World in Conflict

World in Conflict: the new near-modern military game.This is one of those rare real-time tactical (not to be confused with real-time strategy that requires base-building and resource harvesting) games. It does not disappoint!

This game fills a niche in the PC wargaming genre.There are plenty of games that cater to far future (Supreme Commander, Starcraft), WW2, or medieval past.This is the only game that comes close to the modern day battlefield and with the exception of the new fighter jets, it could be said to emulate modern warfare anyway!

The game is fast and frantic. You are in charge of a company of soldiers and not expected to do superhuman tasks as a general.However, you are expected to be at your toes at all times and I found it quite difficult even in Normal mode to achieve many of the secondary mission objectives since, unlike a game that gives you a sufficient amount of time to do them, this game can give you only mere seconds until a secondary objective is failed. Twitch-based skills are also a necessity since all special abilities are done in real time: shoot a missile when it's needed, pop some smoke when it's needed.

As for the graphics and sound? They are superb. But, be ready to have a low framerate or lots of jagged edges due to lack of anti-aliasing unless you have the latest graphics card. I was using a Radeon X700 model and the game ran fine and crisp, but to see the screenshots you see plastered in the magazines, you'll need a new one.After looking at the visual options, however, you'll be pleased to know that you can control every single detail of the environment visually.