Order of War interview

PC feature by Nick Akerman, published on Sunday 25th October 2009

With Order of War sitting firmly on the shelves of game stores across the world, we thought we’d catch up with CEO of Wargaming.net Victor Kisyli, to enlighten players about the unusual Square Enix release.

We see a lot of strategy games come and go on the PC; what makes Order of War so popular and most importantly, what keeps players coming back?

Order of War offers a unique combination of cutting-edge graphics and large-scale action peppered with innovative gameplay – all these will definitely pick up interest of any strategy fan. We paid great attention to details to make sure that game locations (more than 1×1 km in size) are historically accurate and all models of weaponry (more than 70 types) look and sound authentic. Intelligent AI is also on the list of our features; the CPU opponent is good at detecting player’s plans and taking countermeasures. Regarding the second part of the question, we are going to continue work on enhancing and optimizing the game. Order of War add-ons will probably feature SDK and map-editor; with this step we hope to attract new people and keep exciting those already playing. Some enhancements will be added with patches; right now we are considering introducing “fog of war” into the multiplayer mode – this will bring additional replay value to online battles. Moreover, we are going to cooperate closely with our community and organize regular tourneys and championships.

There are two different campaigns on offer; can you describe what kind of objectives players are tasked with?

Well, in Order of War the player will be tasked to complete a wide range of objectives: from launching massive tank offensives and breaching enemy defences to staging diversionary attacks, flanking actions and encirclement operations. We are not going to limit the choice of tactics and strategies the player wants to apply in a particular situation by imposing “the-only-correct” solution. The Headquarters issues orders and the player is free to decide on the best suitable way to execute them. To diversify the gameplay we also added to the campaigns several night missions and low-visibility operations that imply stealth-action elements. And of course, don’t forget about urban fighting - this will require using artful manoeuvres and tricks.

Do you think newcomers to PC strategy games will be able to jump right in and play this title, or is it aimed further towards veterans of the genre?

Those new to the strategy genre will feel at ease playing Order of War, because we took several steps to make the game as accessible as possible. We’re actually calling the genre of the game Strategy-Action which kind of implies the level of excitement and accessibility that Order of War provides over other strategy titles. Firstly, we introduced the so-called adaptive AI that analyses player’s behaviour on the battlefield and helps him out if the situation is critical by bringing in backup forces. However, this aid is limited and comes on Easy and Normal only. Secondly, to make the game more action-focused we omitted resource gathering and base building - that’s what discourages many people from playing strategy titles - in Order of War we gain resource points by capturing and holding strategic areas and spend them on reinforcements. Squad-based control system, simple and clear UI and of course detailed tutorial will also help newbies with getting a feel of the game. As for the veterans of the genre – Hard and Deathmatch is what they’ll definitely like. There’s nowhere to expect help from and the only way to succeed in the fight against a ruthless opponent is to protect scarce resources by thinking several moves ahead.

Which games most inspired Order of War?

Well, it’s a difficult question… Some of the ideas were taken from our previous games like “cinematic camera” that was first utilized in Massive Assault: Phantom Renaissance. Of course, it was optimized and upgraded to meet the requirements of modern videogames. Playing Ground Control we spotted an interesting resource-management system based on strategic points, which was modernized and implemented in our game. All-in-all, Order of War is a result of hard work by more than 90 people that did their best to make a quality and challenging strategy game.

Was World War Two always going to be the setting for the game, or did you ever consider another conflict?

You know, we had different ideas regarding the setting of our new project: at some point it was WWI and even WWIII but after months of hot discussions and arguments we set our choice on the golden mean - WWII. Why? Well, the memories of this war are still fresh and people are eager to learn new details about this conflict. What’s also important, the weapon types utilized by WWII armies perfectly fitted our game mechanics. We also considered a sci-fi setting featuring huge clashes between futuristic units (that’s probably Massive Assault’s influenceJ).

For those looking to lead an entire army, what does Order of War offer? Are there many different divisions and options to play with?

Order of War is all about massive warfare. Once on the battlefield your task is to coordinate actions of different combat arms – infantry, armour (light, medium and heavy tanks), different types of SP guns, artillery (field and corps) and airforces (bombers and fighters). It’s noteworthy that the infantry in Order of War is not just “cannon fodder”; due to the ability to toss grenades it is very effective against armour especially when entrenched. Moreover, elite squads are equipped with bazookas – that’s what makes them a real nightmare for tank brigadiers. The game also features some “exotic” weapons that are available in several missions. For example, playing for the Germans you get access to a big railway gun Leopold that can fire across the entire map.

How in-depth is the tactical side of the game? Can we control every move of our assault on the enemy?

With its vast battlefields and dozens of unit types available Order of War gives the player almost full freedom of operation. You decide what tactics should be taken to accomplish this or that task. If you think that a heavy artillery barrage is the best way to dislodge the enemy from his positions – don’t hesitate, call it in and this plan might work out. However, there could always be more subtle solutions: disrupt enemy rear areas to cut off his supply lines and finish the opponent by two flanking attacks. As you see, the player is not merely controlling every move of his army; he is literally an architect of every operation.

Has the support of Square Enix helped push the product? Are you thankful for their recognition?

Square Enix is a team of experienced professionals and we are really glad to cooperate with them. We’ve done a lot of work related to Order of War PR and marketing together and are more than satisfied with the results shown.

Will we be seeing a console version of the game at some point?

Right now we have no plans of porting Order of War to consoles, as for its add-ons, well, time will tell…

Can you describe the multiplayer aspect to us?

Order of War multiplayer mode will feature up to 2vs2 LAN and Internet battles powered by GameSpy technologies with three factions to choose of: USA, Germany and USSR. There’ll be four separate rating systems with ranks and medals – one for each side of the conflict and one that reflects overall progress of the player. We are now working on several interesting multiplayer features that will add depth to online warfare.

Finally, any news on future projects from Wargaming.net?

At the moment we are fully absorbed in work on Order of War, though, of course, we keep in mind certain plans regarding the add-ons. Unfortunately, they can’t be revealed now, so check out for updates on our news page.

Many thanks to Victor for taking time out to answer our questions. Order of War is available right now, check back soon to catch our verdict.