EndWar is voice activated

By Robert Purchese Published 22 May, 2007

Hands-free Clancy.

Tom Clancy's EndWar will be playable using only voice commands, Ubisoft revealed in its Ubidays press conference, although there will also be the option to use a joypad.

It'll be the first new Tom Clancy game the publisher has created since Splinter Cell, and we were told to "imagine the apocalypse as a techno thriller" to get an idea of what to expect.

Ubisoft was also keen to highlight a new camera positioning that will feature in EndWar, likening it to the low camera experienced in Madden football games; looking over the shoulder of the player rather than at the head and back.

Tom Clancy's EndWar is a strategy game with online multiplayer for next-generation consoles, set on the battlefields of World War III.

It's expected to be one of the big names on the Ubidays show floor tomorrow. We'll be bringing you our impressions of it as soon as we can get within touching distance.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Hugundo #1 5 years ago

    LOL. i first tried it with SOCOM 1 and i can't underestimate the amount of dignity i lost in those first, horrific 3 minutes.
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/07 @ 20:59

  • alimokrane #2 5 years ago

    well you have the option of voice control but you can always play the traditional way so why complain ???

  • Haloboy #3 5 years ago

    This is being developed by Ubi Shanghai am I right?

    /Digs a deep hole to distance himself even further away from the game

  • souljah #4 5 years ago

    I felt like I had been caught masturbating wearing ladies underwear and with an orange in my mouth when my girlfriend came home from work to find me shouting into my newly purchased SOCOM headset.

    To this day, I can't speak to anyone on Live when she's in the room.

  • Scump #5 5 years ago

    Pussys. Get your balls back...or at least whisper. Anyways if Ubi put a decent effort into it unlike the awful attempt they made with Rainbow Six, it may work well. Being a new franchise im sure they're keen to impress or at the very least give the game something obviously different from similar titles. As I write I'm reminded how bad microsoft have done with voice activation in Vista. I have speant precious hours fine tuning the dam thing and it still didn't work. God if an entire operating system with custom tuning can't get it right then oh ooh.

    Jumps back over fence.

  • zozart #6 5 years ago

    Does anyone actually like voice-control games?

    The only one I've ever enjoyed was some little PC downloadable game where you made "brrrrm" noises into your microphone in order to propel a car around a track. That was great.

  • bunglebonce #7 5 years ago

    I had voice-recognition button-mapping for the Rainbow Six games on the PC pre-Xbox bastardisation. It made the experience much more enjoyable, being able to dictate go-codes without having to waste a vital second looking for the 'j' on the keyboard. It added to the experience of playing as pseudo-captain of the squad. I wouldn't say it's for every game, though.

  • Kiigan #8 5 years ago

    It'll never work

  • dsmx #9 5 years ago

    they could do hand commands with the camera on the xbox 360 and ps3 though...

  • Sl1pstream #10 5 years ago

    The Xbox Rainbow Six's all had voice commands to order your squad around, if they build on those, it should work out pretty well.

  • thefilthandthefury #11 5 years ago

    "The Xbox Rainbow Six's all had voice commands to order your squad around, if they build on those, it should work out pretty well."

    Yeah those worked brilliantly! I'm surprised they don't really use them anymore. Never once did they get the wrong order, I was genuinely taken aback.

  • Steroyd #12 5 years ago

    Those memories of Socom are just flooding back. :(

  • jlaakso #13 5 years ago

    Makes me wonder how simple the interface/gameplay is going to be.

  • speedjack #14 5 years ago

    Humm...

    I seem to remember GRAW meant to have voice commands too but the took it out as it was too unreliable ?

  • space_ace #15 5 years ago

    start training your michael ironside voice

  • souljacker2000 #16 5 years ago

    Its obviously going to be unreliable. Thats why you have the choice of using the pad...

    Im so glad i dont HAVE to look like a twat...maybe i already do so theres probably no point me sayin that

  • IAmBatman #17 5 years ago

    > I'm surprised they don't really use them anymore

    Rainbow Six Vegas has it.

  • asphaltcowboy #18 5 years ago

    "Tom Clancy's EndWar will be playable using only voice commands..."

    Ok...

    "...although there will also be the option to use a joypad."

    OBJECTION!

  • dsmx #19 5 years ago

    sustained

  • Tomo #20 5 years ago

    ZOMG. I think it's a great idea if it's implemented well. My micro skills are not good enough for playing CnC etc online and I'm often angry at myself for losing because of that fact. Chucking commands around sounds like a terrific idea. I think UbiUbiUbiUbiAAAaaaAAaaa should be praised for attempting it.

    /fingers crossed

  • kangarootoo #21 5 years ago

    "Tom Clancy's EndWar will be playable using only voice commands"

    If that were true I would be worried.


    "although there will also be the option to use a joypad"

    Good job its not then.


    P.s., before I even check, someone else has almost certainly made this point already. Clearly I prefer the sound of my own voice ;)

  • kangarootoo #22 5 years ago

    @asphaltcowboy

    HOLY CHRIST!!!

    The day I finally get around to turning up the WAVE volume in the windows sound control panel is the day you use that link.

    I nearly shit not only my pants but those of everyone in the room.

    Oh jesus, my heart is still racing and all I can hear is the sound of a high C#.

  • IAmBatman #23 5 years ago

    > Good job its not then.

    The two things you've quoted are not contradictory. They would be if the first quote said "Tom Clancy's EndWar will only be playable using voice commands", but it doesn't. It says that if you choose to, you can play the game using only voice commands.

  • masterson #24 5 years ago

    There is a difference between

    "Tom Clancy's EndWar will be playable using only voice commands"

    and

    "Tom Clancy's EndWar will only be playable using voice commands"

    The trouble exists only in your head...

    Edit: - Ah yes, what he said. :D
    Edited by 1 at 23/05/07 @ 13:38

  • kangarootoo #25 5 years ago

    Ahhh, well spotted. Thats why they call you Batman.

    Well, I defer to asphaltcowboy's initial comment. Not only did he nearly deafen me (and nearly make me bring the staff at my local launderette unecessary drama), but he also mislead me.

    I feel betrayed and let down.

    Edit: and you can have an apple too masterson :)
    Edited by 1 at 23/05/07 @ 13:38

  • JayPee #26 5 years ago

    "Tom Clancy's EndWar will be playable using only voice commands, Ubisoft revealed in its Ubidays press conference, although there will also be the option to use a joypad."

    OBJECTION!

    And by the way, Voice commands FTL. Rainbow 6 was hilariously bad, and you just felt like a dick using them anyway.

  • kangarootoo #27 5 years ago

    [link url=ht tp://objection.mrdictionary.net/go.php?n=1958066
    ]http://ob jection.mrdictionary.net/go.php...[/link]

    (I don't know how to do the posh embedded link).

  • asphaltcowboy #28 5 years ago

    lol! Sorry kanga :)I've always got my headphones plugged in, but normally not on my head :D

    And yes, it seems that their fancy wording has managed to make me look like a fool!

  • thefilthandthefury #29 5 years ago

    "Rainbow 6 was hilariously bad"

    Not in Rainbow Six 3 it wasn't. It was astonishingly accurate for me. I was blown away by how good it was.