Real War

by Simon & Schuster

Product Features

• Real-time strategy doesn't get any realer than this -- you command army units based on real military units
• Plan out attack strategies for F-18 fighter jets, M1A1 Tanks and other heavy weapons
• Move your battleships into positions, unleash the Marines and the SEAL Teams, and take the land -- while avoiding enemy attacks
• Plan your strategy and adjust that strategy as you go -- just like in a real battle!

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005NHAI
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 27, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,844 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Terrorist forces are threatening the free world, and the only power capable of stopping them is the U.S. military. The outcome is uncertain, but as history has shown, leadership matters. You control the balance of power. Choose your side, marshal your forces, and make real war upon your enemy.

Based on the official Joint Chiefs of Staff training game developed for the U.S. military, Real War uses real-world scenarios, allowing you to play as the current U.S. military or as a terrorist army extrapolated from actual terrorist forces.

Real War is a real-time strategy game in which you command today's armed forces. All jets, ships, and ground vehicles are taken directly from today's military. You can also get your hands on a few special items right off the Pentagon's drawing boards. Real War delivers a stunning one-two punch of 3-D vehicles--with their realistic movement--against the backdrop of a richly detailed 2-D world, with jungle, desert, and arctic environments.

Product Description

Terrorist forces are threatening the free world, and the only power capable of stopping them is the U.S. military. The outcome is uncertain, but as history has shown, leadership matters. You control the balance of power. Choose your side, marshal your forces, and make real war upon your enemy.

Based on the official Joint Chiefs of Staff training game developed for the U.S. military, Real War uses real-world scenarios, allowing you to play as the current U.S. military or as a terrorist army extrapolated from actual terrorist forces.

Real War is a real-time strategy game in which you command today's armed forces. All jets, ships, and ground vehicles are taken directly from today's military. You can also get your hands on a few special items right off the Pentagon's drawing boards. Real War delivers a stunning one-two punch of 3-D vehicles--with their realistic movement--against the backdrop of a richly detailed 2-D world, with jungle, desert, and arctic environments.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Real War: the real deal, October 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Real War (CD-ROM)

The bottom-line is Real War has a lot of potential, but it is in desperate need of a serious patching. The good news is that the developers have released an "initial patch", which means a follow-up is in the works. Some out-of-the-box issues were quickly apparent, one or two of which were rectified with the "initial patch", but there are quite a few which still remain.
Any RTS that permits your troops to stand, oblivious, to incoming enemy fire without reacting to defend themselves (or, at the very least *run away*) is in need of some serious AI attention. It is bad enough when your units don't respond to an adjacent unit being attacked, but when the unit *itself* doesn't move/shoot/duck/run/anything(!), and just stands there(!!) it is completely unacceptable. Six or seven years ago it could be forgiven, but gamers are much more savvy now and we've grown to expect a little more than that.
In my years of gaming I've heard about many accounts of games with crash-to-desktop errors, but I'd never once experienced it myself... until now. I've had several fatal errors while playing this game, seemingly during level loads, even after patching.
Which brings me to the save/load times: abysmal. There's really no reason why a gamer with a fast PIII, 256 Mb RAM, and a RAID should have to sit staring at a black screen just waiting to go from the gameplay map to the savegame menu. What exactly is it doing during all that time? Starcraft can save an 8-player LAN game in about three seconds, all without even leaving the gameplay map, so we know this is not an insurmountable problem.
On the upside, the game does look pretty good, but it seems a bit choppy, even when there's not a whole lot going on onscreen (and it's obvious that processor cycles are *not* being eaten up by efficient AI). The sound effects and radio chatter work well. R. Lee Ermey's voice-overs are gimmicky, but fun. Even the controls, while clunky at first, become pretty smooth once you get used to them, allowing you to manage an awful lot of units with only a few clicks. The map-zoom slider-bar is a great idea that I hope to see implemented in future games.
If Real War is the "game you've been waiting for" don't let these niggling issues scare you off. Out-of-the-box, it definitely has its issues, but the developers have been quick to move with a patch, and I'm fairly confident most of these other problems will be hammered out in the future. If you're an old codger like me, stingy with his gaming dollar, wait for another patch. However, it's still enjoyable, so if you're patient and forgiving about your software, don't be afraid to grab a copy.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, something different from sci fi or futuristic war, October 3, 2001

By 

Kevin D. Quillen "tuneman" (Dagsboro, DE United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real War (CD-ROM)

This is a RTS I have been waiting for for a long time now. Real units and base types, scenarios, maps, logistics, etc. I cant tell you how boring sci-fi or futuristic RTS titles get after awhile.

I enjoy how the game played as well as enemy AI. It gets 5 stars for being what I wanted, REAL, and ultra cool. The only flaw in this game is the pathfinding, which can be a little wirey if your buildings are close together. Just build your vehicle yards away from confined areas. However this is something that will be adressed in a patch no doubt, so dont fret.

Overall, the game is very cool, but if you think the game tends to drag out over one map, just remember it is a military simulation and not fast paced like Command and Conquer too. Because this is real.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Totally Bogus, November 21, 2001

By 

"gatovolando" (Aloha, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real War (CD-ROM)

This game is not realistic at all. It is the worst war game I have ever played and I consider it to be a total rip-off. It is extremely doubtful that the US military uses anything remotely like this for training as is claimed. There is very little strategy, you are extremely limited in what you can build, which means your opponent is following the same strat you are. For example, you can only build one large bomber (realistically called a "carpet bomber" in the game) so you can't experiment with differing air power strats, nor could I build more than one airfield. This game is little more than a poor copy of Warcraft or Starcraft but is not nearly as much fun, as challenging, or even as realistic (Real Bad considering those two are fantasy and science fiction).