Act of Agression

jomni · July 03, 2015, 06:57:25 PM

The next RTS of Eugen Systems, who brought us the Wargame series, seems to have gone "backwards" and adopted traditional base building game play in a near-future sci-fi setting. Kinda has that "Act of War" vibe (https://www.gog.com/game/act_of_war_gold_edition). Act of War was developed by Eugen years back and I kinda liked that series more than Command and Conquer.

http://www.actofaggression-game.com/

Chimera faction

US faction

So it seems the US faction starts out as less technologically advanced than the other two factions due to budget cuts.

DennisS · July 04, 2015, 09:50:59 AM

RTS games are a dime of dozen. Why the hell don't they just stay with this formula????

I appreciate the integrated air-land battle nature of these games, but there is plenty of content (and nations!) yet to be done. Personally, I would LOVE to see a random map generation system for these games. "Solving" both the set up and tactics for a well-known map results in less interesting gameplay.

Skoop · July 04, 2015, 11:09:22 AM

Yeah, I was wondering what eugen was going to do next. It looked as though they added everything they could possibly add to the wargame series, it's actually a great game. The only thing they could do now to the wargame series is drivable or pilot vehicles.

It looks like they are reinventing the wheel for the sake of revenue to keep their people working at the dev house.

I for one will be passing on this one, still plenty gameplay in the wargame series to scratch the rts itch.

JasonPratt · July 04, 2015, 02:15:44 PM

Sales for Act of War at GoG might have led them to think about tasking for a spiritual sequel/remake, while they're busy plotting what to do with the next Wargame.

If so, then you can partly blame me for this, since I bought AoW:Gold from GoG. O:-)

Apocalypse 31 · July 07, 2015, 09:10:26 PM

I just want a modern sequel to RUSE.

There are so many more interesting / better ruses in the modern arsenal. Signals Intelligence, Human Intelligence, Drones, etc.

son_of_montfort · July 09, 2015, 06:00:00 PM

I am actually sort of excited about this, but I really loved C&C Generals and they are making broad comparisons to this. I actually disagree that RTS are a dime a dozen, we have seen a marked decline in the number of RTS versus the number of TBS coming out in the last few years.

That being said, I was not a huge fan of the Wargame series, but AoA looks like it has enough differences (base building for one) that it will be what I want. The beta testers seem pretty enthusiastic about this one.

AchillesLastStand · July 11, 2015, 12:54:51 AM

Im thinking about pulling the trigger on this as it does look somewhat interesting, and for preordering you get into the multiplayer beta which should start sometime in the next week. Although I must say I was rather hoping for a WW2 setting for the next game in the WG series but o well.

Martok · July 11, 2015, 06:23:39 AM

If the gameplay is even half as good as the graphics, I suspect I'll probably be getting this one. Haven't played/picked up a decent RTS title in a while now.

Quote from: son_of_montfort on July 09, 2015, 06:00:00 PM
I am actually sort of excited about this, but I really loved C&C Generals and they are making broad comparisons to this. I actually disagree that RTS are a dime a dozen, we have seen a marked decline in the number of RTS versus the number of TBS coming out in the last few years.

That being said, I was not a huge fan of the Wargame series, but AoA looks like it has enough differences (base building for one) that it will be what I want. The beta testers seem pretty enthusiastic about this one.

Holy crap, a SoM sighting! Welcome back, man!!

JasonPratt · July 11, 2015, 07:32:38 PM

^^ Ditto!

son_of_montfort · July 12, 2015, 02:01:48 PM

Thanks guys! Good to see you all too!

Apocalypse 31 · July 20, 2015, 07:43:51 PM

Since I cant review the product on Steam until it releases I figured i'd throw in my 2 cents here, with the hopes that I can shed light on my experience playing thusfar.

Keep in mind, this AoA is still a beta.

Bottom line: CC Generals is still better, and this will not last on your hard drive.

It's not a bad game, but I highly dislike some of the core concepts and design.

Combat
Combat isnt too far off from CCG; units work best when massed in large blobs and combined arms wins the day. The moment you forget to bring air defense along, the enemy will spam attack helicopters in your direction. Some of the infantry units are entirely overpowered - why can a sniper rifle destroy an M1 Abrams? Artillery is very effective, and with the right upgrades can be deadly when employed against enemy bases.

Economy
This is where I think CCG's simplistic approach to the ecomoy beats AoA's 3-system method. I think requiring players to gather three types of resources is entirely too much; it removes the focus from combat entirely too much. In CCG, you set your gathering tools, save enough to build self-sustaining systems (drop zones, blackmarket, hacker center) and then focus on killing the enemy. Not so much in AoA, where the player is constantly low on resources, and fighting for more. I can understand that it forces players to fight for resources, and limit their ability to spam powerful and expensive units, but I think the overall execution is bad.

Unit Management & UI
I dislike the UI. I find it cluttered and confusing to understand data. The lack of zoom is disturbing; I've been spoiled by the IrisZoom engine (Wargame, RUSE) that allows me to quickly scroll and move around the map. The developers have stated that they are limited by the engine, but I think some more thought should've gone into the design. Players are expected to manage units across large areas, but you can only focus at small ares at a time. Why? Also, in order to build units, the player must click on the building and select unit types. I think the RUSE method was fantastic, and didn't even require the player to look at, or touch his base. Simply click the UI across the top of the screen and select the type. I'm not going to even talk about the use of the satellite view - pointless.

Longevity
This game has little longevity. Eugen have already stated that there will be no map or mission editor. I already foresee this becoming an issue, much like Wargame and RUSE, where players got bored of the same maps very quickly. Hey Eugen, come on already. Your lack of modding and in-game map creation is ridiculous. Let us make maps, already.

And make a RUSE 2, with modern units.

AchillesLastStand · July 21, 2015, 12:36:22 AM

Agree with all this 100%. The UI needs a scaling option because in its current state it is much to big and cumbersome. The zoom level itself also is way to close. I did apply a mod someone made for a further out zoom as well as satellite zoomed out as well and it improves it very much. Whether or not Eugen takes the hint from the many complaints in the next 6 weeks is the big question.

Martok · July 21, 2015, 12:33:35 PM

Hmm. Thanks for the input, gents. Sounds like I may want to file this one under the "will probably want to get but not until it goes on sale" category...

Apocalypse 31 · August 04, 2015, 10:28:24 PM

I got my refund today.

This game is just 10 steps backwards in terms of RTS UI progression.

I wanted a replacement for CC Generals. I thought this would be it, but I was wrong. I find myself fighting the economy more than the actual enemy.

son_of_montfort · August 05, 2015, 04:17:21 PM

Quote from: Apocalypse 31 on August 04, 2015, 10:28:24 PM
I got my refund today.

This game is just 10 steps backwards in terms of RTS UI progression.

I wanted a replacement for CC Generals. I thought this would be it, but I was wrong. I find myself fighting the economy more than the actual enemy.

I agree and I also went for the refund.

On the other hand, if ~$30 seems like the sweet spot for this game, Greenmangaming.com has it for $38 and you can apply a 20% off coupon to it. I was tempted to rebuy it at that price, hoping the UI would get more streamlined.