World in Conflict

World in Conflict is a real-time strategy pursuing an alternative history starting in 1989. The Soviet Union is crippled by economic issues and asks the United Nations to support the Communist society. Upon refusing, the Soviets assault NATO positions and open a second front in the United States to prevent the country from assisting Europe. The game has the player take command after the American invasion, but also in the events prior to it, set in Europe and Russia. The story is told through pre-rendered cut-scenes, stills, and in-game events.

Like the developer's previous games in the Ground Control series, there is no resource or structure management. The player starts with a limited group of unit resources determined for each mission, based on 4 major roles: Armor, Air, Infantry and Support, each with different units. These include soldiers, tanks, jeeps, transport vehicles, helicopters, and more. Each unit has specific movement and attack options, along with two unique actions. The game is shown through a third-person perspective with full zooming options, rotation and camera control through the WASD keys, usually reserved for first-person shooters.

The player controls a small group of units on a larger battlefield, with both AI-controlled enemies and allies. While playing, there are different objectives to fulfill and the commanders constantly provide updates from the battlefield. The gameplay is focused on the micromanagement of the available units. At the start of each mission, a limited amount of reinforcements is provided, which the player uses to assemble a team of units for the mission. Once a unit falls in battle, the reinforcement meter slowly regenerates to buy one or more new units. By controlling command points, fortifications are built automatically and these also provide other bonuses such as tactical aids.

Tactical aids are the main form of support provided for your troops during the game. By completing objectives, the player can ask for air support at the cost of points, to launch napalm, air strikes, artillery fire, paratroopers and even a nuclear bomb. The setting heavily enforces to make good use of the environment, with small streets that slow down heavy tanks, buildings that can be captured by soldiers for more powerful attacks, and drop points selected through an overhead map. The environment is completely destructible.

Multiplayer is focused on eSports with integrated voice chat, clan management, leaderboards and in-game avatars through the Massgate network. There is a focus on cooperative matches, with the players choosing one of the 4 available roles to create balanced teams. The game modes include Domination (push the domination bar in your team's direction by holding as many control points as long as possible), Assault (two consecutive rounds of defense and attack for command points) and Tug of War (fight for one long command point acting as a frontline, pushing it forward by controlling perimeter points). There is an additional mode called Few-Player mode where the game is tuned for 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 matches, removing the roles system and vastly increasing the reinforcement points.