One of my favorite visits during GDC was to have the opportunity to sit down with George Geczy, Lead Programmer with Battlegoat Studios, to discuss their upcoming release, Supreme Ruler: Cold War. With RTS games based on a historical period of time (in this case, the Cold War), it can be very easy to be pigeonholed into presenting something that's been seen or done before in the past by someone else. After a very enlightening half an hour speaking with George, it became very clear to me that Supreme Ruler: Cold War was going to be a memorable game to play in its own right.
Supreme Ruler: Cold War is a game that can accommodate many different gameplay styles and presents us with three different gameplay modes. The first of these modes, of course, is the campaign mode. It's 1949 and you can choose to play as the USA and the NATO Alliance or as the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. This game is designed as a “geo-political strategy” game, a long-term game of diplomacy and intelligent thinking. An influence bar at the top of the UI displays how much influence is currently held by NATO and how much is under the Warsaw Pact. The capital cities of the other countries are marked by a star, and the color behind the star shows whether they are aligned with the US or the Soviets. To curry favor with these countries, you have many options. You can attempt it as a straight up military encounter or you can attempt to open up trade routes, overthrow a dictatorship to gain favor with that country's citizens or use good old fashioned intimidation, placing troops on their border. The end game can end in nuclear war but obviously that's not that goal.
Sandbox mode allows you to choose a country anywhere in the world and play through the same time period. The campaign will be going on in the background and you can choose to get involved if you so wish by getting involved with one of the two super powers, or you can just continue to play through doing your own thing. Goals include such things as establishing a militaristic dictatorship or attempting to liberate other countries from the same.
Finally, the scenario mode, designed as a quick-play tactical RTS, can be finished in a couple of hours. When I had the opportunity to speak with George, this was the aspect of the game that was currently being worked on but I did have the good fortune to see one of the work in progress scenarios in play. Early in the Korean War, the North Koreans were moving down South while the US was coming in from the South to reinforce South Korea's forces. You can play as either the North Koreans, attempting to take the remainder of the Korean Peninsula before the US can establish themselves, or you can play as the US and attempt to drive back North Korea and, ultimately, reunite the whole of the Korean Peninsula.
No matter which side you select, you have access to the State department, Finance, Research, etc., all of which are controlled by Ministers in your government. The game also tracks different commodities such as oil. If your country doesn't produce any oil, you can receive commodities through trade, diplomacy, or you can set your Minister (AI) to just take care of the details for you while you concentrate on elements of the game that perhaps you're more interested in.
The game relies heavily on your ability to stay focused on the details of the situation that you are in. You can zoom out and observe the entire world map while you're moving, for example, from North Korea into South Korea, however, if you're away for too long it's possible that your troops may come under attack. Playing in the grand campaign would involve a heavy amount of jumping back and forth. That being said, the game does seem to allow for different methods of play, allowing the AI ministers to control your resources for example, and to see such an expansive title with such diversity in the gameplay styles is a refreshing change.
Naturally, as with almost all RTS games, you're responsible for the production of your country's resources, by which I mean to say militarily. Your production is handled through cities or bases, barracks and training facilities. Your research and development department can work on further technology to get better planes, better bombs, better tanks, etc. The research is handled through a prerequisite system; “learn about x, then you can learn about y”.
Multiplayer is supported for up to 15 players, either online or over LAN, and all three modes are available. I can't help but look at the sandbox mode and dream of the possibilities in multiplayer. The prospect of being able to topple my buddy's facist regime and have him swear his head off at me over Skype is hilarious and appealing to me. Like a big game of RISK, the potential for serious political intrigue is present and exciting.
What I got to see with George while at GDC was an exciting demonstration of the capabilities of the game. The potential for endless replayability is there with this game and, more and more, we see this trend in the RTS genre. With three different gameplay modes, each one supported by up-to-fifteen player multiplayer, and literally the world at your fingertips, it's hard not to imagine the possibilities. Whether you like the slow-paced political thinker that the standard campaign will provide, or you want to create and rule over a small island paradise (with an iron fist, of course) or you're just looking for a RISK-like experience with your buddies over the internet, Supreme Ruler: Cold War seems to have you covered.
