In Wargasm real-time strategy meets lite sim hybrid that is a non-stop orgy of action to be unleashed on the gaming world shortly in the UK and here in the US soon after. Wargasm looks destined to be a classic with its no holds barred action and tremendous graphics.

A couple weeks back we received the GOLD master of Wargasm. This is not beta software but should be identical to the boxed version that will hit the streets sometime in January.

Wargasm looks to be the most fun you can have with your clothes on in both single and in Multiple Wargasm mode with up to 16 players. When I say fun this game is gonna be FUN! Wow, I can’t get over how addictive and entertaining this game is! Using Direct3D DiD is going to bring us some really hot eye candy and an impressive immersion factor, even better than in some of the more hard corps sims of late.

The game is set in the year 2025 and the face of war has changed. No longer are men and machines thrust upon the countryside of sovereign nations, war is  now fought in the virtual battlefield (Hmm, do you recall that episode from the original Star Trek?).

Massive databases of each countries military have been stored on the World Wide War Web (WWWW), with each unit having a virtual counterpart to represent itself in virtual battles. In this way the wasteful loss of life can be avoided and conflicts can be resolved bloodlessly. Well that WAS the plan until global hackers joined the fray. 

Hackers have broken into the WWWW and upset the balances of power amongst the worlds virtual militaries, causing government upheavals and economic downfalls. The world is in chaos and millions of people are starving, governments are collapsing and the world is reaching the boiling point. That’s where YOU come in. It is your job to wrest control away from the globar War Web and restore order to the way it was before. To do this you will take on all the virtual militaries of the world, region by region until our way of life is regained. 

If you’re not into the storyline, you sure as hell will be into the action! This one kicks some serious ass in the looks and gameplay department. Combining todays popular real time strategy format with lite sims like Armored Fist II, the Comanche series and a dose of Quake style grunt action, this one will have you running and gunning many a night. 

From a global map view you can pick and choose the country in which you wish to do virtual battle, viewing each country’s military strength, effectiveness and tech level. After you’ve made your choice you then select the forces you wish to use in the mission.

Each unit has it’s own amount of ‘web space’ that it requires, and based on how much space you have you allocate your forces. You then go to the mission map screen and select an insertion point for your forces. There are several to choose from in any given mission and you can call a recon flight or do a virtual walk-through recon yourself.

Once you’ve placed your units on the map you move them around the same as in any RTS game, by selecting a single unit and giving a movement order or clicking and dragging a box around a group of vehicles and giving a group movement order. You can stay in control of your forces and fight the entire mission through from here or you can double click on any unit and immediately assume control in either first or third person perspective.

This is where this game gets very interesting as well as very addicting. The controls are the same across the board for each vehicle and foot soldier, so as to keep controls simple. I really like that as I’m a very strong believer in the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and Wargasm accomplishes this, and not at the sake of gameplay. You can control APC’s, tanks, AA guns, helo’s and even infantry which makes for an interesting and challenging variety of gameplay. 

Let's talk about immersion. Although this game is not a high end sim requiring hours of flight experience or a prior career as a tanker or grunt, this game sucks you in deep very quickly.

For example the first battle I was in I saw my forces and the enemy forces mixing it up pretty good, so I decided to join the donnybrook and have some fun as a grunt. Wow, talk about intense! I was right in the thick of it: tank main guns going off beside me, fixed and rotary wing craft flying overhead dealing death at every turn. Vehicles getting smashed and burning all around and tracers flying over my head from all directions. I actually had to pinch myself to remind me this was only a game. This game is going to seriously kick some ass!

Each unit also has several weapons options ranging from a 20mm machine gun for infantry to grenade launchers and remote detonated bombs, tank main guns and coaxial machine guns to missiles and guns from helos and more. You also will have the ability to call for resupply drops during the battle as well as CAS to support your ground units when they get in a real meat grinder. 

Using a new proprietary engine called the 3Dream DiD has brought us some of the most beautiful and realistic looking environments available today. Beautiful and real looking but not at the expense of lag, the rendering is done rather quickly and I've see no slowdowns on a P233 MMX with 64 megs RAM. Also on DiD's site is complete up to date links of accelerator drivers a nice way to help you ensure you have the latest drivers to enjoy this awesome game.

If you’re a fan of the great game Battlezone that Activision put out last year, then this game is going to be one you will not want to miss. DiD has got what I think will be an instant winner and a true classic the minute it comes out, we’ll just have to wait and see the final.

COMBATSIM.COM RATING : 80

• Core Rating : 50
• Gameplay : 90
• Graphics : 95
• Sound : 90
• Intelligence/AI : 85
• User Interface/Mission Planner : 85
• Fun Factor : 95
• Learning Curve (in hours) : 1-2 hours
• Overall Rating : 90