Eugen send word that they’ve released a free DLC (aka “a patch”) for Wargame. It contains a new game mode, they explain: “Wargame’s DLC features “Economy”, a new game mode available in both multiplayer and AI matches with new objectives for commanders worldwide. To earn victory in this mode, you will have to reach a certain number of Command Points before your opponents (points obtained by taking control of areas in the field). These points can also be used to deploy reinforcements, and a hard choice will quickly be imposed: continue your march toward victory or batten down the hatches and build your defenses!” There are also five new maps. Better still, the game is currently super cheap. So now’s the time to start the downloading of this excellent piece of Cold War RTS.

Wargame: European Escalation snuck up on me like a Delta Squad stealthing around the side of the map in a pair of Chinooks. The dull, heavy register of the rotors sounded a rhythmic beat that went utterly unnoticed by the net of Luchs Recon Vehicles that I’d spread like an ill-repaired net across my game-spotting flanks. Which is to say that I didn’t hear about it until a good month after it was released, both because my friends who play strategy games are useless, and no one> seemed to have covered it. But once it landed that surgical strike on my wide-open brain, it was difficult to understand why> there weren’t people on nearby hilltops, shouting about how great it was. It looks beautiful, has unique, interesting battle mechanics, and a meta-game of deck building that makes each encounter different, thanks to the units that people bring to the game.

It’s time to talk about those encounters, and you shake you by the lapels. This is why Wargame is worthy of your attention. (more…)

Yes, they’re all at it. There’s a whole bunch of them playing Tribes Ascend, and they even have their own server. The same is true of the Arma corps, who get up to regular shenanigans, which now even includes shooting zombies. Then there’s the surprisingly popular Mass Effect 3 shootery, which is taking place over here. If you prefer things a little more persistent then the Eve and Perpetuum corps are both recruiting, while the unstoppable Blood Bowl league persists in quite a different way. Long may it continue. Finally, it’s worth pointing a wizened finger at the Wargame: European Escalation gang, because that game is certainly worthy of your attention. There’s plenty more, of course, over here…

We mentioned earlier in the week how impressed we are with Wargame: European Escalation, and it is about to get better – for free! This weekend’s DLC, which already has a Steam page here, adds new skirmish AI which allows up to seven players to take on an AI-driven opponent – meaning you can play out the kind of epic co-op that made the Men Of War games so special. Then there are seven fresh multiplayer maps, of which two are “asymmetric battlefields for Attack/Defense games”. Finally there are some new tools to enhance team coordination on the battle map. And that overhaul will cost you nothing. (The game is on sale, too.) Splendid.

There’s a game we’ve not said much about in the past few months. And, well, that’s a shame, because it’s a great game, albeit with a forgettable name: Wargame: European Escalation. It’s the Cold War sequel to the RPS-beloved RUSE, and Wargame is – perhaps surprisingly – one of the strongest contenders for RTS of the year. And so it was with some urgency that we sent RPS chum Joe Robinson to investigate its workings, and to talk to its creators, Eugen Systems.>

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The title of Wargame: European Escalation makes me think of all those grey-and-white products you see in the background of adverts for washing powder. There in the front is the packed of Whizzi-Wash, bright and colourful, and behind are stacked greyscale box after box of “SOAP” and “CLEANING POWDER”. I’m saying it’s a bland name. Is that clear? Bland. But it doesn’t look> bland at all, as the launch trailer below proves.

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A coded message has just reached me from the lofty frontline of a Europe escalated to previously unimagined heights. After running the string of numbers and expletives through the Unigma Machine, which translates marketing language into actual information, this is what I have learned. Wargame: European Escalation’s multiplayer modes will permit the following: customisable armies, hundreds of unit selected from hundreds of unit types, battlefields up to 150 square kilometres in size and eight-way warfights, with the option for teams and solo generalising generaleering. You may glean more from the video below.

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