tom-clancys-endwar posts

Ubisoft had high hopes for Tom Clancy's EndWar when it was first released for consoles in 2008 and for the PC in 2009. Before it came out the publisher said the near-future military RTS game would be a revolution for games due to its use of voice commands for controlling the game's units. However the final product was slammed by critics for being too simple in its gameplay design.

While Ubisoft creative director Michael De Plater stated last year that sales of the game were good enough to warrant a sequel, VG247.com now quotes him as saying, "It's on the backburner" when asked about the status of an EndWar sequel. It's possible that Ubisoft's worse than expected financial results have put a number of upcoming games on hold.

Who says PC game sales have to be this weekend only? Not Valve's Steam service. They are breaking in a new 50 percent off sale on Trackmania United Forever, the racing-puzzle game from French developer Nadeo. From now until August 10 you can buy the full game for $19.99 as opposed to its normal Steam price of $39.99.

In related news Steam has also dropped the price permanently on the recent Ubisoft RTS game Tom Clancy's EndWar. If you haven't picked up this near-future military themed game (with voice control) you can do so now at Steam for the lower price of $29.99.

UbiSoft's release of Tom Clancy's EndWar (fall 2008 for consoles and March 2009 for the PC) got high marks for its voice command tech but low marks for its actual gameplay. However the game was apparently a big enough sales success that a sequel is in the works.

Chatting with VideoGamer.com, Ubisoft creative director Michael De Plater stated that they plan to improve the single player campaign and the depth for the sequel. While the follow-up does not yet have a release date, De Plater said that the original sold a respectible 1.5 million copies. He states, "We still sold more than Red Alert 3, sold more than Company of Heroes, sold more than World in Conflict." In fact only the console exclusive RTS game Halo Wars has sold more copies, according to De Plater. However he added, "For a strategy game that's a huge success. For a console game that's not such a big success."

The patch for Tom Clancy's EndWar updates the game to v1.02 and improves game stability.

Download Tom Clancy's EndWar v1.02 Retail Patch (19 MB)
Download Tom Clancy's EndWar v1.02 Digital Patch (60 MB)
Check out all Tom Clancy's EndWar downloads

Last week GoGamer.com cut prices to the bone on a large number of mostly older titles. This weekend the mail-order game retailer has put a number of more recent games on sale (some shipped out just a coupe of weeks ago).

Among the games on sale this week include the RTS tile Stormrise for just $19.90, the action game Wanted Weapons of Fate for $29.90, the FPS F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin for $27.90, the open world crime game Saints Row 2 for $24.90, the retail box edition of the MMO EVE Online for $29.90 and the voice controlled RTS title Tom Clancy's EndWar for just $19.90. Happy savings.

Originally designed as a tactical real-time strategy game for consoles, Tom Clancy's EndWar makes its way to the PC, a platform practically overflowing with RTS games. On the one hand, the move makes perfect sense. Although there are plenty of RTS games, none use voice command technology to move units around. Furthermore, the simplified controls originally meant to support the limited button capacity of a console controller means that almost anyone, from novices to veterans, can pick the game up and quickly learn to play. However, the fact that there are so many RTS games magnifies EndWar's shallow gameplay, and elements that may have benefited it on the console system work against it on the PC.

This trailer for Tom Clancy's EndWar emphasis the PC release of the voice-controlled real-time strategy game based in the Tom Clancy universe. Players will take command of squads and organize them using voice commands. The game is available now on store shelves, via Steam or through Ubisoft's own digital download store.

Download HD Tom Clancy's EndWar PC Trailer (36 MB)
Check out all Tom Clancy's EndWar downloads

Ubisoft is planning to release the PC version of their near-future RTS game Tom Clancy's EndWar next week but if you hurry up and pre-order the game via Ubisoft's own download store or via Steam you will get a fairly nice free bonus game out of the deal.

With your pre-order of EndWar comes the instand and free download of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, the third major installment of the tactical shooter series. Normally the online price via Steam for the game is $9.99. Ubisoft's store also has the minimal and recommended system requirements for the downloadable version of EndWar. You can check out the requirements after the jump.

Not every game publisher is hurting for money in this economic climate. French-based Ubisoft announced its latest financial results for the quarter that ended December 31. Revenues were 508 million euros, almost 13 percent higher than the same period a year ago and slightly higher than what the company predicted previously. Some games like Far Cry 2 sold well in this period but others such as the new Prince of Persia revamp performed below Ubisoft's expectations.

The company also updated its release schedule, once again confirming a PC port of Tom Clancy's EndWar and Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. before the end of their fiscal year (on March 31). However they also confirmed that the action game I Am Alive, which just a couple of days ago was also targeted for a March release, has slipped back into the company's next fiscal year which begins on April 1.

That next fiscal year is already looking promising with Ubisoft saying that Assassin's Creed 2, the long delayed Splinter Cell Conviction and a new Ghost Recon title are all scheduled for release sometime in that year. The movie-based game James Cameron's Avatar is also due for release in that time frame as are other unnamed games including all new franchises.

Several months after its release on consoles, Ubisoft has finally confirmed what has previously been only been unofficial talk; their near-future RTS game Tom Clancy's EndWar will finally be released for the PC sometime before the end of March. Eurogamer says a new release schedule from the publisher shows the PC port coming in their first quarter.

EndWar reportedly was delayed on the PC because of fears that piracy might affect the sales of the console game as well (although that hasn't stopped Ubisoft from releasing other PC games day-and-date with their console counterparts). The game itself takes place in the year 2020 with the US, Russia and the European Union as factions fighting a war over the world's natural resources. The console version, released last November, was praised for its voice-command features but got slammed for rather simplistic gameplay.