Tom Clancy's EndWar


Tom Clancy's EndWar is a strategy video game available on Microsoft Windows and all seventh-generation platforms except the Wii, with the timing and flow of gameplay differing across platforms. The console and PC version is a real-time tactics game designed by Ubisoft Shanghai, while the handheld versions feature turn-based tactics. It was released on Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360 in November 2008. A Windows version was released in February 2009.
A sequel was in the works, but due to the game's commercial failure, it was officially cancelled on February 8, 2010.

Synopsis

Setting

A nuclear terrorist attack occurs in Saudi Arabia in 2016, killing six million people and crippling the supply of oil from the Middle East, plunging the world into an unprecedented energy crisis. The following year, the United States and the European Union sign the historic SLAMS Treaty, agreeing to co-develop technologies for a comprehensive, interlocking anti-ballistic missile system. The US and EU test-launch nuclear salvos against each other, which the SLAMS weapons completely destroy. Emboldened by the success of the tests, the US and the EU pronounce "the end of strategic nuclear warfare," and the world celebrates a new age of peace.
With the price of crude oil at USD $800 a barrel, the EU member states are forced to consolidate political, economic, and military power to form a united European superstate, the European Federation, which has a greater population and Gross National Product than the US. The United Kingdom and Ireland opt not to join the new state, however, and instead form their own union known as the "New Commonwealth," which remains neutral but allows European forces to man the missile defense uplink sites on its territory.
As EF membership is restricted to only the richest entities in Europe, nations too weak to join the EF, notably those in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, collapse completely and are subsequently taken over by Russia, who refer to it as "their land." The US and the EF regard each other's power as a threat to their own, and the fractured former allies embark on a costly space arms race with each other.
Russia, being the world's number one supplier of natural gas and crude oil, enjoys a massive economic boom as a result of the worldwide energy crisis. Its newfound wealth is spent on modernizing its military, creating its own missile defense system, and utilizing its power to influence world events.
The militarization of space reaches its peak in 2020, when the US reveals plans to launch the Freedom Star space station in an effort to regain its position as the premier world superpower. While partly designed for civilian research purposes, the station will also house three companies of US Marines, who can deploy anywhere on Earth within ninety minutes.
International reaction is very hostile, particularly from both Russia and the EF, who see the space station as a way in which the United States could neutralize their portion of anti-ballistic defenses and upset the balance of power. The EF withdraws from the already divided NATO in protest, causing the organization to collapse. Former NATO bases and facilities in Europe, such as Ramstein Air Base, are subsequently taken over by the EF.

Prelude to War

The prelude to war takes place before World War III and explains how the conflict began.
On March 23, 2020, EF uplink sites in the "lawless zone," where Croatia used to be, are attacked by an as-yet unidentified group of terrorists, who are using T-80 tanks, from a beached cargo ship. They are repulsed by EF Enforcers Corps forces. During the battle, the EF attempts to gain access to the cargo ship that the terrorists use, but the ship is destroyed before they can gain access. Details of the attack are kept secret.
On April 4, 2020, when the final module of the Freedom Star is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center amid international outcry, the same group of terrorists attack the module and attempt to destroy it, using the same methods as the Croatian attack. Once again they are repulsed, this time by the United States Joint Strike Force as reports of yet another terrorist attack come in, this time of an assault on the Rozenburg petrol plant in the Netherlands. After being defeated by EFEC forces, the terrorists identify themselves as the "Forgotten Army," composed of people from a collection of failed states in the Balkans, Africa, and South America.
Following a final terrorist attack, this time on a Russian power plant near Minsk, the US finds "conclusive evidence" that the EF's defense minister, François Pulain, funded the Forgotten Army with modern military equipment. Suspecting there to be a conspiracy within the European government to prevent the completion of the Freedom Star, the Americans send a black ops team to abduct Pulain while he inspects the uplink network in Copenhagen, the site of the EF's main naval base.
They manage to capture him, but an anonymous call by Russia informs the police of Denmark, allowing EFEC forces to prevent extraction and trap the team in one of the uplinks. On April 7, 2020, the US crashes Copenhagen's uplinks and sends in JSF units to rescue the trapped team. The US successfully repels the EFEC's first attack, but European forces are able to counterattack and reboot Copenhagen's uplinks in their favor. The JSF forces are forced to surrender and are allowed safe passage back to the US in exchange for releasing Pulain.
The events in Copenhagen spark a major international incident, but the US and EF stop just short of declaring war. As last-minute peace talks are arranged to be held on neutral ground in London, it is revealed that Russia funded the Forgotten Army's attacks and planted the evidence against Pulain, citing the need to keep the EF and the US from uniting in order to take Russia's oil. To ensure that war is sparked between the two powers, elements of Russia's Spetsnaz Guard Brigade embark on a covert operation, disguised as Forgotten Army soldiers, to upload a virus into the European SLAMS network at Rovaniemi Airport in Finland.
The virus causes an EF orbital laser satellite to shoot down the new Freedom Lifter module during liftoff, thinking it to be an ICBM. The entire crew is killed, and news reports blame problems from "malfunction" to "terrorist hijacking" to "EF satellite". This final act starts a war between the two powers. Russia initially joins the US under the guise of "aiding it in its crusade against Europe" and invades EF-controlled Poland, but the Americans see this as an attempt to reform the Eastern Bloc and then attack Russia. World War III has begun.

