On to the review I suppose.  Real War pits the United States military machine against a terrorist organization called the ILA.  The Independent Liberation Army is hell bent on killing, sabotaging, and raising all kinds of violence across the globe.  Of course America must defend against this threat, and put the ILA to rest once and for all.  I am sure many gamers won’t feel like playing through this type of scenario at this time.  I don’t blame you.  The release of Real War is horrendous, but Simon and Schuster didn’t plan it that way.  Unfortunately incessant bugs complicate things.

If you have a high-end system, you must download a patch before you can proceed past level four.  There are graphic glitches located throughout the game.  AI is absolutely down right dumber than a puppy chew toy.  I ordered some of my units to patrol an area, but they failed to realize that an enemy tank was taking out the opposite side of a building.  Did they not hear the artillery fire?  Scripted events progress at lightning speed, which make it humanly impossible to counter against.  Attack ranges are limited.  For instance I decided to try and knock out the only bridge located on a map.  The ILA was using it to transport their armor.  I thought this would be a sound strategy.  My bombers refused to blow it up.

The demo was a lot of fun, but the product that shipped just wasn’t ready.  Too many of these problems should have been caught during testing, but they weren’t.  Multiplay is no exception.  Full installation was a problem.  I had to go with minimum install.  There are graphic accelerator issues; it just goes on from there.  There are some positive attributes that I should mention to be fair.

Control is extremely easy.  Just point, and click away like any other strategy game, but it is simplified.  Casual gamers can jump right in.  Micro-management is kept to a minimum.  Just build your bases, and some generators, and you are off.  Don’t forget to keep your forces supplied with enough equipment.  This is accomplished with supply depots.  Authentic military war machines are used from fighter planes to aircraft carriers.  Carpet-bombing exact targets was a lot of fun in August.  Nuclear weapons can be used, and you can launch cruise missiles from your Destroyers.  What’s that old saying?  Talk softly, and crush your enemies with a gigantic mother of a bat?  The weapons in Real War are certainly impressive.  There is a game on the horizon called World War 3.  Can’t wait for that one. 

There are twenty-four missions in the campaign mode.  The ILA and the United States each have twelve scenarios to battle through.  I admit I couldn’t fight through the ILA campaign.  I didn’t want too.  I chose to crush the terrorist forces instead.  It provided a mild diversion.  Real War has potential, but you will need patience to weather through the buggy crap.  A patch is already available on www.Real-War.com.  I suggest downloading it before playing the game.  Anytime you must download a patch for a game right out of the box it is a bad sign.  
 

In closing I’d like to say I hope the Yankees win the World Series, because the city needs it.  I hope Michael Jordan does what he is best at in November.  I hope he plays some amazing basketball.  Maybe we can enjoy that for a few minutes as we remember that he donated his salary to the victims.  I need MJ to be MJ again.  Except when he plays the Knicks who will pummel Jordan, and his Wizards on October 30.  I pray for everyone who was involved in the tragedies on September 11.  God bless America.     

Install: Medium
Couldn’t get full install to work.  Music plays during the installation process.  However it stutters, and skips.  An early sign of what will follow.

Gameplay: 6
Control is easily mastered, but unbalanced events, and poor AI diminish the experience.

Graphics: 7.5
Cool zoom feature.  Decent graphics with higher resolutions.

Sound: 7.5
The voice of R. Lee Ermey is used for the briefings.  If you dig “Full Metal Jacket” this is a plus.

Difficulty: 6
A patch is needed to progress for high-end machines.  If you can’t play it out of the box, it shouldn’t be on the shelves yet folks.

Concept: 6
War against terrorists.  Great timing.

Multiplayer: 7
Fight against three others on the Internet.  Lag baby, lag.

Overall: 7
Coulda-shoulda-woulda.  The game is not ready.  I gave it a higher score than it deserves because with a few patches this game still has the potential to be fun for strategy gamers, and casual players.  The ball has been dropped on this one so you have been warned.