Square Enix unveils WWII PC wargame

By Oli Welsh Published 17 April, 2009

Order of War: disagreement, fighting, peace.

Square Enix is making a bid for the Western PC wargaming market this year with a Second World War strategy title called Order of War.

The game promises huge scale as it examines the war in Europe in 1944 on both western and eastern fronts. In the single-player campaigns, you'll fight as the Americans pushing the Germans back in the west, and as the Germans repelling the Russian Red Army in the east. There will also be multiplayer Deathmatch and Skirmish modes.

Order of War is developed by Wargaming.net, the London and Belarus-based developer that made Galactic Assault and the Massive Assault series.

Although the press release doesn't make the exact nature of the gameplay in Order of War clear, Wargaming.net has a history of turn-based global domination games, and there's the promise that players will command an entire 1000-unit army at once in cinematic and historically accurate battles.

This suggests that Square Enix is making a bid for the serious, historical wargaming of Total War, rather than attempting to enter the overcrowded real-time strategy market.

Order of War will also mark Square Enix's first release of a Western-developed game outside of Japan when it's published simultaneously across multiple territories in the autumn of 2009.

Check out the trailer on EGTV and head to the Order of War website for strident military music and much more.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (8) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • awb83 #1 3 years ago

    first

  • Cyclone #2 3 years ago

    A Japanese company making a WWII game where you play the Americans just seems a little wrong. Even if it doesn't have combat in the Pacific theatre.

  • Ducklord #3 3 years ago

    'In the single-player campaigns, you'll fight as the Americans'

    You lost my interest here.

  • hiddenranbir #4 3 years ago

    Thanks Square Enix. This is exactly what we wanted from you.

  • Hantheman #5 3 years ago

    Wow, I couldn't imagine SE aiming for Western markets. Maybe Japanese game isolationism is coming to an end?

  • sneetch #6 3 years ago

    Order of War is developed by Wargaming.net, the London and Belarus-based developer that made Galactic Assault and the Massive Assault series.

    Anyone complaining about the sides you play or the battles being waged: blame the Londoners/Belarussians actually making the game rather than the Japanese blokes publishing it.

    Either way, given the pedigree of the developers, I'm eager to hear more. Hopefully they're not making a a micromanagement click-fest RTS and it's more of a tactical wargame.
    Edited by 1 at 17/04/09 @ 11:22

  • Silvervein #7 3 years ago

    @sneetch
    Blaming (if one insists on using this term) square enix seems to be more correct. They are the ones that pay for the game to be made (as far as I understand), so they say what kind of game it has to be. Developers only make it according to specifications received from paying party, in this case, square enix.
    Edited by 1 at 18/04/09 @ 10:43

  • Linkified #8 3 years ago

    @sneetch: Actually we can blame Square-Enix for the simple thing is I bet you anyway that Wargaming.net as shopped this game a while around for a publisher, and I will reckon that the other publishers saw world war 2 and went GTFO.

    However S-E probably thinks FPS == western game players so they just want to publish it. If S-E didn't publish this its one more strike about not making another world war 2 game.