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* CommonTacticalGameplayElements: ''[=WiC=]'' implements a lot of these: Fog of War (with a caveat that you can see most of the terrain from the start--but not what's happening ''on'' it), Scouting (the Infantry role's hat, with their insane viewing range), Movement Modifiers (moving downhill is slower than up), High Ground (firing down increases the tanks' range), Unit Specialization, Attack Range, Flanking (relevant when fighting tanks: they are much more vulnerable from the sides and back than from the front), Friendly Fire (as heavy choppers and artillery, but particularly with Tactical Aids), Taking Cover (infantry hiding the woods and buildings is harder to hit), Indirect Fire (artillery), Blind Firing (via Bombard command), Target Spotting (infantry/paratroopers in combination with any heavier ground unit), Concealment (infantry is invisible in the woods if not attacking or seen by enemy infantry), Smoke Screen (most heavy ground units can protect themselves with smoke, while heavy artillery can deploy a much larger screen at a distance).
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* AchievementSystem: In multiplayer, you gain medals and badges for various scoring points or winning matches, among other things. Medals and badges are tiered bronze, silver, and gold; the screen that displays them also explains (via tooltips) the requirements for unlocking them. You can also view players' medals in their public online profiles on the Massgate service website.
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* ShoutOut: One of the multiplayer maps is set around the Mekong river. The map's name? '[[ApocalypseNow Apocalypse]]'.

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* ShoutOut: One of the multiplayer maps is set around the Mekong river. The map's name? '[[ApocalypseNow Apocalypse]]'."[[Film/ApocalypseNow Apocalypse]]".
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* ShoutOut: One of the multiplayer maps is set around the Mekong river. The map's name? '[[ApocalypseNow Apocalypse]]'.

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** Subverted in Seattle -- the Soviets destroy the Kingdome, a sports stadium that is only really recognizable by Seattleites, and was demolished seven years before the game was released. Meanwhile, the Space Needle, easily the most recognizable landmark in the city, survives intact.
*** Not necessarily. It is entirely possible to blow up the Space Needle in the story mission, and enemy infantry sometimes uses it for cover, which is just tempting you to do it.

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** Subverted in Seattle -- the Soviets destroy the Kingdome, a sports stadium that is only really recognizable by Seattleites, and was demolished seven years before the game was released. Meanwhile, the Space Needle, easily the most recognizable landmark in the city, survives intact.\n*** Not necessarily. It is entirely possible to blow up the Space Needle in the story mission, and enemy infantry sometimes uses it for cover, which is just tempting you to do it.
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***Not necessarily. It is entirely possible to blow up the Space Needle in the story mission, and enemy infantry sometimes uses it for cover, which is just tempting you to do it.

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Cleaned up a little; mostly fixed formatting, grammar and spoiler tags.


* BilingualBonus: Many unit barks are made in a language appropriate to their nationality. This is most noticeable with the NATO faction, which does not include two different unit types from the same country. German, French, Danish, Russian, English, Norwegian are but some of the languages spoken in the game, and they are all recorded using native speakers.
** Except the Germans.

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* BilingualBonus: Many unit barks are made in a language appropriate to their nationality. This is most noticeable with the NATO faction, which does not include two different unit types from the same country. German, French, Danish, Russian, English, Norwegian are but some of the languages spoken in the game, and they most are all recorded using native speakers.
** Except the Germans.
speakers.



* CameraAbuse: explosions and nuclear fallout will cause static and other effects on your screen if they happen too close to the camera. Example here (spoilers): http://youtu.be/Bsk_2tPIEMM?t=2m40s
* ColonelBadass: Sawyer.
** And his Soviet counterpart Orlovsky.

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* CameraAbuse: explosions Explosions and nuclear fallout will cause display static and other effects on your the screen if they happen too close to the camera. Example here (spoilers): http://youtu.be/Bsk_2tPIEMM?t=2m40s
In the campaign, [[spoiler:after the tactical nuke is detonated halfway through the story, [[http://youtu.be/Bsk_2tPIEMM?t=2m40s the entire next chronological mission is played with the static effect turned on.]]
* ColonelBadass: Sawyer.
** And
Sawyer and his Soviet counterpart Orlovsky.Orlovsky. Neither one is anything less than highly competent at what they do -- albeit Orlovsky finds out all too quickly that the invasion is nowhere near as easy as he was told.



* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover prominently features the Statue of Liberty under attack. While there is a mission in New York centered around a surprise attack on Liberty Island, most of the game takes place in Washington State.
** The cover art for ''Soviet Assault'' shows New York City getting nuked, even though the only nuclear weapon used in both games was a single, relatively small scale tactical nuke.

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* CoversAlwaysLie: CoversAlwaysLie:
**
The cover prominently features the Statue of Liberty under attack. While there is a mission in New York centered around a surprise attack on Liberty Island, most of the game takes place in Washington State.
** The cover art for ''Soviet Assault'' shows New York City getting nuked, even though the only nuclear weapon used in both games was weapons seen on-screen during the story of either game is a single, relatively small scale tactical nuke.



* CripplingOverspecialization: All of the multiplayer roles, which forces you to use teamwork:
** Infantry are liable to die pretty much whenever they are out of cover to anything firing at them while being the slowest units in the game, though are enormously effective against what enemy the individual unit is made for fighting while they ''are'' dug in and the role is provided vehicle transports--though the transports are soft-skinned and are destroyed quickly while destroyed transports take the unit inside with it.

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* CripplingOverspecialization: All of the multiplayer roles, which forces you roles are highly specialized in order to use teamwork:
encourage teamplay:
** Infantry are liable to die pretty much whenever they are out of cover to anything firing at them while being the slowest units in the game, though are enormously effective against what enemy the individual unit is made for fighting while they ''are'' dug in and the role is provided vehicle transports--though transports -- though the transports are soft-skinned and are easily destroyed, with whatever was being transported being destroyed quickly while destroyed transports take the unit inside with it.as well.



** Support is deficient at direct close-combat, but it provides the crucial anti-air units that prevent the rest of the team from being slaughtered by helicopters. Also has repair tanks and artillery, with the latter's usefulness being highly situational.
** Air is highly mobile and highly destructive, but is vulnerable to anti-air (good air players can sometimes turn the tables against AA however). Also, air units cannot capture command points.

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** Support is deficient at direct close-combat, but it provides the crucial anti-air units that prevent the rest of the team from being slaughtered by helicopters. Also Support also has repair tanks and artillery, with the latter's usefulness being highly situational.
** Air is highly mobile and highly destructive, but the role is very vulnerable to anti-air (good air players can sometimes turn the tables against AA however). Also, anti-air, and air units cannot can't capture command control points.



* EnemyExchangeProgram: You can repair and take over vehicles left behind by the other side in certain missions; they apparently do not require crews. One mission features Soviet special forces using a ridiculously large amount of captured U.S. vehicles.
** Captain Vance, an Army {{Ranger}} [=CO=] helping out in that mission, actually lampshades this, saying that the local base was undermanned and over-supplied.
** Another mission has the player take over a lot of left-behind vehicles starting with nothing but 3 vehicles. Where the crews come from is a complete mystery.

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* EnemyExchangeProgram: You The player can repair and take over vehicles left behind by the other side in certain missions; they apparently do not require crews. One mission features Soviet special forces using a ridiculously large amount of captured U.S. vehicles.
**
vehicles. Captain Vance, an Army {{Ranger}} [=CO=] helping out in that mission, actually lampshades this, saying that the local base was undermanned and over-supplied.
**
over-supplied. Another mission has the player take over a lot of left-behind vehicles starting with nothing but 3 vehicles. Where the crews come from is a complete mystery.



* HoldTheLine: A frequent mission objective in the campaigns. Often, you will be tasked with taking a particular set of strategic points and holding them for a few minutes; after the timer is up, [=AI=]-controlled reinforcements will usually shift drop zones to cover the newly captured area, and bunkers will be set up.
** Storywise, during the Invasion of Seattle, a panicked Private is heard on the radio screaming about how the Soviets won't get one inch further. Whether he succeeded or not is left open.

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* HoldTheLine: A frequent mission objective in the campaigns. Often, you the player will be tasked with taking a particular set of strategic points and holding them for a few minutes; after the timer is up, [=AI=]-controlled reinforcements will usually shift drop zones to cover the newly captured area, and bunkers will be set up.
**
up. Storywise, during the Invasion of Seattle, a panicked Private is heard on the radio screaming about how the Soviets won't get one inch further. Whether he succeeded or not is left open.



* InvadedStatesOfAmerica: The game's plot.

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* InvadedStatesOfAmerica: The game's plot.basic premise of the story; the game starts when Soviet troops manage to launch a surprise attack by using freight ships to get close to Seattle harbour without arousing suspicion until it is too late, and then start to make their way inland. This invasion occurs to the backdrop of WorldWarIII; the setting is explored later in the campaign.



