History VideoGame / ActOfWar

* BatmanGambit: Played straight and zig-zagged. Zakharov orchestrates a series of failing terrorist attacks throughout Direct Action's for the sole purpose of setting up the InvadedStatesOfAmerica. His main method is getting himself captured by Task Force Talon and the plan is mostly successful. Zhakarov's downfall however was not anticipating Task Force Talon tracking Chamberlain's GPS-laden watch which led to Zakharov's HQ being destroyed.

* TheFaceless: They tried to have Richter be this until the final cutscene of the first game. Key word being tried. It's very easy to see his face in several of the cutscenes thanks to the poor lighting and camera angles.

*** It received a brief {{Handwave}} about the Egyptian oil fields being the most potent ones discovered yet, and that {{AllThereInTheManual Transglobal had the technological means to end it}}.
** In ''High Treason'', we hear that the Consortium took over Cuba, but that plot goes nowhere once TFT leaves.
* YouHaveFailedMe: In the epilogue of ''High Treason'', it's revealed that Cardiff was killed by the Consortium for being a liability prior to the organization's downfall.

*** It received a brief {{Handwave}} about the Egyptian oil fields being the most potent ones discovered yet, but that's it.

* YouHaveFailedMe: In the epilogue of ''High Treason'', it's revealed that Cardiff was killed by the Consortium for being a liability.

* HeroMustSurvive: If either Jefferson or Oz show up in a mission, they have to survive or it's game over. Same goes for the President in the level where you must rescue him from the Marine One shootdown.
* HeroUnit: Sergeant Major Ray Jefferson in ''Direct Action'', who is joined by Sergeant Oz Jackson in ''High Treason''.
* HonestCorporateExecutive: Not instantly apparent, but the oil CEO rescued in the first quarter of the game comes off as this when one realises that he was resisting Consortium efforts to take over the newly discovered Egyptian oilfields (potent enough to turn around the current oil crisis) and paid a heavy price for it.

* TheMasquerade: A mundane version occurs in the second San Francisco mission in ''Direct Action'', when Richter asks General Kelly to authorise the use of S.H.I.E.L.D units. Chamberlain rejects it on the grounds that there are reporters all over the city and the revelation of the US military having PoweredArmor would be the icing on an already disastrous situation. Richter counters that [[GodzillaThreshold the already bad situation will get even worse without them]], and Chamberlain concedes.

** He even lampshades it when he is brought back to the States, giving a sarcastic response when the Americans ask him why he did what he did. It is also made clear that the rest of the Consortium is ''not'' happy about this.
* NighInvulnerable: In campaign mode, Sgt. Major Jefferson. He has a ridiculously high health bar and a very, very fast HP regeneration rate. Additionally, whenever his HP goes below a fifth (at which point other infantry units would be crippled and die if they do not receive medical attention soon) Jefferson keeps regenerating and gets back up soon thereafter. This greatly increases his effective durability. [[HeroMustSurvive Tough to lose the game due to him when he's this broken,]]
** The same for Oz in the expansion.

* ShootTheMedicFirst: Given how important [=POWs=] are to the game's economy, it's vital to take out your opponent's ability to heal their troops and their medevac units. Except for TFT, because their nanowave healing center reaches anywhere, making it that much difficult to counter.

* EliteArmy: In contrast to the Consortium's "Undercover" arsenal, which is primarily comprised of Soviet-era surplus, its "Revealed" units are far more sophisticated and lethal.

* StrategicAssetCAptureMechanic: The game requires oil wells (the game's sole resource) to be capped with an extraction structure.

* NighInvulnerable: In campaign mode, Sgt. Major Jefferson. He has a ridiculously high health bar and a very, very fast HP regeneration rate. Additionally, whenever his HP goes below a fifth (where any other infantry would slowly die a painful death) Jefferson keeps regenerating and gets back up soon thereafter, making him very hard to capture. The downside? [[HeroMustSurvive If you lose him, it's game over.]]

** Averted in San Francisco and Washington DC levels where you can find and recruit survivors of the local police and SWAT teams respectively and are [[GlassCannon capable of dealing a lot of damage, though not taking much]]. In-Story, these guys managed to survive against enemies armed with military hardware, making them definitely not "useless".

* PresidentEvil: Turns out the BigBad of ''High Treason'' is Vice President Cardiff, who is a Consortium mole and orchestrated the assassination of President Baldwin and the kidnapping of Senator Watts so he could become president and win the election unopposed. He does become president for awhile, but gets impeached and removed from office after his true colors are revealed.

* ShootTheMedicFirst: Given how important [=POWs=] are to the game's economy, it's vital to take out your opponent's ability to heal their troops.

* TankGoodness: The Tier 3 tanks of each faction are very powerful.

* YouHaveFailedMe: In the epilogue of ''High Treason'', it's revealed ex-President Cardiff was murdered by the Consortium for losing their virus and costing them control of the White House.

* {{BFG}}: Their Heavy Snipers pack .50 cal anti-materiel rifles that can put the hurt on vehicles and infantry with equal efficiency.

* MacrossMissileMassacre: The "Rawhide" Smerch Rocket battery (misnamed in the game, it's actually the Russian TOS-1), which has [[UpToEleven even more missiles]] than the US MLRS, great for annihilating the enemy in a rain of fire.

* SemperFi: Ironically, their basic infantry unit is a Marine.

* PoliceAreUseless: Averted in San Francisco and Washington DC levels where you can find and recruit survivors of the local police and SWAT teams respectively and are [[GlassCannon capable of dealing a lot of damage, though not taking much]]. In-Story, these guys managed to survive against enemies armed with military hardware, making them definitely not "useless".

* TheWarOnTerror: The first mission in ''Direct Action'' is your average day "a bunch of American spec-ops forces take down a dangerous Arab terrorist in some [[{{Qurac}} unspecified Arab country]]" scenario. Then the game [[AlwaysABiggerFish escalates]] by introducing an elusive, [[WesternTerrorists non-Arabic]] [[NGOSuperpower organization]] who has been [[WarForFunAndProfit pulling off high-profile terrorist attacks everywhere for a profit]], which further gets complicated when one of their members goes [[RenegadeRussian rogue]] and starts making a mess in America [[ForTheEvulz for the shits and giggles]].