By Jim Rossignol on June 22nd, 2012 at 12:30 pm.
1C and Men Of War men Best Way are making a post-apocalyptic RPG called Nuclear Union. This is basically party-based STALKER/Metro in the Men Of War engine.
Uh huh.
It’s as if they sat down in a meeting and said “What would really make Jim Rossignol’s head explode on a Friday afternoon?” Well, they came pretty damned close. A bit more on this, including the first trailer, below.
This is the most troubling press release opening line I can remember:
“Every child knows the glorious story that lead to today. When the Capitalist Alliance lead by the Americans refused to allow our defensive screen in Cuba, in 1962, and then attacked us with nuclear weapons. However our Motherland and the Soviet Forces were better prepared than the dogs knew. We leveled them, and half the planet, to show our sickle is sharp and the hammer hits hard indeed!”
It’s fifty years after the Cuban Missile Crisis caused all out nuclear war, and now people are emerging from the bunkers of New Moscow to take back the world. Yes, it’s all looking a bit Fallout-meets-Metro-via-Stalker. But it’s being made by an RTS studio, with their RTS engine. And check out this bit of the FAQ: “Anomalous fields emerged on top of the Earth following the nuclear strikes, and animals and people who failed to hide out in the bunkers due to various reasons, mutated. Hence Nuclear Union will definitely feature anomalies and mutants!”
So yes: a party-based RPG using the Men Of War engine, with all the trappings of STALKER. Like so: “Nuclear Union features a third-person view camera. The player is unable to control the party members, but it is possible to do something about their behavior and to assign commands to them during the combat.”
The trailer doesn’t show any game footage, but [UPDATED] is apparently all in-engine:
But we do know there’s going to be a big old freely-roamable world: “The explorable world is constantly growing. The protagonist can move freely around any already-visited locations. The more the plot unfolds the more locations he will be able to visit. If we talk about the freedom in the game, it’s pretty large. There is a global goal, but it’s totally up to the player what steps they will take to achieve it. The freedom of the player’s actions will only be limited by their imagination.”
And here are some images.
Man!
22/06/2012 at 12:34 roryok says:
today is a good day
22/06/2012 at 13:37 VelvetFistIronGlove says:
</heavy>
22/06/2012 at 14:45 jonfitt says:
I didn’t even have to use my AK (on a mutant)
Today was a good day.
22/06/2012 at 19:27 Fumarole says:
I gotta go cause I got me a drop top
And if I hit the switch, I can make the ass drop
23/06/2012 at 00:14 ArtVandelay says:
Today was like one of those fly dreams
Didn’t even see a berry flashing those high beams.
23/06/2012 at 11:49 ynamite says:
No helicopter looking for a murder
Two in the morning got the Fatburger
22/06/2012 at 12:34 Emil.BB says:
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
22/06/2012 at 13:32 evileeyore says:
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
23/06/2012 at 12:43 Stevostin says:
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
“Like so: “Nuclear Union features a third-person view camera.”
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
holy crap how idiot can one be ? 3rd persion view is now immersion, awful shooting and if you don’t drive your squad, the tactical edge is useless. I am not interested in squad tactic, but either do that, or a FPS. Please.
22/06/2012 at 12:35 Eukatheude says:
YES
22/06/2012 at 14:17 Synesthesia says:
YESFACE
22/06/2012 at 22:52 Tuggy Tug says:
METROFACE
23/06/2012 at 07:09 scaryeric says:
FALLOSTALKEFACE
22/06/2012 at 12:38 DigitalEccentric says:
Nice.
Although I’m not sure how much input Best Way actually had in the Men of War series – they only made the engine, and DigitalMindSoft (and then the 1C Internal studio for Red Tide, Vietnam etc…) did the rest.
But you’re right, it’s still a predominantly RTS engine being used for “a party-based RPG”, as you say. I’d hazard a guess to say Men of War: Vietnam might be a possible template as to how this might pan out, as that went more towards the micro-managing/RPG direction than the other games.
22/06/2012 at 12:44 Jim Rossignol says:
Strictly speaking they made Soldiers and Faces Of War, but people know MoW better…
22/06/2012 at 14:42 DrGonzo says:
That explains a few things. I still think Faces of War is the best by far.
22/06/2012 at 18:56 Smion says:
Faces of War? Is that the sequel to Warface?
22/06/2012 at 19:30 Syra says:
WAFACES?
23/06/2012 at 10:04 Roshin says:
WA2FACE
22/06/2012 at 12:48 DigitalEccentric says:
Oh yeah, the ‘original’ games, I’d forgotten about those (never played them myself).
Will be interesting to see what they do here at any rate.
