I've been playing ToS:WS all night, and wow. Very, very, very nice job VB and Matrix! It's been a while since I bought a game that was actually worth the wait.
Installation was a breeze, and it runs like butter even on the old 300 Mhz/128MB Celeron machine I use at work (bad news for my productivity
). The requirements as noted on the box are very forgiving.I started out by running through the tutorial. New players will be treated to a fairly comprehensive crash course in game mechanics, while vets of the freeware will be introduced to some of the new features of the game like repair and armor facilities, and squad extraction zones; not to mention the spiffy new graphics, which are just as functional as they are fun to look at. I spent several minutes just playing with the graphics options, all of which are accesible via hotkeys. It's quick and simple to do things like turn the hex grid on/off, check terrain elevation and coordinates, line-of-sight, firing arcs, scanner ranges, and maximum/minimum weapon ranges for the currently active titan. The terrain itself looks great, and there's even a hotkey to toggle to the old freeware-style tile graphics (I found this very useful as an aid to get used to the height-mapped terrain, which I'm using exclusively now).
The tutorial is actually a mission with several pre-defined objectives, is presented very logically in-game, and doesn't require the player to reference any hard copy documentation to complete, which I always consider a HUGE bonus for a game of this complexity. There is still quite a lot of information here for a newbie to absorb in one sitting, but the tutorial should do a great job of whetting anyone's appetite to delve deeper into the game's potential. Well done!
I played a quick random small teams game next against inferior AI. One of the little things I've noticed about WS is that much of the information that was previously only accesible with a mouse click or two is now presented on mouse hover. Hex info and weapons/system statuses are easier to keep track of than ever. The scanner screen that displays locked targets can be clicked on to get any active scan info available on the target (something I've always wanted in the freeware). Basically, the user interface in general is streamlined and more intuitive. To say it's merely "polished" doesn't really do it justice. Oh, and auto-move is great too!
I've only completed the first rookie campaign mission so far, but if this map is any indication of what's to come, I can safely say that players are going to have to use their heads to come out on top of the competition in campaign mode. Without giving too much away, I'll just go ahead and warn you of the quicksand. Yes, the quicksand. There, you'll get no more spoilers from me.
Oh yeah, and the soundtrack just completely kicks! Hats off to the guy who signed up a real band for this gig. Crownd's style and sound suit the game perfectly. Techno dance beats are fine and well, but for me, nothing beats a good hard-driving rock rhythm when I'm blowing stuff up.
Ok, I could really go on all night about how cool WS is, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to nudge this post down my priority list (right beneath playing more and sleeping, and I still need to figure out how I'm going to prioritize those two).
Excellent job to everyone involved, this game's a winner!
