Game Preview: Ruse (Ubisoft)

I've been spending some time the last few days browsing the internet for games and gaming news (as I am oft want to do) and have come upon this fascinating-looking game coming in 2009 (according to GameSpot anyways, it was announced at GDC in March).

Ruse appears to be a tactical RTS game set in World War II. Needless to say, the graphics engine is fantastic, but the graphical element most appealing to me is their zoom feature, which appears to seamlessly transition from unit-on-unit combat to a master campaign or battleview. The pacing of the game is pretty fast (see a preview of the game action here).

Some of the game mechanics are also very intriguing. The game's namesake mechanic seems to be very interesting indeed, as you can create fake units to deploy or break the enemy's code to see their battle plan. Although I won't profess to be an expert on the game, it seems that there is an Advance Wars sort of balancing system to the game, which is great. I loves me some Advance Wars.

I, for one, will be keeping up with the game as it moves through development.

-Jon