The real-time strategy genre seldom sees huge innovation or attention from the gaming industry, but it was once one of the most popular genres with series like Command & Conquer and Warcraft dominating the PC market. Now, the majority of RTS fans have to turn to titles like Creative Assembly's Total War franchise or Planetary Annihilation: Titans. While these titles give fans the RTS fix, Planetary Annihilation: Titans receives little new content and Total War is focused more on giant battles than base building. But Line War is a new one worth keeping tabs on.
Line War has the classic base-building gameplay that RTS fans have come to expect, but it brings with it a huge twist. The gameplay is very reminiscent of the RISK board games as players must capture regions to acquire income to help grow their military force. The player with the most zones becomes the most powerful and has a greater chance of victory. The game brings with it a whole new way to move troops and construct units that really helps set Line War apart from the other strategy games vying for attention.
What Exactly is Line War
Line War is a PvP multiplayer-only RTS game, but the studio is working on adding AI and single-player down the line. Development is headed up by a two-person studio known as Studio Centurion. The two-person studio spent three years developing Line War and has just recently put it into full release in hopes that it gets attention from the RTS fanbase. The studio has also provided an expansive roadmap that is actively updated that includes new modes, technologies, orbital warfare, and even espionage. There are so many features that the studio has planned to turn Line War into an expansive RTS, and it is hoping to be able to get it there at some point,
Currently, Line War is only playable in a 1v1 online setting. The game will randomly generate a map and players will select their starting regions before readying up. If the regions are too close to each other then those regions will be banned and players will have to reselect until they have both picked one a fair distance away from each other. The gameplay ensues like most RTS games where players will build various factories and create their massive armies to annihilate their opponent. However, the game introduces huge changes to core RTS gameplay that really helps set the title apart from other games in the genre.
What Makes Line War Unique
The biggest change that Line War brings to the RTS genre is that players are not able to individually select their units. Instead, they have to draw lines around the map and the units will move to said lines. These lines can range from simple paths they want their units to take, points that they want units to gather at, or defensive positions that they want units to hunker down in. They can choose what units listen to the line order, or the game will select the ones that make the most sense. This adds a bit of a challenge as players will constantly be drawing and removing lines as the battle progresses.
Along with this new line system, Line War does not have players constantly clicking on buildings to build new things. The player will plop down various building types and then those buildings will constantly churn out troops. The player has control over what type of troops are built in the buildings, but they have zero control over how many are built. The building will build units constantly and then those units will either stand there or head off to one of the lines that the player had drawn.
As far as building bases go, Line War does away with focusing on income-based buildings. While players will have to build power plants to support their economy, the game does not have them build a bunch of money-making buildings. Instead, players will capture regions with their units and those regions will slowly gather income. Certain regions will have spots where players can place down cities, villages, or ports that will gather additional income. This shakes up the game as players become more focused on spreading out their army instead of consolidating them around one base.
Line War just released from early access, but it could bring a whole new style to RTS gameplay. Studio Centurion is hard at work adding additional modes and elements to the game to make it as expansive as it can be; If RTS and RISK fans are looking for a new game to sink hours into, then Line War may be just what they need.
Line War is available now on PC.