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 By Brad Cook If we don’t learn from history, are we doomed to repeat it? |
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 Set your sights on thrilling World War II action. |
Stay on target with detailed bombers.
The idea behind the game — developed by Cornered Rat Software and hosted online by Playnet.Com — is to bring together gamers from all over the world and re-enact World War II, beginning with the 1940 Blitzkrieg. Players choose either the Axis or Allied sides and select from several roles to play, including infantryman, tank commander, boat captain and pilot.
You view the action from a first-person perspective (in other words, you look through your character’s eyes and see only what he sees), which immerses you in the environment and transports you through time to World War II. The uniforms, weapons, and vehicles were realistically recreated from a variety of historical data, and the terrain was modeled after the actual landscape of that period. You can hide behind trees, take shelter in abandoned buildings, sneak up on the enemy, and do just about anything else that real soldiers could do at that time.
The game offers “a very compelling environment packed with great gameplay that we never stop making bigger and better,” says Al Corey, executive producer at Playnet. “We’re always giving players more to do.”
Unlike most first-person shooters, the emphasis in WW II Online is on realism and cooperation, not simply shoot-it-if-it-moves. You won’t discover any magic weapons or special power-ups that will help you tackle enemy forces, and if you decide to be a loose cannon and do whatever you want, you’ll find many other angry players encouraging you to defect to the other side.
And the world of World War II Online: Mac Edition is perpetual, which means that the war keeps raging after you log off, so you may be surprised by the current situation if you wait a while before playing again.
Replaying the War
But will the war ultimately run its course the same way it did in reality? That’s one of the more intriguing aspects of this game, and Rodney Hodge, who’s in charge of Public Relations and Community Management at Cornered Rat, doesn’t have a simple answer to that question.
Check your map to see what you’re up against.
“We’re not forcing the players to relive history,” he explains, “only giving them the historical tools to fight with and the historical countries to fight over. I’m sure a Battle of Britain, D-Day or Battle of Kursk will happen. The question is, who will be the combatants and where will [the battles] be fought?
“It’s all up to the players,” he continues. “One thing that does show itself without question is the effect of organization and communication. The difference in the effectiveness between a [group of players] that are organized and one that’s not is very apparent in this game.”
(Want to know more about the basics of gameplay? See the sidebar “Boot Camp,” on page two.)
Hodge estimates that they’ve played through the war several times since the game was released for the PC last year, and he says that “just as it happened in history, it happened in the game, and arguably for many of the same reasons.”
Chance and Happenstance
As you play World War II Online: Mac Edition, you’re encouraged to visit the official web site on a regular basis to find out what’s happening on the front.
You can click on the game map (non-players who are curious can go there anytime and take a look too) and see where the supply lines are, check out which towns are the current key strategic points, and see what the front looked like as far back as 24 hours ago.
World War II Online: Battleground Europe now available
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You can also take a look at the current issue of the online newsletter World@War, which offers “full coverage of the war as it unfolds.” You can read other soldiers’ tales from the front, find out what significant battles were fought recently, and take a look at casualty reports. The other soldiers’ stories lend a human element to the game, reminding you that other people just like you are also participating and trying to help their side win the war. In fact, you never know when you might be the next soldier to file a heroic report on Playnet’s official message board for war stories.
A tank lies in wait, ready to attack the enemy.
“Chance and happenstance come into [the game],” Hodge says, “where it just so happened that you ended up in the right position at the right time, with the right people, to do the right thing to trigger a chain of events that changed the strategic or tactical position of your side, and even affect the morale and fighting determination of your side. It’s pretty incredible, really.”
Every soldier in the game is controlled by another player, so there are no computer drones who push the game along a preprogrammed route. The action unfolds depending on the decisions of the thousands of players logged on at any given moment, and the game map covers an astounding 1.5 million square miles, so the battlefields are vast, with plenty of room for you to find a battle to join.
“This game is bigger than any other MMOG on the market,” notes Hodge.
The ground war, up close and personal.
Fantastic
World War II Online: Mac Edition offers an intense visual and auditory experience, so it requires a stable operating system to really shine. That’s why Cornered Rat decided to produce the game for Mac OS X only.
“Mac OS X is fantastic,” says Hodge. “[It] handles the quite stiff requirements of the game much better than Mac OS 9. At one point, I had our game, Windows 98 on Virtual PC, and Classic running at the same time, and Mac OS X didn’t miss a beat. How cool is that?
“It’s UNIX” he adds. “From a programmer and Mac user standpoint, you couldn’t ask for more [from Mac OS X]. I don’t know how many people I’ve heard say that they’re considering buying a Mac now.”
Hodge is also thrilled about the new iMac, which offers the kind of processing and graphics power that World War II Online: Mac Edition needs. (See the system requirements on page two for more information.) He says: “I was overjoyed when I first saw the specs on the new iMac.”
So what are you waiting for, soldier? Scout out the online Apple Store, a retail Apple store, or an Apple authorized reseller near you for a copy of World War II Online: Mac Edition. And that’s an order!
If you liked this game, check out:
Medal of Honor: Allied Assualt Return to Castle Wolfenstein WarBirds III
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So, you decided to enlist, did you? Visit page two for more information on gameplay basics and a brief overview of the state of the world in 1940.   
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