Imagine if Hitler had been killed early in World War II. What sort of alternate history would have emerged in such a situation? What if you were able to step back in time and make decisions and engage in the war? This scenario is precisely the storyline for CDV,s new RTS (real time strategy game), War Front-Turning Point.
CDV invited the gaming press to join in a live chat session about WF: TP. GamerNode participated in the event and asked several question about their new game. Mario Kroll, director of public relations and marketing for CDV North America, responded to our inquiries.
GN: Our readers would be interested in finding out what War Front has to offer gamers who do not normally play RTS games. In other words, is War Front specifically geared to RTS fans, or can anyone enjoy this game?
MK: War Front: Turning Point is primarily a RTS. However, it is squarely aimed at the casual gamer. I would say that those who enjoy RTS games, particular more casual ones like Command & Conquer: Generals, will enjoy our title tremendously. But, since we also offer some unique twists–being able to play the game in an over-the-shoulder (think "Max Payne perspective") mode and even jump into turrets for a FPS experience (where you actually do additional damage to units as an incentive for taking direct control — I believe War Front: Turning Point truly crosses genres and will appeal to a fairly broad spectrum. After all, who doesn’t enjoy shocking, smashing, shooting, burning, freezing, nuking and shattering enemies in fast-paced battles?
GN: In a related question, what is the learning curve for War Front? Will a novice player be able to play the game without much trouble, or will there be a substantial amount of time in learning the rules, gameplay, etc?
MK: While we follow the standard conventions expected from RTS titles today, we’ve included a comprehensive tutorial, a tech tree overview, and a great skirmish mode, in which players can test out the three factions against an AI at three difficulty levels before they venture out and take on other armchair generals online. We even have a cooperative or team-based multi-player mode, where experienced gamers can team up with fledgling ones to ease them into the game. And the single player campaign starts out relatively easy and then ramps up in difficulty as the player learns the various units and tactics.
GN: Where did the development team get the inspiration for WarFront and the idea of a WWII without Hitler?
MK: We actually came up with the idea because we didn’t want to do yet another World War II RTS with this title–after all, everyone already knows how World War II works out, don’t we? There is a school of thought that throughout history there are key events, called turning points, upon which the rest of history hinges. What if Hitler or Napoleon hadn’t invaded Russia? What if Caesar hadn’t crossed the Rubicon? … We thought this was a great jumping off point that would allow us to still salvage much of the work that had gone into making a great World War II game up to that point, but to take it beyond; to make it a really fun, enjoyable game, with awesome units rarely, if ever, seen in any other games.
Lajos Boza, lead designer for Digital Reality: There are tons of historically accurate games on the market, therefore we, together with publisher CDV decided to play with the idea of ‘what if …’ We have chosen an alternative storyline, where the German people realize that following the Nazi ideology will be a disaster for their country: they remove Hitler from power and from that time the war changes in many aspects. This makes War Front – Turning Point the first WW2 title in which the player can win playing with the German side!
GN: Is this game being released in Germany, with that country’s censorship of Hitler-related material?
MK: No. Censorship rules… are largely misunderstood. Provided the game doesn’t make Hitler out to be some great guy, advocates his beliefs or policies, or glorifies that epoch, there is no need to make dramatic changes. We will pretty much ship the same game worldwide.
For more information about War Front-Turning Point, logon to: www.War-Front.com
