World in conflict

The player in World in Conflict does not create a base or collect resources. Instead, the player is given a certain amount of reinforcement points for acquiring soldiers and military equipment. After the destruction of one combat unit by the enemy, the points for which it was acquired are gradually returned to the player, allowing them to acquire a new unit. This style of play is very similar to Ground Control , another real-time strategy from Massive Entertainment. “World in Conflict” is even called the spiritual heiress of “ Ground Control ” ^[5] .

Factions

In the original game, there are three main factions: USA , USSR and NATO . In multiplayer mode, you can play for only two sides (But at the same time, in the European maps the USA is replaced by NATO). In a single player campaign, the narrative is conducted exclusively on behalf of the US and NATO military; narration on behalf of the Soviet side appears in the supplement Soviet Assault.

Roles

In the game, the player chooses one of four roles, each of which has its own exclusive types of troops:

• infantry ( Eng. Infantry ) - the player has access to specialized infantry squads and light modes of transport;
• armored vehicles ( Eng. Armor ) - light, medium and heavy types of tanks, as well as armored personnel carriers and amphibians;
• air ( Eng. Air ) - helicopters for various types of missions: reconnaissance, transport, medium assault and heavy assault;
• Support ( Eng. Support ) - the player has access to a repair tank, light vehicles (which can also repair other equipment, but not himself, unlike a repair tank), ZSU (self-propelled anti-aircraft mount) and SAM (anti-aircraft missile system) , can use medium and heavy artillery, and also has access to the services of an engineer.

With the selected role, troops of other classes will either be unavailable or available at a higher cost.

Troops

The units in the game have various special features. For example, infantry can take advantage of a grenade launcher attack, medium tanks use fragmentation shells (incendiary, white phosphorus), heavy tanks are equipped with anti-tank shells (cumulative and plastid shells), medium helicopters use SAM systems , heavy helicopters use ATGMs , and medium artillery use phosphor projectiles ( , heavy artillery - with smoke shells . Most troops can also defend themselves: infantry can run sprinting, tanks fire smoke, and helicopters fire heat traps to deflect enemy missiles. The troops of the three sides are not too different from each other; the armament of some units of the same type may vary, but otherwise the differences are only in appearance.

A feature of the game is that all types of troops have real prototypes. However, some samples were “fitted” for balance - most of the Soviet equipment lost the ability to swim, the Mi-24 lost the ability to transport infantry, and the Lynx suddenly acquired it.

The player takes on the role of the “silent protagonist ” - US Army lieutenant Anton Parker. At the beginning of the game (counting down since 1989), he is in the city of Seattle . As the story progresses, Parker receives the rank of captain .

The player controls Parker in several theaters of operations , including Marseille , for which the troops of the USSR, the western coast of the USA and Murmansk are fighting. Together with Parker, Captain Mark Bannon and Captain (later Major ) James Webb fight. Three of these officers are under the command of Colonel Jeremy Sawyer.

November. 1989 year. Unmarked ships appeared in Seattle's harbor. Suddenly, Soviet troops appeared from the ships. They begin the invasion. The US Army cannot withstand the forces of the Soviet Army and is retreating. Among them are Colonel Sawyer, Captain Bannon, Captain Webb and Lieutenant Parker. US troops manage to reorganize and successfully maintain the defense of Fort Teller, which houses the Star Wars project. Although the project is a fiction, the Union is not aware of this, otherwise a full-scale nuclear war would have begun. The defense has survived, but the US troops need to take more decisive action, as many new forces of the Soviets are coming. A decision is being made to drop a tactical nuclear missile on the city of Cascade Falls, where the defense is held, Captain Bannon and his squad remain so that the Soviet troops do not sense something was amiss.