* MonumentalDamage: Subverted - the Soviets destroy the Kingdome, a sports stadium that is only really recognizable by Seattleites, and was demolished seven years before the game was released. Meanwhile, the Space Needle, easily the most recognizable landmark in the city, survives intact.
** The Statue of Liberty is also endangered at one point. If you fail to save it, there is a special cutscene before the gameover.
*** Played straight in multiplayer, where both the Space Needle and statue of Liberty are quite destroyable.
** Of course, you get the chance to destroy tons of monuments on the side yourself (the main building on Ellis Island, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haus_der_Kulturen_der_Welt Haus der Kulturen der Welt]], etc.).

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* MonumentalDamage: The various multiplayer and single player maps feature numerous recognizable landmarks; all of them can be destroyed in the former, but only some in the latter, due to the way each mission is scripted:
**
Subverted - in Seattle -- the Soviets destroy the Kingdome, a sports stadium that is only really recognizable by Seattleites, and was demolished seven years before the game was released. Meanwhile, the Space Needle, easily the most recognizable landmark in the city, survives intact.
** The Statue of Liberty is also endangered at in one point. mission. If you fail the player fails to save it, there is a special cutscene before the gameover.
*** Played straight in multiplayer, where both the Space Needle and statue of Liberty are quite destroyable.
** Of course, you get the chance to destroy tons of monuments on the side yourself (the main building on Ellis Island, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haus_der_Kulturen_der_Welt Haus der Kulturen der Welt]], etc.).
GameOver.



* WouldNotShootACivilian: Played with for Bannon getting in trouble for shooting surrendering men and ignoring an assertion that something was off by one of his crewman. Orlovsky is enraged at the idea of Malashenko wanting to subvert this.
** Potentially played straight by Bannon--the description of the men he opens fire, and the fact that the battle was happening outside a major population center, suggests that he fired not at surrendering soldiers, but Soviet civil defense workers.

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* WouldNotShootACivilian: Played with for Bannon getting WouldNotShootACivilian:
** During the flashback
in trouble for shooting northern Russia, [[spoiler:Bannon fails to listen to one of his crew and opens fire on surrendering men soldiers and/or civilians. Once he finds out what he has done, all the hot air immediately goes out of him, and ignoring an assertion the event serves to explain everything about him as seen after that something was off by one of his crewman. point in the timeline.]]
**
Orlovsky is enraged at the idea of Malashenko wanting to subvert this.
** Potentially played straight by Bannon--the description of
shoot the men he opens fire, and Americans conducting guerilla warfare against the fact that Russians, as the battle was happening outside a major population center, suggests that he fired not at surrendering soldiers, but Soviet civil defense workers.former feels they are still civilians.



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Added cameraabuse trope

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* CameraAbuse: explosions and nuclear fallout will cause static and other effects on your screen if they happen too close to the camera. Example here (spoilers): http://youtu.be/Bsk_2tPIEMM?t=2m40s
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* TatteredFlag: In the multiplayer, there's a subtle example in the two flags shown at the top of the screen amongst other important match info. The flags start pristine and become increasingly tattered as units are lost. Since reinforcements are infinite and objectives are what counts, it's possible for the flag in worse shape to end up winning the match.
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cinema —-> cinematic


* YouAreInCommandNow: Happens to Bannon in the open cinema of the first mission.

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* YouAreInCommandNow: Happens to Bannon in the open cinema cinematic of the first mission.
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* RPGElements: Like in other recent RTS, units gain experience and may "level up" 4 times. The effects of this are reduced ability and fire cooldowns aswell as increased sight and accuracy. However, defense isn't affected in any way.
* RunningGag: Mike's CD player and the (missing) batteries for it. Mind you, it's 1989.
* SeparateButIdentical: While each faction uses vehicles that they used during the Cold War in real life, they pretty much function identically with the exception of special abilities. One notable exception is the Heavy Artillery unit. The U.S. and Nato use MLRS, while the Soviets use cannon artillery firing just a single powerful shell.
** The Heavy Artillery differences are significant, however, as following the smoke trails of the MLRS can pinpoint it's location, even if you can't see it, whereas the cannon artillery is not nearly as vulnerable to counterbattery fire. In addition, there are minor differences between the various units depending on the faction: for the most part, the U.S. units are more heavily armored than the Soviet units, while the Soviet units are faster. The NATO units also have a slight benefit in speed. Functionally, however, two heavy tanks against two heavy tanks will result in a Pyrrhic victory for whoever wins, so it doesn't really matter that much.

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* RPGElements: Like in other recent RTS, units Units gain experience and may "level up" rank up 4 times. The effects of this are reduced ability and fire Promoted units have faster cooldowns aswell for their weapons and special abilities, as well as increased sight and accuracy. However, defense isn't affected in any way.
* RunningGag: Mike's has a state-of-the-art portable CD player and the (missing) player, but can't find any batteries for it. Mind you, it's 1989.
* SeparateButIdentical: While each faction uses vehicles that they used during the Cold War in real life, they pretty much function identically with to their counterparts on the exception of special abilities.other side. One notable exception is the Heavy Artillery unit. The U.S. and Nato use MLRS, while the Soviets use cannon artillery firing just a single powerful shell.
** The Heavy Artillery differences are significant, significant however, as following the smoke trails of the MLRS can pinpoint it's tips you off to its general location, even if you can't see it, whereas the cannon artillery is not nearly as vulnerable to counterbattery fire.vulnerable. In addition, there are minor differences between the various units depending on the faction: for the most part, the U.S. units are more heavily armored than the Soviet units, while the Soviet units are faster. The NATO units also have a slight benefit in speed. Functionally, Functionally however, two heavy tanks against two heavy tanks will result in a Pyrrhic victory for whoever wins, so it doesn't really matter that much.
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** Except the Germans.
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* NoOSHACompliance: Subverted. The opening cinematic when Soviet armored vehicles are shown being directed off their transports by safety-conscious personnel, wearing professional-looking earmuffs.

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* NoOSHACompliance: Subverted. The opening cinematic when Soviet armored vehicles are shown being directed off their transports by safety-conscious personnel, wearing professional-looking earmuffs.ear protectors.
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''World in Conflict'' is lauded for its multiplayer, which has the player assume a specific role in combat, commanding only a small, specialized force on the battlefield and working together with the other players to win. The matches are fast-paced and objectives are strongly influenced by FPS games, such as Domination or Assault maps.
Since there are no [[CommandAndConquerEconomy resources to gather]], the game is instead based around strategical control points that need to be taken.

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''World in Conflict'' is lauded for its multiplayer, which has the player assume a specific role in combat, commanding only a small, specialized force on the battlefield and working together with the other players to win. The matches are fast-paced and objectives map types are strongly influenced by FPS games, with modes such as Domination Domination[[note]]the teams try to hold more control points than their rivals for as long as possible[[/note]] or Assault maps.
Assault[[note]]the two teams take turns defending or assaulting the control points[[/note]]. Since there are no [[CommandAndConquerEconomy resources to gather]], the game is instead based around strategical control points that need to be taken.captured.
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* AFatherToHisMen: Malashenko, your superior officer in the Soviet campaign, is well-respected by his men, and cares deeply for them.

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* AFatherToHisMen: Malashenko, Orlovsky, your superior officer in the Soviet campaign, is well-respected by his men, and cares deeply for them.
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* CripplingOverspecialization: All of the multiplayer roles, which promotes teamwork:

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* CripplingOverspecialization: All of the multiplayer roles, which promotes forces you to use teamwork:



** Armor has the slowest vehicles and is vulnerable to air units, but firepower and hardiness gives it ground superiority.
** Support is deficient at direct close-combat, but can utilize long-range artillery and has [[TheMedic the Repair Tank]].
** Air is completely unable to capture strategic points and dies quickly to anti-air weapons, but moves the fastest and hits hard.
* DeadlyGas: Nerve gas is available as a Tactical Aid, and horrifically deadly to infantry.

