This legacy is not continued in Act of Aggression. Rather, it appears as though none of Eugen’s recent labor ever took place. It’s confined in terms of what may be seen. There is a lot of base-building and macro-management of resource harvesters and production queues to do, and you must continuously scout because if you have the incorrect matchup, every unit will perish in a moment. As nearly every unit has many upgrades that you must evaluate, there are interface panels crammed with incomprehensible small symbols. Act of Aggression is, in a nutshell, a classic, old-school RTS that sets you up for uncertainty and failure.
I began to like it when I got over my initial shock and the steep learning curve. Act of Aggression is a Wargame related. It moves at a slower pace than, say, StarCraft. Large battles can go for hours and look amazing. Autocannon and artillery fire rips towns apart; point-defense cannons extend out with tracer fire at approaching missile streaks; aircraft clash overhead while men pour out of transports and begin going house-to-house. As both sides react to the enemy composition and deploy units to counter it in the nick of time, the fight twists and turns. It’s a fast-paced, tactically fascinating show.
Many aspects of Act of Aggression appeal to me, including the gory, orgiastic spectacle. The tactical war for map view and positioning that places a premium on victory. The subtle disparities between factions. Act of Aggression, on the other hand, is a game that obfuscates rather than provides information, and tries to confuse you with a million tiny options rather than a few clear-cut strategic selections. Unlike Eugen’s past work, my initial adversary is always the game itself.