22/06/2012 at 12:57 Jimbo says:
Soldiers and Faces were both amazing (if a little technically suspect at launch). In fact, Soldiers is probably still my favourite of the bunch. In the UK campaign in Soldiers you only had a small squad to command iirc, so perhaps the closest to how this will end up playing.
23/06/2012 at 23:17 P4p3Rc1iP says:
In Soldiers, all campaigns were played with a small team, except for maybe the American one. The German campaign had you playing with a single Tiger tank and it’s crew iirc, being about that German tank ace (Forgot his name). It was also the most difficult one I believe.
Soldiers is still my favourite as well. The AI though… Oh god!
23/06/2012 at 23:30 Jimbo says:
Yeah, you’re right now that I think about it. I love the Russian mission where you have to rescue the Spetsnaz guys holed up in the house. What a fantastic game.
22/06/2012 at 17:50 AdrianWerner says:
Did they really? Wasn’t MoW simply a standalone mix of two older add-ons that BestWay made and Digitialmindsoft only polished and joined into one product?
22/06/2012 at 12:38 CaspianRoach says:
/skepticism
22/06/2012 at 12:39 bit.bat says:
purple thunder with laser sounds is a clear mark of quality.
22/06/2012 at 12:44 DK says:
Okay, so you’ve got a third person party based STALKER – in an engine that can do FULL destructability.
Sounds good.
22/06/2012 at 12:44 Malibu Stacey says:
Do want!
Haven’t watched the video yet (at work ATM) but the screenshots definitely channel S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl (with Stalker Complete 2009 mod) very well.
Another ‘one to watch’ methinks.
22/06/2012 at 15:23 Dreamhacker says:
I’d say it looks like a russian take on Fallout, which is something I’ve wanted to see all my life. Great! :)
22/06/2012 at 12:47 Jim Rossignol says:
I just hope they use the voice actors from the MoW games.
22/06/2012 at 12:54 DigitalEccentric says:
Heh, those guys were epic. Some of the best voice-acting I’ve ever seen :P /trololol
24/06/2012 at 20:19 TriggRNC says:
You can see voice acting ? Wow!!!
22/06/2012 at 13:22 westyfield says:
Highway to the reach zone.
Ride into the reach zone.
22/06/2012 at 13:47 cairbre says:
But will you be able to shoot their helmets off
22/06/2012 at 13:31 Timofee says:
“Guys, this is bad!”
22/06/2012 at 14:01 HermitUK says:
“This tank will take us all the way to Berlin!” (spoilers: it does no such thing).
Mission briefing guy was my fave, though.
22/06/2012 at 22:47 Sassenach says:
He won’t drive around any more, Scum!
25/06/2012 at 18:26 Geen says:
Also, the hat physics, hat shooting, and hat collecting.
22/06/2012 at 12:50 CMaster says:
Sound like it could be pretty good. A genuinley “modern” take on hte party based RPG, rather than guns & conversation or something deliberatley harking back.
Slight correction though – the events referred to in the back story is the Cuban Missile Crisis, which really did get close to a Nuclear War ( USSR wanted to place medium range strategic nukes in Cuba, the US carried out a blockade, technically an act of war on Cuba, a USSR ally. They were also drawing up plans for an invasion of Cuba, which evidence suggests the USSR would have used at least tactical nukes in theatre.) The Bay of Pigs was an embarrasing, but relativley minor incident that was never really likley to lead to WWIII
22/06/2012 at 13:41 mckertis says:
“relativley minor incident that was never really likley to lead to WWIII”
Well, thats a no-brainer.
22/06/2012 at 12:50 frightlever says:
So, Soldiers of Anarchy? Good game that, but quite hard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldiers_of_Anarchy
22/06/2012 at 13:33 loktar says:
Glad someone else mentioned Soldiers of Anarchy. Its the first type of game I played that was like SHOWWII came out a bit before it. Great game. This engine is great for a post apocalyptic game due to the item scavenging etc.
22/06/2012 at 14:37 frightlever says:
I’m overdue a replay of it – never finished it last time because of a HD crash or OS upgrade or somesuch.
Also, awesome Euro-metal soundtrack. I use the word “awesome” advisedly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cl42vNazWQ
Even the Boiling Point theme has a hard time competing.
22/06/2012 at 12:50 John Mirra says:
It is strange that earlier they said there will be no free roam and the game will be mission-based.
22/06/2012 at 12:51 mckertis says:
We had USians in post-apoc USia, we had Russians in post-apoc Russia, how about Russians cutting their way through a post-apoc USia ? Fallout 3 “Van Buren”, if i remember right, was going to explain the fates of Russia and China, and possibly even make a visit.
22/06/2012 at 12:52 Kollega says:
Fun fact: the original title of the game is “Новый Союз”, which translates directly as “New Union”.
As for the game itself, i just hope it does not end up as a propaganda piece for a state that dosen’t even exist anymore.