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** Armor has the slowest vehicles and is extremely vulnerable to air units, but firepower and hardiness gives it ground superiority.
** Support is deficient at direct close-combat, but can utilize long-range artillery it provides the crucial anti-air units that prevent the rest of the team from being slaughtered by helicopters. Also has repair tanks and has [[TheMedic artillery, with the Repair Tank]].
latter's usefulness being highly situational.
** Air is completely unable to capture strategic points highly mobile and dies quickly highly destructive, but is vulnerable to anti-air weapons, but moves (good air players can sometimes turn the fastest and hits hard.
tables against AA however). Also, air units cannot capture command points.
* DeadlyGas: Nerve gas is available as a One of the Tactical Aid, Aid abilities is the Chemical Strike, which calls in a plane to drop gas bombs on a target. The effects aren't particularly graphic (infantry take damage over time), and horrifically deadly to infantry.it only affects infantry. However it doesn't see much use since there's usually cheaper Tactical Aid abilities for dealing with infantry in most situations.
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* CosmeticallyDifferentSides: All the factions have the same units with the same abilities. While the American heavy tank is the M1 Abrams and the Soviet counterpart is the T-80, they are statistically identical, and ditto for the rest of the units. The only real exceptions are that the U.S. and NATO heavy artillery fire large visible rocket barrages and takes a while to reload, while the Soviet equivalent fires shells continuously. The Soviet shells are difficult to spot and can be used to bomb enemy units while the U.S. and NATO rockets are easily seen and dodged (though heavy artillery on both sides is generally ineffective and its use is discouraged). Another difference is that the NATO armored transport fires armor-piercing shells as its offensive special ability rather than the anti-vehicle missile used by its U.S. and Soviet counterparts...which may or may not be an issue to the particular player using them.
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Replaced \"US\" with \"U.S.\"


The single-player campaign takes place in 1989. The Soviet Union, bankrupt and desperate, launches a surprise attack across its European borders, surprising the rest of the world. The conquest is at first a success, but as the months go by NATO rallies, and it becomes clear that the Soviets are overstretched and out of momentum, causing the conflict to settle into a stalemate. In a massive gamble, the Soviet Union smuggles several battalions into Seattle harbour on freight ships, counting on the fact that most US troops are tied up overseas. The story is told through the eyes of a [[SupportingProtagonist subordinate]] to the legendary Colonel Sawyer, [[PlayerCharacter Lieutenant Parker]], as Sawyer's battalion fights a desperate war to contain the [[RedScare red menace]].

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The single-player campaign takes place in 1989. The Soviet Union, bankrupt and desperate, launches a surprise attack across its European borders, surprising the rest of the world. The conquest is at first a success, but as the months go by NATO rallies, and it becomes clear that the Soviets are overstretched and out of momentum, causing the conflict to settle into a stalemate. In a massive gamble, the Soviet Union smuggles several battalions into Seattle harbour on freight ships, counting on the fact that most US U.S. troops are tied up overseas. The story is told through the eyes of a [[SupportingProtagonist subordinate]] to the legendary Colonel Sawyer, [[PlayerCharacter Lieutenant Parker]], as Sawyer's battalion fights a desperate war to contain the [[RedScare red menace]].



* DestructiveSaviour: Faithful to real life warfare, saving areas is a messy endeavour. When Webb comments on the state of Seattle, Sawyer admits that the US Army caused as least as much damage as the Soviets. There are some objectives based around avoiding this trope for notable buildings, but [[spoiler: the Nuke on Cascade Falls]] is this in full force. At least most buildings are implied to be deserted by civilians. Most missions end with "Victory!" being plastered over a scene of a town reduced to ruins.

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* DestructiveSaviour: Faithful to real life warfare, saving areas is a messy endeavour. When Webb comments on the state of Seattle, Sawyer admits that the US U.S. Army caused as least as much damage as the Soviets. There are some objectives based around avoiding this trope for notable buildings, but [[spoiler: the Nuke on Cascade Falls]] is this in full force. At least most buildings are implied to be deserted by civilians. Most missions end with "Victory!" being plastered over a scene of a town reduced to ruins.



** [[spoiler: The intro to the final mission to retake Seattle reveals that the narrator of the US missions (voiced by Alec Baldwin) is, in fact, Parker, though at that point it should be pretty obvious.]]

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** [[spoiler: The intro to the final mission to retake Seattle reveals that the narrator of the US U.S. missions (voiced by Alec Baldwin) is, in fact, Parker, though at that point it should be pretty obvious.]]



* SeparateButIdentical: While each faction uses vehicles that they used during the Cold War in real life, they pretty much function identically with the exception of special abilities. One notable exception is the Heavy Artillery unit. The US and Nato use MLRS, while the Soviets use cannon artillery firing just a single powerful shell.
** The Heavy Artillery differences are significant, however, as following the smoke trails of the MLRS can pinpoint it's location, even if you can't see it, whereas the cannon artillery is not nearly as vulnerable to counterbattery fire. In addition, there are minor differences between the various units depending on the faction: for the most part, the US units are more heavily armored than the Soviet units, while the Soviet units are faster. The NATO units also have a slight benefit in speed. Functionally, however, two heavy tanks against two heavy tanks will result in a Pyrrhic victory for whoever wins, so it doesn't really matter that much.

to:

* SeparateButIdentical: While each faction uses vehicles that they used during the Cold War in real life, they pretty much function identically with the exception of special abilities. One notable exception is the Heavy Artillery unit. The US U.S. and Nato use MLRS, while the Soviets use cannon artillery firing just a single powerful shell.
** The Heavy Artillery differences are significant, however, as following the smoke trails of the MLRS can pinpoint it's location, even if you can't see it, whereas the cannon artillery is not nearly as vulnerable to counterbattery fire. In addition, there are minor differences between the various units depending on the faction: for the most part, the US U.S. units are more heavily armored than the Soviet units, while the Soviet units are faster. The NATO units also have a slight benefit in speed. Functionally, however, two heavy tanks against two heavy tanks will result in a Pyrrhic victory for whoever wins, so it doesn't really matter that much.

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Rewrote stuff, removed some natter, etc. I personally don\'t see the Malashenko-Arthas parallel.


* JustAStupidAccent: The NATO side is a curious mishmash of units from various countries, with German heavy armour, British medium and light Armour, French footsoldiers, Danish transport vehicles and Italian Helicopters. While the British speak proper British English, the rest speak English with JustAStupidAccent and [[PoirotSpeak a handful of words taken from their respective languages]].
** To be fair, that's only when they address the player. Their idle chatter is in their original languages (the same applies for the Russians in multiplayer).
** Justified, they are addressing an American officer. (And the words are often exclamations that make sense in context)
* KillItWithFire: Lots of incendiary weapons to be had. Bonus points for the experimental incendiary bomb the Soviet air force asks you to field test in the Soviet campaign.
* KindaBusyHere: A response that comes from infantry units if you select them while engaging in combat.
* KnightTemplar: Capt. Malashenko in the ExpansionPack follows [[WarCraft Arthas]]' path so closely, he can be considered his {{expy}}. He does have a [[ItsPersonal more convincing cause]], though: [[spoiler:his wife and baby daughter are killed during Sawyer's surprise raid near Murmansk]].
** KarmicDeath: It's strongly suggested that [[spoiler:he gets killed by Parker and Co. in Seattle while the rest of his battlegroup survives by disobeying that order]].

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* JustAStupidAccent: The NATO side is a curious mishmash of Played with. [=NATO=] units are almost all from various countries, with German heavy armour, British medium a different country, and light Armour, French footsoldiers, Danish transport vehicles and Italian Helicopters. While the British speak proper British English, the rest speak English with JustAStupidAccent and [[PoirotSpeak a handful of words taken from this is reflected in their respective languages]].
** To be fair, that's only when they address the player. Their idle
speech. Most responses to commands are given in a heavily exaggerated accent, likely to allow [[TropesAreNotBad quick identification of units]], but unit chatter is made in their original languages (the same that unit's native language, and the voice actors are clearly native speakers. This applies for to the Russians in multiplayer).
** Justified, they are addressing an
Russian units as well; American officer. (And the words are often exclamations that make sense in context)
units mostly have similar accents, however.
* KillItWithFire: Lots of There are numerous incendiary weapons to be had. Bonus points for in the experimental incendiary bomb game. In particular, using napalm and fire-bombs to burn down forest cover is important to countering infantry; one of the Soviet air force asks missions has you to field test in the Soviet campaign.
testing a particularly strong such bomb.
* KindaBusyHere: A response that comes from infantry Infantry units respond with this if you select them while engaging they're engaged in combat.
* KnightTemplar: Capt. Malashenko in the ExpansionPack follows [[WarCraft Arthas]]' path so closely, he can be considered his {{expy}}. ExpansionPack. He does have a [[ItsPersonal more convincing cause]], reason]], though: [[spoiler:his wife and baby daughter are killed during Sawyer's surprise raid near Murmansk]].
** KarmicDeath: It's strongly suggested that [[spoiler:he gets killed by Parker and Co. in Seattle while the rest of his battlegroup survives by disobeying that order]].
Murmansk]].



* ManlyTears / TearJerker: Listening to the phone call Bannon makes to his mom before the incident at Cascade Falls brings tears and a salute from this trooper, since his mother received the phone call after the battle was over, [[spoiler: and she was aware of her son's HeroicSacrifice]]. Also, the deaths of various characters. Subverted by [[spoiler:Malashenko]] when news came that [[spoiler: his wife and baby daughter didn't make it. But his delayed reaction only adds to the sense of grief as he attempts to rationalize their deaths. Also, you do get to hear the letters the couple wrote to each other before the incident.]]
** Hell, the whole game. As much as the plot takes refuge in ArtisticLicense to function around several factors that make it an implausible scenario, the presentation is easy on par with the best war dramas in cinema.
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No, wait, that looks like an actual trope if capitalized.


