Ruse

If Google Earth had been invented back in World War II and military commanders used it to direct battles in the European Theatre, it would probably look a lot like Ruse, an interesting new real-time-strategy offering from genre vets Eugen Systems that supposedly sports RTS controls ideal for Xbox 360.

Though we can’t verify that just yet, as we’ve only had a first look at the title, Ruse is refreshing if, for nothing else, the super-unique view it uses for a strategy game.

Picture a tabletop strategy game: a 2D map with icons to represent your units. You do all of your planning from here and can get a global view of the battlefield. But what if you could zoom all the way down to ground level, where your tanks and infantry are fighting in full 3D? Ruse permits exactly this advantage — and its graphics engine has the insane draw distance and slick terrain effects to make it not only possible, but mighty pretty in the process, too.

In our demo, we observed a piece of the real-life Battle of Monte Cassino. As the Allies, the goal was to take care of anti-air battery with friendly tanks. Using the first Ruse of the battle — think of them as special cards you can play, except you can have up to three active in a match — our demo showed off Radio Silence, which can be applied only to one sector of a map. Thus, the potential for trickery is high. You could, for instance, use Radio Silence, then purposely send decoy units out in full radar’s view in another direction, only to hide your true offensive intentions under the Ruse, catching your foe off-guard with a surprise assault.

We also got a peek at Encryption Plan — a Ruse that gives you a brief look at what’s happening behind the enemy’s fog of war — and were impressed at the depth of strategic potential contained within. Each Ruse either hides information, falsifies it, or steals it. And vision is important, too, as you can see only what you’d actually be able to see in real life. That means forests can conceal infantry, as can the concrete jungles of urban areas. Recon, Eugen stresses, is of the utmost importance in your quest for victory.

If the controls are as good as advertised, Eugen may be on to something. Halo Wars opened many a console owner’s eyes to the potential of the real-time strategy game, paving the way for Ruse to zoom right in on the genre’s most intriguing qualities.