22/06/2012 at 14:10 CMaster says:
I think you are slightly misreading the tone there. I think the “ra-ra-USSR” stuff is meant to be a taste of what the people living in the bunkers have been exposed to their whole lives in there. The fact that people are just now emerging from the bunkers into a russian wasteland suggests that the war wasn’t quite the resounding victory that quick history lessons suggests.
22/06/2012 at 21:20 LionsPhil says:
It’s a natural flipside to Fallout’s pro-American leanings. Read with a heavy, delicious basting of bitter sarcasm indeed.
Do want, very much.
22/06/2012 at 12:53 hello_mr.Trout says:
i wonder how much the enforced 3rd person perspective will impact on the immersion factor? i think exploring the post-apocalypse realm works better from 1st person, but perhaps that is just me – but for example, fallout 3 & new vegas always felt somewhat clunky in 3rd person mode.
22/06/2012 at 18:46 sharkh20 says:
Fallout 1 and 2 were awesome and were isometrical 3d person
22/06/2012 at 12:53 yhancik says:
The world of gaming would be a better place if more developers had their go at trying to make Jim’s head explode (without actually succeeding, we love you Jim!)
22/06/2012 at 12:53 Jimbo says:
Ha, on your MoW articles I keep writing “I wish they would make a party-based RPG in this engine” (but usually whinier than that and with more swearing). So in some ways you could say I invented this game.
22/06/2012 at 12:59 wodin says:
I wander how the combat will work as it has to change from men of war otherwise your party will be wiped out in a couple of minutes.
Very interested though. It will all depend on the combat whether I’d buy or not.
22/06/2012 at 13:03 Jimbo says:
It worked in Soldiers. The main difference was that (if you only had a few men) you’d typically be facing off against against maybe 20-30 soldiers and perhaps a couple of tanks, not the batallions they’d throw at you in MoW. It was closer to Commandos in scale (but not so puzzley) than most of Men of War.
22/06/2012 at 13:17 Everyone says:
It’s still going to bog down into stupidness if you have to put the helmets back on your men individually.
22/06/2012 at 13:22 Jimbo says:
That’s the best bit! You’re supposed to take the opportunity to pick up a different hat. Perhaps a fetching beret.
22/06/2012 at 13:14 Mistabashi says:
There was actually a Stalker mod for Men of War, including a recreation of the Cordon map. As far as I know it never got finished sadly, but it looked pretty damn awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk4EogyCj_k
22/06/2012 at 13:21 Jim Rossignol says:
Yeah, that’s one mod I would like to have seen make it all the way.
22/06/2012 at 13:17 sonofsanta says:
For. The. Win.
Day by day, the blow of STALKER 2 lessens.
22/06/2012 at 13:25 MistyMike says:
‘The glorious story that lead to today’ should be the new RPS-motto on the top of the page thingy.
22/06/2012 at 21:23 LionsPhil says:
Second.
22/06/2012 at 13:27 D3xter says:
Wasn’t this called “Novy Soyuz” and revealed like a month ago…?
http://kotaku.com/novy-soyuz/
I personally prefer that name over “Nuclear Union” too xD
22/06/2012 at 13:49 Nikita Putilin says:
You are right, “Novy Soyuz” is the name of the game on the Russian market.
22/06/2012 at 13:51 lhzr says:
myeah. the kotaku article was posted a month ago, a week after the novy soyuz trailer hit youtube. more than a bit embarassing, i’d say, considering how great the game sounds..
22/06/2012 at 13:36 BULArmy says:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will always be the only one. The atmosphere, the world and the gameplay mechanics are something I think we will never see truly replicated by the now 2-3 games that claim to be spiritual successors of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. And it is sad that we will most probably never see another game in the franchise, because even with the tons of problems these games were one of the best ever made.
Also do somebody know if that game will have monsters, or it will be only humans vs. humans?
22/06/2012 at 14:08 Malibu Stacey says:
Try reading the article first before posting. It’s expected behaviour round here unlike other sites.
22/06/2012 at 13:37 Sc0r says:
Beautiful!
Gotta mention though, I’m a big fan of Men of War and I fear that this Stalker Fallout thing won’t use the games biggest strength next to the destructible surroundings.
I mean the unparalleled vehicle destruction engine. You can destroy&repair most parts of vehicles if they are hit. NO health bars, projectiles can pass through without hitting anything vital dealing NO damange.
With this, games like World of Tanks or Battlefield seem like dinosaurs.
22/06/2012 at 13:41 MeestaNob says:
Holy heck.
22/06/2012 at 13:43 kataras says:
I m intrigued, hope it turns out good. There is also a definite Metro 2033 vibe in that 4th screenshot. Never really liked party-based games but will definitely keep an eye out for this one.