The single-player campaign takes place in 1989. The Soviet Union, bankrupt and desperate, launches a surprise attack across its European borders, surprising the rest of the world. The conquest is at first a success, but as the months go by NATO rallies, and it becomes clear that the Soviets are overstretched and out of momentum, causing the conflict to settle into a stalemate. In a massive gamble, the Soviet Union smuggles several battalions into Seattle harbour on freight ships, counting on the fact that most US troops are tied up overseas. The story is told through the eyes of a [[SupportingProtagonist subordinate]] to the legendary Colonel Sawyer, [[PlayerCharacter Lieutenant Parker]], as Sawyer's battalion fights a desperate war to contain the [[RedScare Red Menace]].

to:

The single-player campaign takes place in 1989. The Soviet Union, bankrupt and desperate, launches a surprise attack across its European borders, surprising the rest of the world. The conquest is at first a success, but as the months go by NATO rallies, and it becomes clear that the Soviets are overstretched and out of momentum, causing the conflict to settle into a stalemate. In a massive gamble, the Soviet Union smuggles several battalions into Seattle harbour on freight ships, counting on the fact that most US troops are tied up overseas. The story is told through the eyes of a [[SupportingProtagonist subordinate]] to the legendary Colonel Sawyer, [[PlayerCharacter Lieutenant Parker]], as Sawyer's battalion fights a desperate war to contain the [[RedScare Red Menace]].
red menace]].
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Keeping it capitalized for emphasis.


The single-player campaign takes place in 1989. The Soviet Union, bankrupt and desperate, launches a surprise attack across its European borders, surprising the rest of the world. The conquest is at first a success, but as the months go by NATO rallies, and it becomes clear that the Soviets are overstretched and out of momentum, causing the conflict to settle into a stalemate. In a massive gamble, the Soviet Union smuggles several battalions into Seattle harbour on freight ships, counting on the fact that most US troops are tied up overseas. The story is told through the eyes of a [[SupportingProtagonist subordinate]] to the legendary Colonel Sawyer, [[PlayerCharacter Lieutenant Parker]], as Sawyer's battalion fights a desperate war to contain the RedMenace.

to:

The single-player campaign takes place in 1989. The Soviet Union, bankrupt and desperate, launches a surprise attack across its European borders, surprising the rest of the world. The conquest is at first a success, but as the months go by NATO rallies, and it becomes clear that the Soviets are overstretched and out of momentum, causing the conflict to settle into a stalemate. In a massive gamble, the Soviet Union smuggles several battalions into Seattle harbour on freight ships, counting on the fact that most US troops are tied up overseas. The story is told through the eyes of a [[SupportingProtagonist subordinate]] to the legendary Colonel Sawyer, [[PlayerCharacter Lieutenant Parker]], as Sawyer's battalion fights a desperate war to contain the RedMenace.
[[RedScare Red Menace]].

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Removed natter and Word Cruft, cleaned up a bit, etc. Haven\'t actually played multiplayer, so I\'m going with what\'s already written. Parker is not a the top officer, and thus not a Colonel Badass.


* AlternateHistory: A late 1980s World War in which the Soviet Union manages to launch amphibious invasions in both southern France and the northwest United States without being swiftly annihilated by air and naval forces.
** Also, in this timeline, neither Gorbachev nor Reagan seem to be in charge of the USSR and the US respectively.
*** Well in 1989 George H.W. Bush was POTUS, and Gorbachev is depicted in some of the ''Soviet Assault'' cutscenes
**** The Soviet leader [[http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/11767051/img/11767051.png is only ever seen from the back]], so it could be handwaved that a coup has replaced Gorbachev.
**** The US President sounds like Bush, Sr. in the cutscenes.
** The game ''does'' attempt to justify the implausibility as far as the American invasion goes, first with the subterfuge involved in the launch of the invasion and by outright stating that the homefront lacks defense capability because of the operations in Europe. These are still handwaves in the strictest sense, however, and the Soviet capability of launching these offensives is best considered itself a part of the AlternateHistory. ''Soviet Assault'' subtly lampshades it; the Russians certainly feel like they're having more trouble than it looks like from the original American point of view, and their propaganda at home shows them halfway to the Mississippi when they never move beyond the Washington State border.
** Similarly, the game doesn't do much to explain how a NATO task force could somehow penetrate the elaborate, purpose-built air and ground defenses in the western USSR, during war time, besides that they launched from Finland.
*** The game can kind of sort of be plausible if one mentally shrinks down the time frame the game's action takes place in to 2-3 days, so the Navy and Air Force haven't yet had time to mobilize a proper retaliatory force yet.
** And while we're at it, how the hell does the game explain why the US government doesn't just deliver a simple ultimatum, "Get the hell out of our country or we nuke Moscow and the rest of your country back into the stone age"? After all, the whole reason the Cold War never went hot was because any full scale military action launched by one side against the other (I.E. the Soviets attacking NATO forces including US forces in Europe or invading the American continent), would result in (justified) nuclear retaliation. The lack of defensive forces in America is easily explained, but why both the US and Soviets have apparently forgotten about their strategic nuclear arsenals is left very noticably unexplained.
* AnachronicOrder: The single-player campaign
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: The player is given a fixed amount of points to buy units with. The points refill after the unit is lost or is disbanded, over time, but limits the amount of units that can be fielded normally. In multiplayer, the most a player can command at once is 20 units (not counting the infantry squads consisting out of 4 soldiers), but 4-6 units is more common. However, additional units can be deployed with airdrop tactical aids that don't count towards this limit.
* ArtificialStupidity: The campaign AI. The bots used in multiplayer matches are quite smart.
* BigDamnHeroes: Oddly enough, in the Soviet campaign when the Colonel arrives seconds before American civilians are about to be executed.

to:

* AlternateHistory: A late 1980s World War in which What if the Soviet Union manages to launch amphibious invasions in both southern France and the northwest United States without being swiftly annihilated by air and naval forces.
** Also, in this timeline, neither Gorbachev nor Reagan seem to be in charge
Communist states of the USSR and the US respectively.
*** Well in 1989 George H.W. Bush was POTUS, and Gorbachev is depicted in some of the ''Soviet Assault'' cutscenes
**** The Soviet leader [[http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/11767051/img/11767051.png is only ever seen from the back]], so it could be handwaved that a coup has replaced Gorbachev.
**** The US President sounds like Bush, Sr. in the cutscenes.
** The game ''does'' attempt
1980s tried to justify the implausibility as far as the American invasion goes, first with the subterfuge involved in the launch of the invasion and by outright stating that the homefront lacks defense capability because of the operations in Europe. These are still handwaves in the strictest sense, however, and the Soviet capability of launching these offensives is best considered itself a part of the AlternateHistory. ''Soviet Assault'' subtly lampshades it; the Russians certainly feel like they're having more trouble than it looks like from the original American point of view, and prevent their propaganda at home shows them halfway to the Mississippi when they never move beyond the Washington State border.
** Similarly, the game doesn't do much to explain how a NATO task force could somehow penetrate the elaborate, purpose-built air and ground defenses in the western USSR, during war time, besides that they launched from Finland.
*** The game can kind of sort of be plausible if one mentally shrinks down the time frame the game's action takes place in to 2-3 days, so the Navy and Air Force haven't yet had time to mobilize a proper retaliatory force yet.
** And while we're at it, how the hell does the game explain why the US government doesn't just deliver a simple ultimatum, "Get the hell out of our country or we nuke Moscow and the rest of your country back into the stone age"? After all, the whole reason the Cold War never went hot was because any full scale military action launched
collapse by one side against the other (I.E. the Soviets attacking NATO forces including US forces in Europe or invading the American continent), would result in (justified) nuclear retaliation. The lack of defensive forces in America is easily explained, but why both the US and Soviets have apparently forgotten about their strategic nuclear arsenals is left very noticably unexplained.
West?
* AnachronicOrder: The single-player campaign
campaign, which is told middle first, then beginning, then end. The Soviet missions are similarly paced, as they are interwoven into the vanilla campaign.
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: The player is given a fixed amount of points to buy units with. with, which limits the size of any given army. The points refill after the a unit is lost or is disbanded, over time, but limits the amount of units that can be fielded normally. time. In multiplayer, the most a player can command at once is 20 units (not counting the infantry squads consisting out of 4 soldiers), but 4-6 generally no more than about 6 units is more common. However, additional will be deployed at the same time. Additional units can be deployed with airdrop tactical aids Tactical Aids that don't count towards this limit.
* ArtificialStupidity: The campaign AI. The bots used in AI, which is mostly scripted to ZergRush you. Averted with the multiplayer matches bots, however, who are quite smart.
programmed to emulate player behaviour much better.
* BigDamnHeroes: Oddly enough, in In the Soviet campaign when campaign, the Colonel arrives seconds before American civilians are about to be executed.executed in one of the cutscenes.



