the sniper and start targeting
distant foes; move over to the assault
trooper for some FPS action; take a tank for
a spin and the game switches to third person
as you blast your way through the
streets. There are so many options here that
you almost forget you’re playing an RTS.
�
Ship-to-ship combat looks particularly
intense.
BELLS AND WHISTLES
Midway also has a pretty cool multiplayer
mode, with eight players jumping between
available craft in pitched naval battles. In
this mode, controls are split between four
different “classes” in a sense. If you control
the airfield, you’re in charge of ordering and
controlling its aircraft—the same goes for
harbors under your command.
�
ACTION-RTS FEATURE
Looks like it’s time for a little urban renewel,
A10 style.
BELLS AND WHISTLES
Units sport A.I. that intelligently evaluates the
situation. When you aren’t giving orders, your
troops will know well enough to run, crouch,
and take cover. For example, we took control
of a tank and trundled down the street into an
ambush. We switched over to command
mode, leaving the unit high and dry—and
after a few seconds of taking damage, the
tank actually retreated and returned fire!
CGW.1UP.COM < 55