@BULArmy: true but we will always have the mods!
22/06/2012 at 13:48 felisc says:
I’ll add my excitment to this thread.
How are the readings on the excit-o-meter now ? I get a solid 1,200 petaomg/s.
22/06/2012 at 14:25 roryok says:
1.2 Exaomg/s? Why the only thing that could generate that excitement would be a jolt of lightning!
22/06/2012 at 13:48 Nikita Putilin says:
In the article Jim mentioned, that the trailer doesn’t show any gameplay yet, I would like to officially state that the video is based on the game engine and used models and interiors that will be presented in the game. Also Nuclear Union is developed on the absolutely new version of the GEM engine that highly improves the graphics you can see in Men of War series (the new engine is called GEM3, Men of War used GEM2).
22/06/2012 at 18:18 megazver says:
So is it more Stalker or Fallout? Or, y’know, Mass Effect?
22/06/2012 at 13:49 apocraphyn says:
Well, this is pretty rad.
22/06/2012 at 15:06 felisc says:
I’m sorry, no. A pun thread here would be an anomaly.
22/06/2012 at 15:59 Kefren says:
I’m starting to get ticked off.
22/06/2012 at 19:49 chackosan says:
I’m just going to jet before this gets any worse.
22/06/2012 at 14:28 Raziel_Alex says:
Whatever, they should just be bought by activision and put to work on another awesome military sim, with a 3 hour FMV campaign and arcade multiplayer. Am I right or what? Ouch, wait, don’t, please, I’m just kidding.
(Awesome news actually)
22/06/2012 at 15:20 fitzroy_doll says:
What does “party-based RPG” mean in practice? I have not played any of the RTS games referenced in the article.
22/06/2012 at 15:23 Unaco says:
An RPG in which you control a party, rather than just an individual.
22/06/2012 at 15:38 Baboonanza says:
An RPG set at an office Christmas party.
22/06/2012 at 15:31 frightlever says:
A “party-based RPG” usually results a smoking ruin where the gazebo used to be and a birthday you won’t forget in a hurry.
22/06/2012 at 20:32 buzzmong says:
Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 are (modern) party based RPG’s for the most part.
22/06/2012 at 15:37 deadly.by.design says:
This gives me tingles.
Or maybe it’s just the radiation. Hard to tell.
22/06/2012 at 15:47 fiendling says:
It looks fantastic, now on to the most important question: When can I get my grubby paws on it?
22/06/2012 at 15:58 Kefren says:
It sounds great as a mix-up of elements, though I’m not keen on 3rd person. I never find the games that immersive – not sure if it is the distant viewpoint, or the fact that you tend to see more ground than sky, or the fact that you don’t see things close-up (textures etc), or that it feels like playing an Xbox game. Even in Two Worlds I had to play in First Person as much as the engine would let me. However there might be a first-person mod for this, or they might add it as an option (a la Two Worlds).
22/06/2012 at 16:26 Lordcrazy says:
Looks pretty good so far, will most definitely be looking forward to it if all of the GEM engine is utilized (Destruction mostly). Though, so far it seems that the models have improved vastly compared to the original MOW(not Assault Squad). I do have a bad feeling that they might make an RTS spin off of this, just because they can. If they do, hopefully it won’t end up like APOX (shiver).
22/06/2012 at 18:22 megazver says:
There are three other screenshots in the IGN article:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/15/nuclear-union-post-apocalyptic-role-playing
I like the old guy.
22/06/2012 at 18:55 Smion says:
It did not end with the Internationale playing. Disappointment darkens my soul like the corrupting influences of the decadent bourgeoisie.
Looks nice though, if the soldier design at the end is perhaps a bit too fallout-y.
22/06/2012 at 19:57 abandonhope says:
It’s nice to live in an iteration of the multiverse in which, instead of heretofore having annihilated each other with nuclear armageddon, the US and former USSR make games about the fallout from having annihilated one another with nuclear armageddon.
23/06/2012 at 12:50 LionsPhil says:
You should see the one where they settled their differences with mud wrestling.
22/06/2012 at 20:00 onodera says:
Every Russian Fallout fan must be in post-orgasmic bliss right now.
22/06/2012 at 20:30 buzzmong says:
Suprisingly, I’m looking forward to this, sounds like it might be a good concept.
As an aside, there’s not that much difference between an RTS engine and an RPG engine in terms of unit movement control, the engine used for Neverwinter nights could be either, so I think it might work out quite well on the technology side.
23/06/2012 at 02:51 hamburger_cheesedoodle says:
Eastern Bloc devs best devs.
25/06/2012 at 05:51 Geen says:
All my money. Shut up. Take it.
Seriously, squad based fallout with full destructibility? This sounds fantastic.