* BolivianArmyEnding: At the end of ''Soviet Assault'', Malashenko decides not to return to Russia and instead makes his way to Seattle to defend it against the inevitable American counterattack. Players who have already completed the first game know that [[ForegoneConclusion it won't end well for the Soviets]].

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* BolivianArmyEnding: At [[spoiler:At the end of ''Soviet Assault'', Malashenko decides not to return to Russia and instead makes his way to Seattle to defend it against the inevitable American counterattack. Players who have already completed the first game know that [[ForegoneConclusion it won't end well for the Soviets]].]]



*** [[spoiler: Parker by the end. Seeing as he pretty much repelled the Soviets from US soil, saved the Statue of Liberty, helped push back the Soviet forces in France, and managed to rescued down pilots deep in Soviet territory that actually comes weak.]]
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Enemy artillery can apparently fire without needing to reload, will track your units extremely accurately, and the enemy will zero in on your drop zone eventually. Extremely frustrating if you're playing against the Soviets. Also, you know how you have to wait for your reinforcement points to count up to drop in new reinforcements? It doesn't even pretend to be equal in that manner and will have new units rolling in several times faster than you ever could.
** Especially noticeable when you use a TA that wipes several units off a spawn point, and not five seconds later, the computer will respawn more at that exact spot.
* CosmeticAward: Singleplayer gives you a variety of medals, awards and promotions for completing every objective. Online has a achievement system with the same goals, but there are multiple medals for each category (bronze, silver and gold). Medals are awarded for things like reaching certain scores in one match, being the best player in a match or best of role, total points per role and total, winning matches and launching nukes. A medal system is also in place for clans. Needless to say, none of these awards actually do ''anything'', although reaching a certain rank may be required for some servers or clans.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover prominently features the Statue of Liberty under attack. While there is ''one'' mission in New York centered around a surprise attack on Liberty Island, most of the game takes place in Washington State.

to:

*** [[spoiler: Parker by the end. Seeing as he pretty much repelled the Soviets from US soil, saved the Statue of Liberty, helped push back the Soviet forces in France, and managed to rescued down pilots deep in Soviet territory that actually comes weak.]]
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: The multiplayer [=AI=], despite being well programmed, still cheats quite a bit. Enemy artillery can apparently fire without needing to reload, will can track your units extremely accurately, and the enemy will zero in on your drop zone eventually. Extremely frustrating if you're playing This is particularly bad against the Soviets. Also, you know how you Soviets, as they have to wait for your reinforcement points to count up to drop in new reinforcements? It some very strong artillery. The [=AI=] doesn't even pretend to be equal in that manner respect the point system, either, and will have new replenish losses with the exact same units rolling in several times faster than you ever could.
** Especially noticeable when you use a TA that wipes several units off a spawn point, and not five seconds later, the computer will respawn more at that exact spot.
almost immediately.
* CosmeticAward: Singleplayer gives you a variety of medals, awards and promotions for completing every objective. Online has a achievement system with the same goals, but there are multiple medals for each category (bronze, silver and gold). Medals are awarded for things like reaching certain scores in one match, being the best player in a match or best of role, total points per role and total, winning matches and launching nukes. A medal system is also in place for clans. Needless to say, none None of these awards actually do ''anything'', although reaching a certain rank may be required for some servers or clans.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover prominently features the Statue of Liberty under attack. While there is ''one'' a mission in New York centered around a surprise attack on Liberty Island, most of the game takes place in Washington State.



* CripplingOverspecialization: All of the general roles, creating combined arms teamwork necessity:
** Infantry are liable to die pretty much whenever they are out of cover to anything firing at them while being the slowest units in the game, though are enormously effective against what enemy the individual unit is made for fighting while they ''are'' dug in and the role is provided vehicle transports - though the transports are soft-skinned and are destroyed quickly while destroyed transports take the unit inside with it.
** Armor is the slowest of all vehicles and are vulnerable to air units, though their firepower and hardiness give them ground superiority.

to:

* CripplingOverspecialization: All of the general multiplayer roles, creating combined arms teamwork necessity:
which promotes teamwork:
** Infantry are liable to die pretty much whenever they are out of cover to anything firing at them while being the slowest units in the game, though are enormously effective against what enemy the individual unit is made for fighting while they ''are'' dug in and the role is provided vehicle transports - though transports--though the transports are soft-skinned and are destroyed quickly while destroyed transports take the unit inside with it.
** Armor is has the slowest of all vehicles and are is vulnerable to air units, though their but firepower and hardiness give them gives it ground superiority.



** Air is completely unable at capture points and dies quickly to anti-air weapons, but move the fastest and hit hard.
* CrowningMomentofAwesome: The CGI cutscene before the mission set in New York, with Audioslave as background music.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RSl4qlQzg The opening cinematic when the game loads up is an orgasm of weapons fire and combat shots.]]
* DeadlyGas: Nerve gas is available as a tactical aid, and horrifically deadly to infantry.
* DeathFromAbove: Not all Tactical Aids spew death exactly, but they all come from the air. The ones that do spew death, do so spectacularly.
* DestructiveSaviour: Faithful to real life warfare, saving areas is a messy endeavor. When Webb comments on the state of Seattle, Sawyer admits that the US Army caused as least as much damage as the Soviets. There are some objectives based around avoiding this trope for notable buildings, but [[spoiler: the Nuke on Cascade Falls]] is this in full force. At least most buildings are implied to be deserted by civilians.
** Indeed, many of the single player missions end with the "Victory!" screen displayed while the background is the camera panning over the ruins of the town you just liberated from the Soviets.
* DifficultButAwesome: The Infantry role. Slowest and squishiest units in the game, unless they've gotten to a good position providing cover - likely driven to it by their transports - at which their cover fixes the squishiest part while it holds and the squad easily beats up whatever they're made to beat up.
* DividedWeFall: In multi-player matches, the team who works together better usually wins the match.
* EasyLogistics: While reinforcements take some time to be dropped in (and there is another delay until the plane returns to the offmap base, during which you can't order any more units) and tactical aids take a while to take place, fielded units have unlimited ammo, fuel and other supplies. Infantry units can replace losses in a short amount of time. You will never run out of reinforcements aside from a few very specific instances.
** Not to mention, M1 Abrams tanks are air-dropped to where the player needs them. In accordance with the SquareCubeLaw, attempting to do so would likely result in the destruction of every single automotive component in the vehicle. It took a good while to develop an aircraft to even carry an Abrams and not make it the largest aircraft in the Air Force's inventory (and by the way, it wasn't operational by 1989, either), so needless to say ''air-dropping'' one is out of the question in real-life. That said, the game's M551 Sheridan light tank ''is'' a real air-droppable tank - and it's also about the biggest you'll find, too.
** On a strategic level, the game features massive amphibious invasions of the American West Coast and southern France. The first is pulled off, we are informed, by hiding Soviet troops in civilian freighters. The second goes unexplained. Neither makes any attempt to really explain how they intend to keep such a massive invasion over such a great distance ''supplied'' beyond the first few days, aside from brief [[HandWave handwaves]] about naval disasters suffered by NATO leaving the Pacific and Mediterranean open to Soviet shipping.
** The whole Mediterranean invasion is highly dubious, considering how many NATO-held chokepoints there are between the Black Sea and the South of France. One wonders why Massive chose the Riviera to invade at all - it's not iconic like a Soviet invasion of the US, and makes almost no sense, really.
* EnemyExchangeProgram: You can repair and take over vehicles left behind by the other side; they apparently do not require crews. One mission features Soviet special forces using a ridiculously large amount of captured U.S. vehicles.
** Captain Vance, an Army {{Ranger}} CO helping out in that mission, actually lampshades this, saying that the local base was undermanned and over-supplied.
** Another mission has the player take over a lot of left-behind vehicles starting with nothing but 3 vehicles. Although it should be noted that this only happens in the singleplayer mode.

to:

