Here Come the Soviets!
What if things had been different? It’s a question that can be easily be applied to everything from monumental scientific discoveries to fleeting personal relationships. While second-guessing important real-life decisions can be an agonizing form of self-punishment, concocting wild, could-have-been scenarios is more of a tool than a neurosis in the world of video games. Asking “what if” has led to the creation of some of the most intriguing game concepts and situations imaginable. World in Conflict and the newly-released Soviet Assault expansion pack are great examples.
In 2007, Massive Entertainment dropped one hell of a bomb on war game enthusiasts with World in Conflict, a brilliantly designed real-time strategy title packed with killer gameplay, amazing visuals, and a gripping 1989 alternate reality World War III storyline centering around a Soviet invasion on U.S. soil. A year and a half later, the original game still holds up immaculately, and a new six-mission expansion pack now lets us become immersed in this fictional conflict from an entirely new perspective. There are many reasons why new and returning players alike will simply love World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, but a $20 price point isn’t one of them.
Imagine if the Cold War hadn’t died down in the late eighties but instead escalated into a third catastrophic World War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union – one that found the Soviet forces mounting a last-ditch invasion of Seattle, WA and the American west coast in 1989. World in Conflict explores this fictional war in a plausible, cinematic, and compelling way. The original game focused on the invasion from the American side, but the extra add-on missions found in Soviet Assault focus on the Red Army’s perspective. All of the new expansion story elements follow several officers in the Soviet military across numerous engagements, and they provide some balance to the original one-sided account of the conflict between the two military superpowers. Strong characters and well-constructed cinematic sequences will leave you feeling moments of sympathy for the two sides.
Each of the new missions are evenly sandwiched-in at different points between the 14 original American missions in the single-player campaign from the main game. With the expansion, you’ll start out as the Soviet forces in a preliminary engagement against NATO forces in West Berlin. This provides some back-story before proceeding with the U.S. invasion and the first few original campaign missions where the Americans attempt to mount a defense against the onslaught in Seattle. The Soviet maps and story elements crop up at semi-regular intervals to supplement and expand on the original. The extra missions are varied, and battles play out across several beautiful new terrain maps, but the additions afforded by the expansion are largely limited to these specific, story-driven encounters.
Soviet Assault’s story cutscenes and overall presentation retains the highly dramatic and cinematic style of the main campaign and is rendered in glorious detail through the in-game engine. The graphical polish and amazing visuals from World in Conflict carry over to the new battlefield encounters. Digging your nose into the engagements at ground level lets you walk like a general amidst your troops to witness the carnage of war first-hand. This is wonderfully fun and exciting in short bursts, but it’s a little hard to orchestrate your entire force’s maneuvers. Conversely, panning the camera out to an eagle’s-eye view is a real treat. The sky is often filled with gorgeous cloud and lighting effects, plumes of smoke from nearby explosions, and streaks from rockets and airborne battles in the distance. There’s always a lot going on around you, and soaking-in the cacophonous sights and sounds of immense battles that unfold across dense cities and rolling countryside is extremely stimulating.
For players who missed out on the main title, Soviet Assault features the same stellar gameplay from World in Conflict. The tactical RTS battles completely do away with resource gathering and instead give you points to spend on resupplying your army with new units. Though the units are ultimately the same between the main game and the expansion, there’s a broad selection of infantrymen, helicopters, trucks, and tanks to roll into combat with.
Many of the game’s large-scale engagements also give you control of support artillery, which can be called in and directed at different locations on the field. As far as RTS titles go, the action-packed encounters in World in Conflict and Soviet Assault are truly first-rate, even if the latter doesn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of actual gameplay.
With several purchasing options available for Soviet Assault, a straightforward recommendation isn’t as simple as with most other games. Players who already own the main game can pick up the expansion for $20, which feels like a substantial sum in relation to the amount of new content you’ll get for it. Considering Soviet Assault only adds a handful of new story missions and a few multiplayer maps, all but the most hardcore of RTS buffs may find the expense too great for the in-game payoff – even though the new missions are of the same high caliber as the original game. However, if you’ve held off on picking up this excellent game for one reason or another, now is the time to do so. For only $30, the Complete Edition contains the full original game and the Soviet Assault expansion. Aside from being a much more palatable price, playing the two woven together seamlessly gives you the best, most well-rounded experience.
As far as expansions go, Soviet Assault on its own is a weak offering for its premium price tag. It would have been great to see some new units grace the battlefield and perhaps a few more maps or other extras to round out the story missions. Hands-down, the missions, story elements, gameplay, and presentation are immaculately done, but there is simply not enough additional content worked into this package to justify the hefty price when compared to other full-blown expansions. Newcomers should definitely drop the dough for the Complete Edition. I can’t recommend it enough. World in Conflict vets might want to pass on the Soviet Assault expansion, unless they’re chomping at the bit for a little more story and are a willing to top dollar for it.
RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.7 Graphics
Even though it’s been on the shelf for a while, this is easily one of the most beautiful RTS war titles around. 4.5 Control
The diverse camera views and simplified control setup works almost perfectly. 4.7 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Great voice work and amazing sound effects. 3.0 Play Value
A skimpy expansion for an excellent game. 3.5 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.
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