R.U.S.E REVIEW :
POSTED BY ANTHONY O'SULLIVAN
DATE : 27.09.2010.
INTRODUCTION
Finally! A Real Time Strategy game that is playable on a console. There has been a few PC ports in the past such as the command and conquer series but they where always held back by having to use the analogue sticks instead of your mouse. The correct view you required was hard to line up and getting the camera to zoom correctly was also quite tricky. But then along comes RUSE (which has been developed very much with the console in mind) to change all that.
The controls have been simplified but not in a bad way, it is now much easier to grab your units and move them around the battle field to the location you want, without you ever becoming too overwhelmed by all the buttons and options. Add in to the mix the new Sony Move controller and it totally transforms it, making it at times more enjoyable than playing with a mouse. The Move gives you that pin point accuracy needed to pick the correct set of troops by just pointing at them and it also gives you control over the zooming and camera view the likes we have never seen before.
CAMPAIGN
The game is set in World War II and the storyline follows an American soldier Joe Sheridan who gets forced into a leadership role. The main story arc is that you must try to track down an enemy spy names Prometheus. While the story isn’t a modern day masterpiece the action does keep this very entertaining. You must control your troops as they battle their way across some of Europe’s more memorable locations using your brain instead of just your brawn.
The game play is a mix of table top strategy and leading from the front line as you zoom in and out on the battle field it takes you from the command post’s war table right into the middle of the front line battles between the ground troops. The zooming is controlled by the Move controller and the scrolling around the map is controlled by the Nav controller. It all works quite smoothly all though a few occasions it will zoom in too close or on the wrong target, this isn’t a major issue when setting up your base but in the middle of a heated battle it can spell disaster but these are few and far between.