** Air is completely unable at to capture strategic points and dies quickly to anti-air weapons, but move moves the fastest and hit hits hard.
* CrowningMomentofAwesome: The CGI cutscene before the mission set in New York, with Audioslave as background music.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RSl4qlQzg The opening cinematic when the game loads up is an orgasm of weapons fire and combat shots.]]
* DeadlyGas: Nerve gas is available as a tactical aid, Tactical Aid, and horrifically deadly to infantry.
* DeathFromAbove: Not all Tactical Aids spew death exactly, death, but they all come from the air. The ones that do spew death, do so spectacularly.
They are all quite spectacular, however.
* DestructiveSaviour: Faithful to real life warfare, saving areas is a messy endeavor.endeavour. When Webb comments on the state of Seattle, Sawyer admits that the US Army caused as least as much damage as the Soviets. There are some objectives based around avoiding this trope for notable buildings, but [[spoiler: the Nuke on Cascade Falls]] is this in full force. At least most buildings are implied to be deserted by civilians.
** Indeed, many of the single player
civilians. Most missions end with the "Victory!" screen displayed while the background is the camera panning being plastered over the ruins a scene of the a town you just liberated from the Soviets.
reduced to ruins.
* DifficultButAwesome: The Infantry multiplayer role. Slowest They have the slowest and squishiest units in the game, unless they've gotten to a good position providing cover - likely cover--likely driven to it by their transports - at transports--at which point their cover fixes the squishiest part while it holds and the squad easily beats up whatever they're made to beat up.
takes out anything nearby.
* DividedWeFall: In multi-player matches, the multiplayer matches teamwork is everything, as every game mode is team who works together better usually wins the match.
based.
* EasyLogistics: While reinforcements take some time to be dropped in (and there is another delay until the plane returns to the offmap off-map base, during which you can't order any more units) and tactical aids Tactical Aids take a while to take place, occur, fielded units have unlimited ammo, fuel and other supplies. Infantry units can replace losses in a short amount of time. You will never run out of reinforcements aside from a few very specific instances.
** Not to mention, M1 Abrams tanks are air-dropped to where the player needs them. In accordance with the SquareCubeLaw, attempting to do so would likely result
scripted instances in the destruction of campaign.
** More specifically,
every single automotive component in unit is air-dropped, regardless of the vehicle. It took a good while to develop an aircraft to even carry an size of the unit. While this makes sense for some units, including light tanks designed for this, the M1 Abrams and not is heavy enough that dropping it would make it the largest aircraft inoperable in the Air Force's inventory (and by the way, it wasn't operational by 1989, either), so needless to say ''air-dropping'' one is out of the question in real-life. That said, the game's M551 Sheridan light tank ''is'' a real air-droppable tank - and it's life. How the delicate-looking artillery pieces survive the landing is also about the biggest you'll find, too.
a complete mystery.
** On a strategic level, the game features massive amphibious invasions of the American West Coast and southern France. The first is pulled off, we are informed, by hiding Soviet troops in civilian freighters. The second goes unexplained. Neither makes any attempt to really explain how they intend to keep such a massive invasion over such a great distance ''supplied'' beyond the first few days, aside from brief [[HandWave handwaves]] about naval disasters suffered by NATO leaving the Pacific and Mediterranean open to Soviet shipping.
** The whole Mediterranean invasion is highly dubious, considering how many NATO-held chokepoints there are between the Black Sea and the South of France. One wonders why Massive chose the Riviera to invade at all - it's not iconic like a Soviet invasion of the US, and makes almost no sense, really.
days.
* EnemyExchangeProgram: You can repair and take over vehicles left behind by the other side; side in certain missions; they apparently do not require crews. One mission features Soviet special forces using a ridiculously large amount of captured U.S. vehicles.
** Captain Vance, an Army {{Ranger}} CO [=CO=] helping out in that mission, actually lampshades this, saying that the local base was undermanned and over-supplied.
** Another mission has the player take over a lot of left-behind vehicles starting with nothing but 3 vehicles. Although it should be noted that this only happens in Where the singleplayer mode.crews come from is a complete mystery.
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None


** Hell, the whole game. As much as the plot takes refuge in ArtisticLicence to function around several factors that make it an implausible scenario, the presentation is easy on par with the best war dramas in cinema.

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** Hell, the whole game. As much as the plot takes refuge in ArtisticLicence ArtisticLicense to function around several factors that make it an implausible scenario, the presentation is easy on par with the best war dramas in cinema.

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Okay, so I completely rewrote the lead in an attempt to create a more balanced read. Sue me. (Please don\'t sue me). I also cleaned up some Thread Mode stuff and Natter.


-->''The war is coming home.''

This RealTimeStrategy game was released in September 2007 to favourable reviews. Set during a fictional World War III between the Warsaw Pact and NATO in the year 1989, the game eschews base building in favour of having units delivered onto the battlefield by airdrop. Also notable for the single-player campaign, which has the forces under the player's command playing a small but pivotal role in a larger battle raging all around.

The multiplayer also has the player assume a specific role in combat, commanding only a small, specialized force on the battlefield, working together with the other players to win. The matches are fast-paced and objectives are strongly influcenced by FPS games, such as Domination or Assault maps.
Since there are [[AvertedTrope no]] [[CommandAndConquerEconomy resources to gather]], the game is instead based around strategical control points that need to be taken. The details vary by mode, but the general gist is that the team who controls the most points wins the match.

Between its simple but pretty graphics, solid and entertaining gameplay (particularly the brutal online team matches), and a compelling single-player campaign, ''WorldInConflict'' was well received everywhere it went. Then, however, {{Activision}} sold the developer Massive Entertainment to UbiSoft and their projects were revised. The console ports were canceled, and while the announced expansion, ''Soviet Assault'', was released, all it added to the game were the six new single-player missions for the Soviets and no gameplay innovations whatsoever (despite rumors of [[WhatCouldHaveBeen possible addition of naval skirmishes]]). Since then, Massive went on to work on other projects and ''[=WiC=]'' seems to have become an OrphanedSeries.

to:

-->''The -->''[[TagLine The war is coming home.''

This RealTimeStrategy
]]''

''World in Conflict'' is a 2007 [[RealTimeStrategy Real Time Tactics]]
game was released in September 2007 to favourable reviews. by Creator/MassiveEntertainment. Set during a fictional World War III between the closing days of the ColdWar, the game explores what might have happened had the Warsaw Pact and NATO in countries decided to start WorldWarIII instead of allowing the year 1989, gradual collapse of its constituent governments. Best described as Film/RedDawn1984 [[XMeetsY meets]] Videogame/GroundControl, the game eschews traditional [=RTS=] elements in favour of a more tactical approach: no base building in favour of having occurs, units delivered onto the battlefield by airdrop. Also notable for the are air-dropped, and individual armies rarely number more than a dozen units.

The
single-player campaign, campaign takes place in 1989. The Soviet Union, bankrupt and desperate, launches a surprise attack across its European borders, surprising the rest of the world. The conquest is at first a success, but as the months go by NATO rallies, and it becomes clear that the Soviets are overstretched and out of momentum, causing the conflict to settle into a stalemate. In a massive gamble, the Soviet Union smuggles several battalions into Seattle harbour on freight ships, counting on the fact that most US troops are tied up overseas. The story is told through the eyes of a [[SupportingProtagonist subordinate]] to the legendary Colonel Sawyer, [[PlayerCharacter Lieutenant Parker]], as Sawyer's battalion fights a desperate war to contain the RedMenace.

''World in Conflict'' is lauded for its multiplayer,
which has the forces under the player's command playing a small but pivotal role in a larger battle raging all around.

The multiplayer also
has the player assume a specific role in combat, commanding only a small, specialized force on the battlefield, battlefield and working together with the other players to win. The matches are fast-paced and objectives are strongly influcenced influenced by FPS games, such as Domination or Assault maps.
Since there are [[AvertedTrope no]] no [[CommandAndConquerEconomy resources to gather]], the game is instead based around strategical control points that need to be taken. taken.

An ExpansionPack was released in 2009, titled ''Soviet Assault''.
The details vary by mode, but expansion added six new missions interwoven into the general gist is existing campaign that covered the team who controls Soviet side of the most points wins story, as well as four multiplayer maps which were later released for free. The expansion pack was not well-received, as it did not have any new gameplay features at all. %%was it poorly received by players as well as press?

The game was well-received both by critics and by consumers, with common praise being
the match.

Between its simple but pretty
then-impressive graphics, solid and the compelling gameplay, the entertaining gameplay (particularly the brutal online team matches), team-based multiplayer modes and a compelling strong single-player campaign, ''WorldInConflict'' was well received everywhere it went. Then, however, {{Activision}} sold campaign and narrative. Since the developer sale of Massive Entertainment to UbiSoft {{Ubisoft}} by then-publisher {{Activision}} the only thing to come out of the series has been the delayed and their projects were revised. The console ports were canceled, and while the announced expansion, poorly-received ''Soviet Assault'', was released, all it added to the game were the six new single-player missions for the Soviets and no gameplay innovations whatsoever (despite rumors of [[WhatCouldHaveBeen possible addition of naval skirmishes]]). Since then, since Massive went has since moved on to work on other projects and ''[=WiC=]'' seems to have projects, it is probably that ''World in Conflict'' has become an OrphanedSeries.
OrphanedSeries.



