Xbox Gaming in South Africa

War World was first sighted as far back as E3 2007, and even then the graphics were amazing for a Xbox Live Arcade game. But as we all know, good graphics doesn't mean a great game. After spending some time playing War World, I've come to a conclusion. In this case, amazing graphics does equal great gameplay.

Let me start from the beginning. War World puts you into the control chair of a heavily armed, assult mech. Using a 3rd-person perspective, you engage in different battle modes ranging from death match, to bomb assault and capture the flag. Each mechanoid has a special ability, such as stealth, increased shields and increased damage. The abilities are adjusted acordingly to their size, with the smaller mechs being agile and quick but lacking punch, while the larger mechs packing more firepower but are slow across the battlefield.

I started out with the arcade mode, and to be honest I was disappointed. There's over 100 levels, but don't expect any kind of storyline, and I mean any, because it doesn't exist. It's very simplistic, in that each level is made harder by increasing the number of mechs you have to face. After just a few levels I found it becomes very tedious. But the gameplay was smooth and it really did look great. There were a few scenery popups and every now and then, you might find your mech poking through a wall. But these are few and far between, and when feverishly fighting your way through the enemy, it isn't noticable.

I then decided to try my hand at singleplayer death match, and this is where War World starts to shine. Unlike arcade mode, you can setup the match to your liking by choosing a mech, along with settings such as map and total amount of frags. Playing with 15 other mechs on one of the many detailed maps, the gameplay was smooth and fast-paced. I found myself playing "just one more game" and literally had to pull myself away to try out some of the other modes. Team Deathmatch allows for greater tactical play, and I found the AI to be very convincing. On the multiplayer side, other than the addition of different objectives, the gameplay and options are basically the same, but most importantly, still enjoyable. The addition of human counterparts increased the difficulty, and even with 7 international players, I didn't once notice any lag.

What will hurt the multiplayer side is a lack of a online community and without that, this game will fizzle out sooner rather than later. If you can get a bunch of friends to get it, by all means, you will have some good fun, otherwise, give it a miss.

Bar no storyline and a few minor glitches, War World is an amazingly fun and addictive game, but lacks the punch when it comes to longevity. You can pick it up for just 800 Microsoft Points.

Rating: