RTS in a Console? End War hopes to change minds

There are certain genres that some people think don’t belong on consoles. One of those genres used to be first-person shooters, until Rare proved the naysayers wrong with GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64. Now, it’s the real-time strategy genre that’s struggling. Games like EA’s The Battle for Middle Earth and Command & Conquer 3 have given RTS games on a console a bad rap, and deservedly so. But Ubisoft thinks they can change the minds of gamers with Tom Clancy: EndWar.

Unlike other RTS games, EndWar is being developed from the ground up for consoles. And that is good news since the biggest hurdle for any developer hoping to bring an RTS to a console is trading in the mouse and keyboard for a controller. Which is why EndWar doesn’t require you to use the controller. Instead, you command units by using your voice (though regular controller input is still possible).

According to hands-on impressions of the game, the voice controls work great and it has no problem with accents, even thick ones. Julian Geright, Ubisoft’s content director, has high hopes. “This is the first game of its type and I don’t think that games on console will be made the same after Endwar. It’s kind of boastful, but I really do think that this is a watershed type of game.”

In the end, though, voice commands are second to the overall balance of the units and sides of the game–an improper strategic balance or too many exploits can ruin an otherwise stellar game. According to Geright, Ubisoft is using three different stages of testing: a limited playtest, a larger playtest, and soon a release of a demo from which they’ll make the final adjustments. Luckily, Ubisoft seems focused on doing things right the first time.

It remains to be seen if voice command is more than a novelty, and really is a viable controlling device. But if it does indeed properly employ voice commands, along with the game’s destructible environments, a persistent online multiplayer campaign, and four player co-op, EndWar just might be the new must-have game for 2008. With EndWar set to launch October 14th (for Xbox 360 and PS3) and the promising Halo Wars (Xbox 360) coming next year, it looks like RTS could become a future staple for console gaming.