A walk through real time strategy/MMO End of Nations was the first half of my visit to the Trion booth with Tanooki news editor Jason Leavey at this year’s E3.
Going into it, I wasn’t sure what to expect, given that I completely lack an interest in both real time strategy and MMOs. However, I managed to walk away from the demonstration feeling as though I’d gained a real interest, a monumental feat given that I am set in my ways and generally dislike new things.
End of Nations takes place during a period of unrest following an economic collapse in the not too distant future, 21st century. In the wake of anarchy, a regime emerges to bring order–the Order of Nations. As autonomy and sovereignty is crushed under the Order’s heel, factions of rebels and resistance rise up against them to bring their destructive rule to an end.
One of the first real time strategy massive multiplayer online games, End of Nations allows players to take on the Order either solo or with friends. Watch the world map change as the power balance shifts, battle by battle, victory or defeat. You and you friend will be able to jump into any of thousands of battles at any given time, 24 hours a day, building your units and munitions supplies as you craft and conquer new technology from your headquarters. Highly customizable, you’ll be able to easily mark your legions with specific color schemes and decals to create a distinctive look for your army (which was shown off to Jason and me with a particularly hideous combination of marigold and fuschia).
One of the major featured experiences of the game focuses on your ascension as Commander. You’ll choose a Commander class and obtain unique corresponding attacks, gaining new and more powerful abilities (including some awesome super weapons) as you rise in rank. In fact, one of the super weapons we were given a sneak peek at, a firey air raid that caused me to burst into peals of laughter like a comic book villain on happy gas.
Visually, the game is better than I would expect for this type of game. They definitely made the graphics a priority, and it showed. I complimented the look of the fire as it rained down on my enemies during the air raid, and our demonstrator proudly told me it’d taken ten tries to get it right. Well, the work paid off. It looked fantastic. And the masterful execution of both MMO and RTS is to be applauded. Even the most anti social of player will be tempted by the option to go either PvP or PvE. This game has the potential to make MMORTS a household abbreviation.
End of Nations does not yet have a release date, but I’m told it will likely come out in 2011. Check out some screen shots in the gallery below.
