First Impressions: Wargame: European Escalation

Wargame: European Escalation is the third game from Eugen Systems, the developers of RUSE. It’s another RTS, this time set in the 80s and revolving around a ‘what-if’ it had all kicked off scenario.

Wargame is interesting. That’s not in an ‘it’s interesting but…’ way, but in an ‘it’s interesting in a way that most games aren’t’. Not Achron interesting, for sure, but few things are. What’s most interesting about it is how mean it is. This game does not let up, and it’s already defeated me several times in my five hours of play.

The map is split into a number of sectors, and the areas in between. A sector counts as captured if you have a command vehicle of some type within its perimeter. More sectors mean more resources for your war machine, as there’s certainly no base building in this. So if you leave a sector undefended, you’re under a very serious risk that some enemy tanks will slip past your frontline and obliterate any HQs or artillery you have hanging back. Which can be extremely frustrating. But, it does do a good job of forcing you to think whilst you’re playing. Instead of reacting, you’ve got to be predicting your enemies’ movements. Which makes it very tense, and produces a great feeling when you win, as you definitely earn a victory.

The major difference between this game and other RTSs is the way it handles supply and recon. Every unit (other than HQs and logistics) has a fuel value and an ammo value. If you don’t keep them supplied with trucks or helicopters running back and forth to your supply bases, they aren’t going to last very long at all in the field. This keeps the pressure on effectively, as eventually your depots are going to run dry, forcing you to expand and grab more bases. The recon is handled well as well. Recon units have massive importance, as they’re cheap and have crazy line of sight ranges. They also have the ever-useful ability of being able to spot hidden enemies, hopefully preventing your tanks from getting massacred by sneaky enemy AT teams.

So, so far I’ve really enjoyed it honestly. I don’t like it as much as RUSE I don’t think, but RUSE was so crazy and revolutionary that I doubt many games will reach its level of thinking and stress. There’s nothing like the whole ‘is that unit even real’ aspect, but the constant threat from all angles does alleviate that to some degree. So, I hesitantly recommend this game. It isn’t for everybody, and if you’re after a casual strategy game, á la Age of Empires, this isn’t it. But if you’re looking for something a little deeper, this is it.