Act of War: Direct Action - Multiplayer Demo

Since war is the main ingredient in basically every real-time strategy game released until now, it’s safe to assume that the actual troops fighting on the battlefield are a crucial element as well. Balancing the factions is a process that revolves around the units they each have at their disposal, so the troops must be both intriguing, and vulnerable to certain things, to keep things on an even keel.

Act of War: Direct Action is a real-time strategy game that focuses on the difference between technologies and mentalities, because each of the three factions available have a unique approach to combat. Not only that, but since the conflict takes place sometimes in the near-future, the designers had the chance to take some liberties with the arsenal, while still not making the step toward sci-fi.

As such, the entire game revolves around an ongoing war between the Task Force Talon, United States military, and the Consortium. Each one of these factions has an entirely different selection of units at its disposal, ranging from the high-tech machinery displayed by the Task Force Talon, all the way to the mundane, yet effective M1 Abrams tank that’s part of the US forces.

Since the demo at hand provides you with insight on the multiplayer component, it is worth mentioning that the developers did a great job at balancing the three factions and making the matches exciting. There are many different tactics you can put into practice during the skirmishes, all of which only work if you have the correct mixture of troops and upgrades.

Visually, there’s no denying that the game still looks great, even after so many years. Each unit is nicely modeled and designed to look unique, which makes the confrontations that much more engaging. The soundtrack is solid and the sound effects do their job as well, although the multiplayer component is not as cinematic as the singleplayer one.

In the end, Act of War: Direct Action is indeed a solid real-time strategy game and it has the capacity to jump to the top of your favorite games list. Hence, if you are on the lookout for something a bit different, yet sturdy from a gameplay point of view, this is the way to go.