Order of Wut?

[Shakermaker]

This game came totally out of left field for me. The demo appeared on Steam a couple of days ago, accompanied by a minimal amount of buzz. It seems that OoW was announced in april this year, and I can remember seeing the E3 video, although I didn't get the impression it was playable soon.
Anyway, according to the PR people it is a game with battles on a Total War scale while still being playable with the mouse only. Sounds pretty dumbed down. It has "stunning visuals" and the videos indeed look purdy. Another interesting point is that this is the first game Square Enix made for the Western market.
The download is about half way, so I'll post my impressions of the demo later on.

 

[Lucid]

Looks like SupComm in WW2.

Probably runs just as bad too.

 

[Shakermaker]

Well meh. While the idea for the game (strategy on a regimental level) is interesting, it also feels detached. If you're used to CoH like me you're down on the ground with your troops and the gameplay is tactical. OoW is more strategic in a sense that the positioning of your troops seems more important than the micro managing of specific units. I don't even think there is any micro in the game. F.e. there is a big counter attack in the demo which comes down to defending a hill and a couple of buildings. If you funnel the two prongs of attack into two firing zones it is easy picking off anything that comes your way.

The production values are ok-ish. The menu looks slick enough, the UI is intuitive and the music is generic but good. The rest of the in-game sound is sub par though. Tanks sound like sewing machines, the fighter bombers resemble RC planes and the explosions lack any kind of oompf. Also the random things the units say are bland and uninspiring (although, again, I am spoiled by CoH in this aspect). The graphics look kinda okay when zoomed out, but I have seen better in games that were on the same scale. World in Conflict for example had huge maps as well, but they looked a helluvalot better than OoW.

All in all I am very underwhelmed. I don't see this game scoring higher than a 7.5 on the major gaming sites. The skirmish and online parts might still be interesting, but if they're just as bland as the demo, it doesn't look very promising. Download the demo if you're bored and have nothing better to do.

 

[Gargantou]

The game feels like an extremely simplified wargame, like a retarded version of Theatre of War 2.