Recently, World in Conflict from Sierra has gone into its July Beta event, giving us here at Gamepyre.com a chance to check it out before the distant September release date. Set during the Cold War conflict between the USA and the USSR, World in Conflict is a different type of RTS. Most of us who play RTS games expect to see a few things in just about every game of this type.

Usually you expect to see things like base building, using different buildings to create different units, usually harvesting a resource of some type. There is also the standard make a server and wait for players, then start the game, hoping none of them drop or crash during the match. Also it seems like you end up commanding 100s of troops, and it can sometimes start to get a bit confusing, and start to irritate the wrist as well trying to keep up.

World in Conflict seems to be fixing these problems and making a different type of RTS, one that allows for more players, and in game joining/leaving of servers. This means you can come and go just like you could in any FPS came. This works very well, considering each player chooses a role to play from 4 choices, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, infantry can attack anything and do considerable damage using their guns and rocket launchers, but are very weak to enemy fire when out in the open.

There is no base building, at least not in the game mode shown in the preview. I for one like having 100% of my RTS time spent in combat, not trying to micro manage several different areas. The lack of bases and each player choosing their own role makes teamwork all the more important. If you have 8 players on a team acting independently, then the team will quickly be overrun by a more organized opponent. The more you work as a team, the higher your own score will get, so teamwork is encouraged even in the players who want to get high score and advance in rank quickly.

The only mode available in the beta is Domination, but it is a ton of fun. It is easy to get lost in this game for hours at a time, that is, once you get used to it. The concept of no bases seems easier, but can start to get kind of difficult since you only control one squad of the team. I know I keep going back to this point, but I cannot emphasize how much teamwork matters. Voice chat is built into the game, so that teams can actually work as one, as is standard in many FPS games nowadays. I like seeing this in an RTS, especially one like this.

Sierra won’t be releasing this potential gem until September 2007, and I for one cannot wait. Pre-orders get another map to play for this beta, I haven’t gotten a chance to play that one yet though. I know I for one will be getting as much play as I can out of this in anticipation of the release, and from the looks of server populations, I’m not the only one waiting anxiously for this game to go gold and then hit store shelves. Just a couple of months until the Cold War warms up.