What the Game is About
Storyline
Act of war is set in the a near future where a crippled energy economy has forced gas prices to new highs, in some places gasoline costs over $7 a gallon.
The game begins when an oil facility in Houston being destroyed by a terrorist, this bombing takes place one week before "World Energy Forum" in London, which is a meeting of nations to discuss the energy crisis. Concerned with the possibility of an attack at the Energy Forum as well, an elite platoon of soldiers know as "Task Force Talon" is set to secure the Energy Forum from any possible threats, this force is unknow to the public and has a shady history. The story builds after a terristst operation occurs in the heart of San Franisco, In response the US army has a total recall of all offshore troops in order to proect the American people from a growing unknown threat. Yout take the role of Army Major Jason Richter, where you command the forces of the US army and Task Force Talon around the world and eventually in Washington D.C. to bring an end to the chaos.
Factions
The United States of America Army
The United States is the conventional war machine with familliar units like the AH-64 Apache, Delta Force, Humvee, M1 Abrams main battle tank and other real-life vehicles including the M109 Paladin and M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System. They also have massive airpower with the greatest variety of planes and helicopters as well as the most upgrades for specialized roles. For example, the F-15 can only attack other air units but it's the best anti-air unit in the game, and the sniper is very effective against other infantry units.
One of their weaknesses may be that they are a bit bottled down by DEFCON procedures. (The game starts at DEFCON 3) Climbing to DEFCON level 2 requires $5,000, and to attain DEFCON 1 requires $4,500 (making $9,500 all together to fully research the technology tree.)
Notable units for this side include the B2 Spirit Stealth Bomber and the M1 Abrams main battle tank.
Task Force Talon Task Force Talon is a direct action team put together to carry out almost anything from search-and-destroy assaults to hostage extractions, to simple reconnaissance missions. They are employed by the United States to counter the unknown enemy that calls themselves the Consortium, which fights in unconventional means. Talon has access to all information from all agencies, as well as all technology, be it experimental, classified or even officially "non-existant".
All members of Task force Talon are handpicked as the best of the best from all branches of the US army, and are equipped with the most modern, high-tech equipment available.
Task Force Talon focuses more on versitility than the United States Army. For example, a recon buggy can be upgraded with rockets to make it a decent air counter as well as a scout unit, and whereas the US F-15 only can fire Air to Air missiles, the TFT F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can fire air to air missiles as well as provide very effective bombing raids.
As opposed to the US Defcon levels, TFT has two separate upgrades which can be researched in any order, the DRONE tech, and the SHIELD tech. While the SHIELD upgrade initially gives defensive capabilities like Healing and Repairing, it eventually gives access to build the Mjolnir Super-Heavy Howitzer, Talon's tactical superweapon. And while the DRONE tech focuses more on increasing offensive capabilities, by giving access to a Spinner command center as well as Airstrike capabilities, it eventually grants access to build the "Guardian Drone Ballistic Defense", a building which deploys anti tactical/superweapon capabilities.
One weakness is that TALON's units and upgrades are very expensive. This means that losing too many units early in an online game could quickly decide the outcome of the battle.
Notable units for this side is the S.H.I.E.L.D. unit, an infantry wearing a robotic exoskeleton suit equipped with a 20mm Vulcan Cannon and Javelin Rockets, and the Spinner drone, a remote controlled robot tank that can change its weapons from an anti-tank gun to an anti-air missile launcher to a bomb drone launcher. In the expansion pack Act of War: High Treason, the Spinner has another variant called the Tacit Rainbow Spinner which launches Tacit Rainbow cruise missiles that can hit targets sitting on the other side of a map.
Consortium
The Consortium is a group of oil companies and terrorists group bent on creating an oil monopoly. Not much else known about the Consortium nor if there are underlying motives other than wealth.
The Consortium operates in two modes, "Undercover" and "Revealed". In Undercover mode, the Consortium resorts to bribing mercenaries, terrorists and possibly even certain governments into doing their dirty work, relying more on massing "low-quality" units for a low price rather than having a few strong ones. Notable units are the standard AK-74 infantry unit and various weapon systems from Russia and other countries of the world. In revealed mode, the true extent of their power is revealed. Ironic as it may be, in "revealed" mode almost all units have "stealth" capabilities. When in revealed mode, the consortium gains access to building high tech experimental units like YF-23 Black Widow II stealth planes (ironically it is a US fighter in real life), Akula Stealth Tanks (unmanned cloaked tanks armed with twin railguns) and highly trained Optical-Camo soldiers (soldiers wearing active camouflage), both of which are the Consortium's signature units. The Consortium also gains access to powerful railgun technology in "Revealed" mode.
Their trademark weapon is their tactical weapon, the "Falling Star", a project originally started by the US government, in which a communications array forces satellites to fall upon a targeted area. It can be upgraded with ebola, causing more injuries to infantry units.
In the single player campaign, the Russian antagonist Zakarov has convinced the Russian 11th Armored Corps to join forces with the Consortium, and thus players will initially see T-80 Tanks in the Consortium's armory. Later on as the game progresses, the player will soon find out that the Consortium's influence extends far beyond Russia as they fight renegade US Army forces that have sided with the Consortium.
Consortium is considered a somewhat hard side to play, seeing as it requires good use of almost all available units and abilities, therefore, there are almost no new players playing Consortium.
Above information on Factions provided by http://en.wikipedia.org
Gameplay
Act of War: Direct Action offers,
- Take control of ultra realistic modern military units
- Displays a combination of High-end cinema, video effects, and live action. To provide amazing cut sence movies
- An intense multiplayer in which up to eight people can go at it
- Realistic Urban combat, Take control of structures, and capture POWs
- 3 fully balanced unique faction, with tatical and strategical depth
Act of War: High Treason offers,
- Over 50 new multiplayer maps
- Customization options for online play
- Naval combat with stunning water physics
- Take control of mercenaries to furter gameplay
- Over 50 new, Ships, tanks, planes, and infantry
- Enhanced AI with improved graphics
Act of War: High Treason (abbrevated as AOW:HT) is a first expansion pack for the critically acclaimed Act of War: Direct Action, Eugen Systems and Atari introduce a massive amount of new features and content to enhance and extend the overall experience. Significant enhancements have been made to the online gameplay, and also for the single-player Engagement (skirmish) and Operation (campaign) modes. Some of the improvements include, speed-scrolling, ability to abort airstrikes, and ability to scatter units easily.
Act of War: High Treason takes the visuals a step further, while simultaneously raising the bar in terms of gameplay. The wealth of original features include modern naval combat with bump-mapping and physics, fully customizable multiplayer games, mercenary units, improved control system, new units, revised aircraft and artillery, an entirely new campaign set in a new real-world location, new maps, and additional multiplayer enhancements.
AOW:HT is available as an expansion to the original AOW: Direct Action, or as a Standalone game for download from Direct2Drive for ONLY $20.00.
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