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After two decades, Wargame finally does modern warfare right.
- Destructoid

Wargame: European Escalation is a real-time strategy/real-time tactics video game developed by Eugen Systems and published by Focus Home Interactive, released on February 23, 2012. It is set in Europe during the Cold War in the years 1975-1985. A sequel called Wargame: AirLand Battle was later released on May 29, 2013.

Gameplay[]

Wargame's playable factions are the Warsaw Pact, which is subdivided into the Soviet Union, Communist Poland, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia ; and NATO, which is subivided into the United States of America, United Kingdom, France and West Germany. Players can choose various units from the four subfactions of the side they are playing on, unlocking new units or improved variants through game progression. In all, there are 361 historical units recreated in Wargame, with all their technical details.

Solo Mode[]

Wargame's solo mode is divided into four individual campaigns called "Operations", two for each faction. Each are unrelated and chronicle scenarios based on actual events that went close to trigger open war, some having come closer to reality that one may realize.

1975 - Brüder gegen Brüder[]

In his successful escape to the West, National People’s Army's soldier Werner Weinhold left two dead East German border guards in its wake, gunned down while they tried to stop him from defecting. This event arosed tension along the Iron Curtain while East German authorities vainly asked for the double murderer to be handed back to them ...

Played as NATO, this operation sees the two Germanies going to open war, slowly driving their respective allies into the struggle ...

1981 - Dabrowski's Mazurka[]

Fearing the raising popularity of free union Solidarnosc, Polish head of state general Jaruzelski orders Martial law in Poland. And when miners from the Wujek mines in Katowice answer the Martial Law by a strike, paramilitary milicias and army units are sent there to bring them back by force into submission.

Played as Warsaw Pact, this operation places the player in the position of a Soviet commander faced with a Polish uprising against Jaruzelski's regime and his Soviet allies. Inspired by the Polish revolution, Czechoslovakia quickly follows the latter example and declares for NATO, driving Europe into a new full scale war.

1983 - ABLE ARCHER[]

November 1983. NATO organizes a multinational military exercise called "ABLE ARCHER 83". The timing couldn't have been worse after a year of rising tensions and crisis between the USA & USSR, leading the Soviet leaders to believe "ABLE ARCHER" to be a smokescreen for an actual NATO attack on the Warsaw Pact.

Played as NATO, this operation sees NATO's Fulda Gap front dissolving before a full scale Warsaw Pact "preemptive" attack.

1984 - Wasteland[]

Which side has fired first? Or why? No one knows, but no one cares anymore. In the following days of a nuclear war that has wiped out most European cities, the survivors from both sides are only obsessed with survival ... and vengeance.

Played as Warsaw Pact, in this operation the player embodies a Soviet commander gone rogue and gathering survivors from both sides to complete his vengeful scheme.

Engine[]

Wargame gameplay title

In-game screenshot

Wargame: European Escalation is powered by the second generation of the performing IRISZOOM™ Engine. This powerful and high-performance engine allows the game to deliver spectacular clashes rendered in incredible detail.

The IRISZOOM is able to render millions of objects on maps as large as dozens of square miles. The impressive zoom feature allows you to dive down in an instant, without any transition, to the heart of battles involving hundreds of tanks, helicopters, or infantrymen, in order to follow your units during the fight.

This is a grand visual showcase that takes life before your eyes. From the explosions to the lighting, the raging fires to the high-resolution textures, and the sound effects to the numerous post-processing effects, everything has been designed and developed to produce a photo-realistic rendering of the battlefield.

This is complemented by highly detailed models of more than 300 different playable units: tanks, ground-assault helicopters, infantry, anti-air defense pieces, artillery, transport vehicles, supply trucks, recon units... all boast their own models, rendered in very high detail and faithful to their real-life counterparts. Zoom down from the sky to reveal even the smallest bolts and tank treads! Flying units also have their own flying models and move in the more realistic way above the battlefield.

In addition to its deep and tactic gameplay, Wargame offers a particularly impressive and spectacular visual experience. Never before has a real-time strategy game seemed so realistic!

Sequel[]

On August 10, 2012, Eugen System officially announced a new game sequel named Wargame: AirLand Battle, adding a large arsenal of aircraft from the Cold War Era, new factions, new units, new battlefields and tweaked gameplay.

Media[]

Screenshots[]

Main article: Wargame: European Escalation/Screenshots

Video[]

External links[]

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