World War III

is an open-ended part of the story where the player chooses their faction and character and tries to take all three capitals or 28 battlefields.
The campaign plays much like Prelude to War with a few additional options. During World War III, between battles, the player has the option to choose between several battle locations. The battles that the player did not choose will be fought by the machine. Also, battles lost or quit by players cannot be replayed and the territory is lost, whereas in Prelude to War, players could retry each battle until successful. Players may upgrade their chosen battalion, with improved attack, defense, mobility, and ability characteristics.
At the conclusion of each campaign battle a summary screen is shown. This screen includes information including number of battalion units promoted, amount of credits received, command rating, medals, mission duration, and a quote by a famous military leader. The player can gain a more in depth understanding of the battle summary by viewing the details screens, which provide a breakdown of statistics, ranking, etc.
During the course of the war, several background situations arise, such as adverse weather, conditions like typhoons causing people to become homeless and rescue teams being dispatched. There are also reports of protest against the war from around the world as well as by individual figures such as the Pope. These parts of the story are told via television reports. They also report the sinking of enemy shipping by airstrikes and weapons of mass destruction. As the war progresses, the leader of an opposing nation survives an assassination attempt, around Turn 15.
When the war has ended, the winning faction takes control of the world and a special scene is shown, which shows the winning faction's flag and troops parading with the voice of the faction's general talking about their victory and what will happen in the future. Depending on whether it is the United States, Europe or Russia that is the winning side, the cutscene is different due to different speeches by generals and different reasons for starting the war.

Locations

In an IGN interview, De Plater said the setting of EndWar is a global battle, but the first installment is focused on the North Atlantic theater of battle: Europe, Russia, and North America. Players will hear reports of events in other parts of the world, such as reactions to the war by the Pope and various other countries, as well as actions in the war that the player takes no part in.

Gameplay

Imp Rebs has confirmed 4x4 will be offered in the full version. De Plater confirmed the game to be a Real-time tactics strategy war game. Units will gain experience as they are used in battle. The emphasis will be more on smaller scale battles rather than the overarching campaign.
Ubisoft also claims that the game is "completely controllable through voice commands." This is demonstrated on a handful of gameplay videos by de Plater himself. The voice commands can be input through any headset that works with the console/computer the player is using.

Factions

There are three playable factions in EndWar:
  • The European Federation Enforcer Corps , which is made up of veteran elite counter-terrorist and peacekeeping forces throughout Europe, especially skilled in urban warfare. Their units are lightly armored, but their vehicles move faster than the other factions, and their infantry can capture and upgrade control points faster. They also excel in electronic warfare, as well as advanced directed energy and microwave weapons. Their ranks notably contain many previous members of the elite counter-terrorist unit, Rainbow. Their WMD is an Orbital Tactical High Energy Laser. Unit camouflages tend to consist of blues and greys with tiger or leopard patterns.
  • The Russian Federation Spetsnaz Guards Brigade , which is composed of veterans of Russia's many regional conflicts, specializing in heavy weapons and heavy armor. They believe in winning at all costs, while still saving face. A few Rainbow veterans from Eastern Europe serve as Battalion commanders. Their WMD is a Fuel-Air Missile / Vacuum bomb, as are many of the 'special weapon' upgrades for units - e.g.: engineers and tanks gain access to flamethrowers, while artillery and gunships make use of fuel-air weaponry. Their units are more heavily armored and can hit harder, but they have the slowest movement speeds and shortest engagement range. The unit camouflages tend to contain mostly greens, with browns and blacks mixed in.
  • The United States Joint Strike Force , led by Ghost Recon main character Scott Mitchell, is modeled after today's Marine Expeditionary Units. The J.S.F. is built around small units packing a precise punch, and is made up of elite servicemen from all branches of the United States Armed Forces. They also specialize in access to state-of-the-art stealth technology and battlefield robotics, such as UAVs and automated sentry drones. Their WMD is a Kinetic Strike. A few veteran Ghost Recon members serve as battalion commanders. The JSF specialize in long range combat, focusing on accurate fire before the enemy can get within retaliation range. Unit colors are mostly desert browns and tans, with more modern digitalized patters than the other two factions.