If there's anything to be said about War Front: Turning Point, it's that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. The Command & Conquer series helped to pave the way for future strategy games in the early ‘90s, so it is natural that many games would want to try to emulate the formula used by the series. War Front does that well, almost to the point that it doesn't have a whole lot of originality to itself. Whether that is a bad thing is up to the individual, but there is no denying that the final product turns out to be actually quite entertaining. Those willing to look past the rehashed nature of the game will find an interesting take on World War II, a lengthy campaign mode as well as multiplayer options. Some may find the parallels between War Front: Turning Point and previous RTS titles a weak point, but it still makes for an entertaining experience.

War Front takes place during an alternate version of WWII. Early during the war, the German dictator (we'll call him Adolf) is assassinated, and a new regime takes over and proceeds to expand even further into Western Europe, eventually culminating in the German take over of England. If you're having flashbacks to Command & Conquer: Red Alert, then you wouldn't be talking crazy, especially since that particular story began with the assassination of Hit... I mean, Adolf as well. War Front also seems to adopt the campy nature of Red Alert's story, and while full-motion video is nowhere in sight, the campaign mode has plenty of cut scenes with cheesy action-hero types. Really, though, it isn't too bad, as long as you don't approach the game too seriously.

In campaign mode, you can play as either the Allied (a combination of the United States and Great Britain) or German forces. Each campaign plays differently, both in atmosphere and technique. The Allied campaign, which follows gruff action-hero John Lynch, focuses on taking back England and pushing Germany back across the lines, while the German campaign follows badass Rolland Hellmann and his work with the German Liberation Army. You can also play as the Soviet Union in other modes. Each army has different units and a different focus. German forces, for example, have more powerful tanks.

Like the story, the game play largely resembles the Command & Conquer series. The best illustration would be if you were to take Red Alert 2's basic structure and apply the interface of Command & Conquer: Generals. For the most part, there is little difference from game play in previous RTS titles, which is both good and bad. War Front doesn't particularly stray from the norm and plays things safely, which works since the standards have been pretty good thus far. Unfortunately, that also leaves War Front in the predicament that it doesn't do anything really new or different, and with games like Company of Heroes, as well as the evolving Command & Conquer series on the market, that hurts the game a little. Things can be enjoyable, but at the same time, there are better options out there.

Online multiplayer is probably where War Front scores the highest. Offline skirmish modes are also available, but multiplayer not only connects to other human players but also offers up additional game modes that are actually quite fun. You have the standard modes that most RTS games employ which all work well and provide for some fun battles for up to ten players. There's also Conquest, which works as a kind of king of the hill hybrid where the player who holds the territory the longest wins. Secret Orders is also a really fun mode that gives each individual player a set of their own objectives to complete, and it's a mode that eventually ends up in total chaos, which is exhilarating and really pretty enjoyable. That goes for just about everything online in War Front as well, so I can highly recommend the multiplayer. The only problem is that until some people pick up on the game, a lack of players may hurt the great online modes.

There are a lot of good things to be said for the graphics. Things look pretty good, with big explosions, hectic firefights, and an overall clean look to everything. There's no question that other RTS games have a leg-up in this department, but War Front looks good nonetheless. Interestingly, War Front seems to have some pretty hefty hardware requirements, with the developers recommending 3.4 GHz processor, and to be honest, my PC barely meets the requirements. Despite this, the game seemed to run fairly well, and things only bogged down a bit when a lot of units appeared on screen or I went into first-person mode (which you can do with turrets, by the way). While the requirements are a bit hefty, the game seems to run fine on mid-range machines.

Ultimately, War Front: Turning Point turns out to be an enjoyable RTS that is only brought down by the fact that its game play lends nothing different to the genre. That doesn't mean that War Front isn't without its quirks, and the alternative version of WWII along with the fun online multiplayer make it worth at least a look (you can find a demo at 10tacle's website). It might be my love of Red Alert 2 speaking, but I've had a good time with War Front, which does convey the fun of the Command & Conquer series very well. Some may feel the game isn't very original in its own right, but I would readily recommend it.

Mar 5, 2007 | 0 comments
Chris Massey