* BilingualBonus: Units of various nationalities make remarks in their own languages.
** This Norwegian editor was somewhat amused by the Norwegian special forces featured in the campaign actually speaking with proper accents and making remarks in their own language. Unfortunately, the poor choice of actors means that they sound like pampered daddy's boys from the wealthiest suburbs of Oslo instead of grizzled professional soldiers. And they do not use proper military jargon, either.
** The Danish transport troops suffer from the same casting-choices, all speaking with a thick Copenhagen dialect which slightly lowers the credibility.
** In a similar vein, when a unit is destroyed/about to explode, the radio chatter includes 'last words', for example the British cursing one-liner being "Oh, bugger!". The French tank crews are also ''swearing'', in French.
** German Rocket Launchers claim to 'have the final solution'... well.
** Actually, they are saying "We have the firing solution." The other quote would probably be too [[UnfortunateImplications unfortunate]].

to:

* BilingualBonus: Units of various nationalities make remarks Many unit barks are made in a language appropriate to their own languages.
**
nationality. This Norwegian editor was somewhat amused by the Norwegian special forces featured in the campaign actually speaking is most noticeable with proper accents and making remarks in their own language. Unfortunately, the poor choice of actors means that they sound like pampered daddy's boys from the wealthiest suburbs of Oslo instead of grizzled professional soldiers. And they do NATO faction, which does not use proper military jargon, either.
** The Danish transport troops suffer
include two different unit types from the same casting-choices, all speaking with a thick Copenhagen dialect which slightly lowers country. German, French, Danish, Russian, English, Norwegian are but some of the credibility.
** In a similar vein, when a unit is destroyed/about to explode,
languages spoken in the radio chatter includes 'last words', for example the British cursing one-liner being "Oh, bugger!". The French tank crews are also ''swearing'', in French.
** German Rocket Launchers claim to 'have the final solution'... well.
** Actually,
game, and they are saying "We have the firing solution." The other quote would probably be too [[UnfortunateImplications unfortunate]].all recorded using native speakers.



* AFatherToHisMen: Malashenko, while rather horribly [[WouldNotShootACivilian wanting to shoot civilians]], did so because he felt the American troops were taking advantage of [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar the law against it]]; ambushing his men, then [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything dressing as civilians and hiding their weapons.]]
** Indeed, most of Malashenko's berating of the player specifically refers to the men of his command being sacrificed because you did something wrong.
*** When you do keep his men alive, particularly in the first Soviet mission, Malashenko praises you for it.
**** [[spoiler:Ultimately, Malashenko steps away from this, [[MoralEventHorizon choosing to have his men fight a defence in Seattle to continue an now-apparently impossible invasion after killing Orlovsky because Orlovsky wanted to retreat and have their battlegroup return home.]] It is implied that revenge for those who have died has become more important to Malashenko than preserving the lives of those who still live.]]
** Orlovsky is one too - his wife writes to him saying all the women there who husbands are under his command are truely lucky because they know he cares for them. When Malashenko wants to attack civilians right after one of the previous mentioned ambushes but Orlovsky refuses, Malashenko angrily says "But these are my men lying here!", to which Orlovsky sternly replies, insulted, "They are my men too, Captain. ''Never forget that''."

to:

* AFatherToHisMen: Malashenko, while rather horribly [[WouldNotShootACivilian wanting to shoot civilians]], did so because he felt your superior officer in the American troops were taking advantage of [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar the law against it]]; ambushing Soviet campaign, is well-respected by his men, then [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything dressing as civilians and hiding their weapons.]]
** Indeed, most of Malashenko's berating of the player specifically refers to the men of his command being sacrificed because you did something wrong.
*** When you do keep his men alive, particularly in the first Soviet mission, Malashenko praises you for it.
**** [[spoiler:Ultimately, Malashenko steps away from this, [[MoralEventHorizon choosing to have his men fight a defence in Seattle to continue an now-apparently impossible invasion after killing Orlovsky because Orlovsky wanted to retreat and have their battlegroup return home.]] It is implied that revenge for those who have died has become more important to Malashenko than preserving the lives of those who still live.]]
** Orlovsky is one too - his wife writes to him saying all the women there who husbands are under his command are truely lucky because they know he
cares deeply for them. When Malashenko wants to attack civilians right after one of the previous mentioned ambushes but Orlovsky refuses, Malashenko angrily says "But these are my men lying here!", to which Orlovsky sternly replies, insulted, "They are my men too, Captain. ''Never forget that''."them.



* FogOfWar: Unlike in most other RTS, this game doesn't directly refer to it, and it's not visible on the field, but it's there. And unlike in most other RTS, units aren't revealed when firing at an unit that can't see them. But their shots are, which is a drawback to US and Nato Heavy Artillery which fire highly visible rocket barrages.
* FreudianExcuse: Bannon has a phone conversation with his stepfather, a grizzly abusive Vietnam-vet by the sound of it. Which goes a long way to explaining his usual behavior during the campaign where he shifts between GeneralRipper and CowardlyLion.
* FragileSpeedster: The Air roles' units are fast and do good damage - however, they are incapable of taking points and die quickly to what can target them.
** The Infantry roles' transports move fairly fast and die just as quickly.
* GarrisonableStructures: Makes Riflemen and Anti-Tank squads formidable against vehicles, but [[CriticalExistenceFailure make sure the building doesn't get destroyed]]...
* GatlingGood: The US AntiAir unit, the [=M163=] Vulcan. Also the A-10 Warthog the Americans can all for Tactical Aids...
* GeneralFailure: Captain Bannon, until sacrificing himself on a suicidal mission.

to:

* FogOfWar: Unlike in As with Videogame/GroundControl, and unlike most other RTS, games in the RTS genre, this game doesn't directly refer to it, and it's not use visible on the field, but it's fog of war, although it is still functionally there. And unlike in most other RTS, In addition, units aren't are not automatically revealed when firing at an unit that they open fire if the enemy can't see them. But them; in particular, artillery units need to have their shots are, which is a drawback traced by sight to US and Nato Heavy Artillery which fire highly visible rocket barrages.
* FreudianExcuse: Bannon has a phone conversation with his stepfather, a grizzly abusive Vietnam-vet by
determine the sound position of it. Which goes a long way to explaining his usual behavior during the campaign where he shifts between GeneralRipper and CowardlyLion.
units.
* FragileSpeedster: The Air roles' role's units are fast and do good damage - however, they are incapable of taking points and die quickly to what can target them.
** The
when targeted. Similarly, the Infantry roles' role's transports move fairly fast and die just as quickly.
are also fragile, although somewhat slower in comparison.
* GarrisonableStructures: Makes Riflemen and Anti-Tank squads become formidable against vehicles, vehicles when garrisoned, but [[CriticalExistenceFailure make sure do keep an eye on the building doesn't get destroyed]]...
structural integrity of the building]].
* GatlingGood: The US AntiAir unit, Americans have two units which use gatling-like weaponry: the [=M163=] Vulcan. Also Vulcan, which is used primarily for {{Anti Air}}[[note]]it can be toggled to fire on ground units if necessary, and it is effective against lightly armoured vehicles and below[[/note]], and the A-10 Warthog the Americans can all for Warthog, which is called in as an [[AntiArmor Anti-Tank]] Tactical Aids...
Aid.
* GeneralFailure: Captain Bannon, until sacrificing himself on through a suicidal mission.combination of cowardice, glory-hounding and incompetence.



* GoodScarsEvilScars: Orlovsky has a single scar running down his right cheek, and is a sympathetic character. Since no other characters have a scar, though, it's more likely used to convey Orlovsky as an experienced officer.
* HeroicMime: Player characters Parker and (in ''Soviet Assault'') Romanov. They are never heard to speak in-game, Parker has a bodily presence in certain cutscenes but we never see his face, and Romanov is never seen at all. They are both clearly Russian and white American respectively, though.

to:

* GoodScarsEvilScars: Orlovsky has a single scar running down his right cheek, and is a sympathetic character. Since no other characters have a scar, though, it's more likely used to convey Orlovsky as an experienced officer.
* HeroicMime: Player characters Parker and (in ''Soviet Assault'') Romanov. They are never heard to speak in-game, Parker has a bodily presence in certain cutscenes but we never see his face, and Romanov is never seen at all. They are both clearly Russian and white American respectively, American, though.