After the explosion, Parker's recollections follow, about how he and Bannon first met Sawyer, fighting against the Soviet troops in Europe . Soviet troops are fighting for Marseille and smashing NATO troops. US Army asks Sawyer for help. Sawyer agreed, and again returned to the army. During the battle in France , Bannon, commanding a tank company along with the local battalion commander, commandant Jean-Baptiste Sabatier, decides to leave the commandant, thereby violating Sawyer’s order, and strengthen Parker's forces. Sabatier is ambushed and dies, but NATO manages to defeat Soviet troops in southern France. Bannon is remorseful for the rest of his life. Colonel Sawyer, furious at Bannon's incompetence, is about to transfer him to another battalion, but the military command refuses him, as there are too few experienced officers.

After this, Parker and Sawyer (and, to the latter's displeasure, Bannon) are included in the NATO strike group, which is sent to the Kola Peninsula , in the Murmansk region, to recapture the Russian reconnaissance plane they shot down. Bannon opens fire on the surrendered Russians, deciding that they are attacking. Sawyer, acting on the basis of the data received, decides to break into the naval base and search and destroy Soviet submarines. Only after this the group leaves for the Union territory, and its American part goes home. During this time, intelligence obtained from submarines indicates the preparation of an attack on the shipyard of the US Navy , but the absence of a surprise factor minimizes damage. At the same time, Soviet special forces landed in New York’s harbor, took several ranks hostage, seized the Harpoon missile launchers and prepared to conduct a chemical attack on the city - demanding that the US withdraw troops from Europe. This is answered by Parker, rangers and helicopters.

Since America is no longer threatened, Parker is granted leave to see his family in Seattle, and Sawyer can finally transfer Bannon to guard the military depot in Seattle, replacing him with ranger instructor Webb. But US intelligence made a mistake, considering the threat to be neutralized ...

China officially enters the war on the side of the USSR, sending a large fleet of the invasion of Seattle. This puts the United States at risk. If China manages to land troops on US territory, then Soviet and Chinese forces will succeed in capturing the entire western coast of the country. This means that the US Army needs to take Seattle with its small forces, or the president will have to destroy both the enemy and the city with a strategic nuclear warhead. The next few days, Parker, Sawyer and Webb rush to break through the Russian troops and regain control of the city before the president has no choice. The tension of these days and the feeling of guilt over Bannon's death greatly shakes Sawyer's nerves. At the beginning of the attack, he makes several critical errors that Webb and Parker have to correct. Since the Chinese do not have equipment for water invasion, they retreat, seeing that the coast is lost.

Although this is not exactly indicated, the narrator of the game is Parker himself ( Alec Baldwin's voice). Despite the fact that Seattle is again in the hands of the Americans, the war still continues in Europe and in other parts of the world. The game ends with the assertion that Parker will again be called to fight, indicating a possible addition or continuation.

Until December 15, 2015, the in-game Massgate service was available, where by registering the key it was possible to play on the Internet on public or private clan servers, as well as download official maps and updates for the game. There you could see your ranks, awards, guestbook and statistics. In addition, there was a general rating of players and a clan rating, which were periodically updated. You could create or join a clan. Communication between the players took place via chat or private messages. Due to the closure of the Massgate service, the game on the network is available only on the local network, and when you try to access the Massgate website, it redirects to the official Ubisoft website. However, in 2016, with the efforts of fans of the WiC game, and specifically with the efforts of tenerefis, blahdi and housebee players, it was possible to obtain rights to support the game by the gaming community. At the moment, the site www.massgate.org is available, on which it is announced that the game is available again, to start it you only need to download the necessary patch from massgate.net and follow the instructions on the site.

"World in Conflict" was recognized as the best RTS of 2007 by the editors of the largest Russian gaming portal Absolute Games , beating games such as " Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars " and " Supreme Commander ". ^[15] According to an AG readership survey, the game lost first place to C & C3 . ^[15] WiC also won first place in the nomination "Best Multiplayer of the Year" ^[16] and second in the "Best Collector's Edition" ^[17] according to the editors of AG.

In each box of the collectible version of the game there was a piece of the Berlin Wall, the authenticity of which was confirmed by the attached certificate ^[18] .

• Official english site
• Official English Forum
• Official Russian game site (Sierra Entertainment Inc.)
• Official Russian game site (Soft Club)
• World in Conflict on Absolute Games