In case you haven’t noticed, war is kind of a big deal in video games. For years now we’ve reenacted historic ones, engaged in futuristic ones, and battled in ones only loosely based in reality. The browser-based Heroes & Generals falls into the first of those categories, placing players in a World War II setting. Playing to the strengths of the platform, it features a persistent war that players can join at any time.
In case you haven’t noticed, war is kind of a big deal in video games. For years now we’ve reenacted historic ones, engaged in futuristic ones, and battled in ones only loosely based in reality. The browser-based Heroes & Generals falls into the first of those categories, placing players in a World War II setting. Playing to the strengths of the platform, it features a persistent war that players can join at any time.
Like the best of chip dips, there are layers to Heroes & Generals. The team-based FPS portion serves as the main part, where you take to the battlefield and fight against the opposing team. Beyond that, there’s a strategy portion where players can allocate resources to different parts of the world map. The actions of the players here affects where resources end up in the FPS portion. Everything is connected.
And the FPS part of the game isn’t just about shooting at enemies. There are three modes available – Assault, Skirmish, and Interdiction – all of which feature different objectives. In Assault, players fight to take control of the battlefield by capturing different points on the map. Alternatively, they can just kill the whole opposing team. All’s fair in love and war, I guess. In Skirmish, players engage in a good old-fashioned team deathmatch. In Interdiction, they do everything in their power to take down enemy supply lines.
World War II was a long time ago, but it certainly didn’t take place in a pre-vehicle era. Players will have access to tanks, planes and land vehicles all reminiscent of what was used in the actual war, including a motorcycle with a sidecar for an additional passenger.
If motorcycles and weaponry aren’t your style, the upcoming iOS app will be right up your alley. With it, you can serve as commander and move around troops, call in airstrikes, and more. Decisions made here play a role in the outcome of the main game. It’s one of the more interesting uses of cross-platform interactivity I’ve seen, and I’m anxious to learn just how well it functions.
Heroes & Generals will be free-to-play, but it won’t be nickel-and-diming players at every turn. Instead, those who want to support the developers can purchase War Bonds, which will function similar to bonds in real life. Players buy in at a certain price, and the bond accrues interest over the months.
The game is still in beta, but players can sign up over at the homepage. My advice would be to get in on it now, so you can smoke all of the people who join when the game is formally released. I’m also kind of petty, though.
