Warfare Inc. Review by Sponge

Background

When it comes to PocketPC games, you can find a game in almost every genre, be it action, puzzle, and even sports. However there has been a lack of quality RTS games, with each game usually possessing one fatal flaw. Does Warfare Inc. fill this gap, or is it destined to mediocrity? Read on to find out.

Early August, PocketPC newcomers Spiffcode came out of nowhere and released an impressive looking screenshot of a new RTS game dubbed Warfare Incorporated, with the even better news that it was to be released soon. After an excruciating wait, the game was released to the public, and it manages to play just as good as it looks. This review is of the PocketPC version.

Graphics

Sound

Nothing to write home about here, the sounds are about average. There are plenty of audible confirmations when you select, move, or build objects. Infantry shout "Yes, sir!" when clicked, "10-4, sir!" when ordered to move, and other military sayings. However, the problem here is that most of the units say the same thing when clicked, whether it be tanks or troops, which only makes telling the infantry apart even worse. To its credit though, the game keeps a surprisingly small memory footprint of only 2.5MB installed, so it's understandable that sound variety may be a little low. As with most PC strategy titles, you have the ever-present female voice alerting you of what's going on, and Warfare Inc. is no exception. This is quite helpful, as I would've missed many messages about being attacked, or my building or unit is complete if it weren't for the voice. Another nice feature is that the sound will become quieter as you're farther from the action, a nice touch which isn't noticeable at first. There are plenty of explosions for various events that really let you know you just leveled something big. Despite the one or two complaints with the sound, it is about on par with average PocketPC games.

Story

Two words describe the story in Warfare Incorporated: startlingly generic. The story starts out with the results of a survey of a planet named Icarus, and the ACME Corporation's decision to colonize the planet, and mine Galaxite, which appears to be a resource worth money (which the game refers to as credits.) As expected, there is a competing corporation named OMNI, and just like every other recent war game, there's a battle over this substance. While, granted, the PocketPC isn't exactly the best platform for a story telling game, they could have done so much more with it, considering the space theme, and the fact the game's missions are all driven ahead by the story. They could have integrated some in game cut scenes in order to draw you into the game more. Overall, there isn't much to say about the storyline, due to the fact it seems like it was thrown in as an afterthought.

Gameplay

Even if the graphics, sound, and story were perfect, the game is nothing if it's awful to play. Warfare Incorporated is a mixed bag in this department. On the plus side, the gameplay is deeper than what we're used to seeing on the PocketPC. The battles can grow large, and yet it's just as smooth on an iPaq 3955 in battles or out. There are plenty of toys you can unleash upon your opponent, although it seems to be balanced as more of a tank game, as there are six offensive vehicles, compared to the three infantry types. While most of it boils down to the typical Rock, Paper, Scissors formula, the game is still pretty fun to play. To defend your base you have not one, but two different defense structures, a gatling tower, and a rocket cannon. Despite their size, the buildings are actually quite powerful, perhaps a bit too powerful combined with the repair tool, so if your going to run into their base, be sure to bring a lot of units. Another aspect that impressed me was that the AI seems to fight fair. It's even possible to cut the enemy off of its resources, and drain it's money, something I haven't been able to do in other games. There's also a skill slider, which is good if you're the type who replays games. I've found that medium is good for most RTS veterans; most might want to bump it up to hard for a really challenging game.

However, the gameplay is far from perfect. While most likely a technical limitation, the units were actually bound into grids, making it a real issue if you wanted to block the entrances of a Galaxite field. One unit would move into the next, which would move into the next, and so on. If you let the AI try to resolve the problem, you may end up waiting a while for money. Which brings me into my next concern, pathfinding, the ever-present problem. I sometimes have to lead units almost square by square, since they will otherwise take the longest path, or run right into the enemy base, especially in close quarters. This is forgivable, seeing as the PC games can barely get it right sometimes. Sometimes control can be a bit cumbersome with no select modifier, in order to select individual units at a time, and no grouping, but it's manageable. The sometimes large minimap can get in the way too. Finally, there is NO SKIRMISH MODE! It's a pet peeve of mine, when an awesome RTS is released, but has no skirmish mode. To my knowledge, the only game to do this as of recent is Age of Empires, although not all are fans of medieval battles. To make it up, the campaign is 14 missions long, with 6 "Challenge" missions, one of which didn't seem to challenging. Warfare Inc. seems to have the possibility of expansion via new levels, so hopefully Spiffcode will come through with some new level sets, or better yet, a map editor.

The options menu has a few miscellaneous features, not enough to warrant their own section. The ability to turn off shots, impacts, trails, for slower device, the ability to rotate into landscape mode, and one feature not seen too often, the ability to adjust hue, saturation, and brightness.

Conclusion

Warfare Incorporated is definitely recommended for fans of the genre. While it's not without it's flaws, it's quite an enjoyable game, despite the fact my iPaq is secretly plotting against me to complete it. I'm still playing, despite having to redo many missions due to my memory card deciding it was time to corrupt random files every so often. At $30, it's on the higher echelon of game prices, so those who aren't RTS fans may want to skip over this one. However, if you're looking for a good strategy game, be sure to check out the demo of Warfare Incorporated.