* HoldTheLine: Some objectives are like this. Also during the Invasion of Seattle, a Private is on the radio having a small HeroicBSOD screaming about how the Soviets won't get one inch further. Seeing as how he only appears in that mission he either died or calmed down - maybe both, not in that order.

to:

* HoldTheLine: Some objectives are like this. Also A frequent mission objective in the campaigns. Often, you will be tasked with taking a particular set of strategic points and holding them for a few minutes; after the timer is up, [=AI=]-controlled reinforcements will usually shift drop zones to cover the newly captured area, and bunkers will be set up.
** Storywise,
during the Invasion of Seattle, a panicked Private is heard on the radio having a small HeroicBSOD screaming about how the Soviets won't get one inch further. Seeing as how Whether he only appears in that mission he either died succeeded or calmed down - maybe both, not in that order.is left open.



* InstantWinCondition: Many missions, particularly ones that involve defending something, feel a bit unsatisfactory to win. Since there are no bases, you are fighting endlessly respawning Soviet troops with your own army of respawning forces. After a while of not screwing this up, the game declares you won, although the fight rages on behind the victory screen.
* ItsRainingMen: Infantry unit creations and reinforcements parachute down to the field. On the AcceptableBreakFromReality side, ''all'' land units are airdropped in, included the heaviest tanks of your military force.
* JackOfAllTrades: The purview of the Infantry role, whose infantry within its role are capable of fighting off all the other roles... [[CripplingOverspecialization as long as they can get to cover first]]. The role even includes the Troop Transport unit, which is one of the few units that can repair vehicles. Exemplified by the Infantry squad, whose combined individual soldiers make the squad capable of attacking every unit in the game.
** The Armored Transport of the Armor role is also capable of damaging every unit in the game.

to:

* InstantWinCondition: Many missions, particularly ones that involve defending something, feel a bit unsatisfactory to win. Since there are no bases, campaign missions usually have you are fighting endlessly respawning Soviet enemy troops with your own army of respawning forces. After a while of not screwing this up, the game declares that you won, win, although the fight rages on behind the victory screen.
* ItsRainingMen: Infantry unit creations and reinforcements parachute down to the field. On the AcceptableBreakFromReality side, In fact, ''all'' land units are airdropped air-dropped in, included the heaviest tanks of your military force.
tanks.
* JackOfAllTrades: The purview of the Infantry role, whose infantry within its role are capable of fighting off all the other roles... [[CripplingOverspecialization as long as they can get to cover first]]. The role even includes the Troop Transport unit, which is one of the few units that can repair vehicles. Exemplified by the
** The
Infantry squad, whose squad exemplifies this, as the combined individual soldiers make the squad capable of attacking every unit in the game.
game, as long as the required trooper isn't killed.
** The Armored Transport of the Armor role is also capable of damaging every unit in the game.
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**** The US President sounds like Bush, Sr. in the cutscenes.
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** And while we're at it, how the hell does the game explain why the US government doesn't just deliver a simple ultimatum, "Get the hell out of our country or we nuke Moscow and the rest of your country back into the stone age"? After all, the whole reason the Cold War never went hot was because any full scale military action launched by one side against the other (I.E. the Soviets attacking NATO forces including US forces in Europe or invading the American continent), would result in (justified) nuclear retaliation. The lack of defensive forces in America is easily explained, but why both the US and Soviets have apparently forgotten about their strategic nuclear arsenals is left very noticably unexplained.
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** Especially noticeable when you use a TA that wipes several units off a spawn point, and not five seconds later, the computer will respawn more at that exact spot.
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* MultiplayerDifficultySpike: It's actually a mixed example: by pitting teams of players against each other, it both gives them access to all the destructive potential only glimpsed in the campaign, ''and'' enforces CripplingOverspecialization mostly absent from the single-player.

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[[redirect:WorldInConflict]]

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[[redirect:WorldInConflict]]-->''The war is coming home.''

This RealTimeStrategy game was released in September 2007 to favourable reviews. Set during a fictional World War III between the Warsaw Pact and NATO in the year 1989, the game eschews base building in favour of having units delivered onto the battlefield by airdrop. Also notable for the single-player campaign, which has the forces under the player's command playing a small but pivotal role in a larger battle raging all around.

The multiplayer also has the player assume a specific role in combat, commanding only a small, specialized force on the battlefield, working together with the other players to win. The matches are fast-paced and objectives are strongly influcenced by FPS games, such as Domination or Assault maps.
Since there are [[AvertedTrope no]] [[CommandAndConquerEconomy resources to gather]], the game is instead based around strategical control points that need to be taken. The details vary by mode, but the general gist is that the team who controls the most points wins the match.

Between its simple but pretty graphics, solid and entertaining gameplay (particularly the brutal online team matches), and a compelling single-player campaign, ''WorldInConflict'' was well received everywhere it went. Then, however, {{Activision}} sold the developer Massive Entertainment to UbiSoft and their projects were revised. The console ports were canceled, and while the announced expansion, ''Soviet Assault'', was released, all it added to the game were the six new single-player missions for the Soviets and no gameplay innovations whatsoever (despite rumors of [[WhatCouldHaveBeen possible addition of naval skirmishes]]). Since then, Massive went on to work on other projects and ''[=WiC=]'' seems to have become an OrphanedSeries.

----
!!This game features examples of the following tropes:
* AlternateHistory: A late 1980s World War in which the Soviet Union manages to launch amphibious invasions in both southern France and the northwest United States without being swiftly annihilated by air and naval forces.
** Also, in this timeline, neither Gorbachev nor Reagan seem to be in charge of the USSR and the US respectively.
*** Well in 1989 George H.W. Bush was POTUS, and Gorbachev is depicted in some of the ''Soviet Assault'' cutscenes
**** The Soviet leader [[http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/11767051/img/11767051.png is only ever seen from the back]], so it could be handwaved that a coup has replaced Gorbachev.
** The game ''does'' attempt to justify the implausibility as far as the American invasion goes, first with the subterfuge involved in the launch of the invasion and by outright stating that the homefront lacks defense capability because of the operations in Europe. These are still handwaves in the strictest sense, however, and the Soviet capability of launching these offensives is best considered itself a part of the AlternateHistory. ''Soviet Assault'' subtly lampshades it; the Russians certainly feel like they're having more trouble than it looks like from the original American point of view, and their propaganda at home shows them halfway to the Mississippi when they never move beyond the Washington State border.
** Similarly, the game doesn't do much to explain how a NATO task force could somehow penetrate the elaborate, purpose-built air and ground defenses in the western USSR, during war time, besides that they launched from Finland.
*** The game can kind of sort of be plausible if one mentally shrinks down the time frame the game's action takes place in to 2-3 days, so the Navy and Air Force haven't yet had time to mobilize a proper retaliatory force yet.
* AnachronicOrder: The single-player campaign
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: The player is given a fixed amount of points to buy units with. The points refill after the unit is lost or is disbanded, over time, but limits the amount of units that can be fielded normally. In multiplayer, the most a player can command at once is 20 units (not counting the infantry squads consisting out of 4 soldiers), but 4-6 units is more common. However, additional units can be deployed with airdrop tactical aids that don't count towards this limit.
* ArtificialStupidity: The campaign AI. The bots used in multiplayer matches are quite smart.
* BigDamnHeroes: Oddly enough, in the Soviet campaign when the Colonel arrives seconds before American civilians are about to be executed.
* BilingualBonus: Units of various nationalities make remarks in their own languages.
** This Norwegian editor was somewhat amused by the Norwegian special forces featured in the campaign actually speaking with proper accents and making remarks in their own language. Unfortunately, the poor choice of actors means that they sound like pampered daddy's boys from the wealthiest suburbs of Oslo instead of grizzled professional soldiers. And they do not use proper military jargon, either.
** The Danish transport troops suffer from the same casting-choices, all speaking with a thick Copenhagen dialect which slightly lowers the credibility.
** In a similar vein, when a unit is destroyed/about to explode, the radio chatter includes 'last words', for example the British cursing one-liner being "Oh, bugger!". The French tank crews are also ''swearing'', in French.
** German Rocket Launchers claim to 'have the final solution'... well.
** Actually, they are saying "We have the firing solution." The other quote would probably be too [[UnfortunateImplications unfortunate]].
* BolivianArmyEnding: At the end of ''Soviet Assault'', Malashenko decides not to return to Russia and instead makes his way to Seattle to defend it against the inevitable American counterattack. Players who have already completed the first game know that [[ForegoneConclusion it won't end well for the Soviets]].
* ColonelBadass: Sawyer.
** And his Soviet counterpart Orlovsky.
*** [[spoiler: Parker by the end. Seeing as he pretty much repelled the Soviets from US soil, saved the Statue of Liberty, helped push back the Soviet forces in France, and managed to rescued down pilots deep in Soviet territory that actually comes weak.]]
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Enemy artillery can apparently fire without needing to reload, will track your units extremely accurately, and the enemy will zero in on your drop zone eventually. Extremely frustrating if you're playing against the Soviets. Also, you know how you have to wait for your reinforcement points to count up to drop in new reinforcements? It doesn't even pretend to be equal in that manner and will have new units rolling in several times faster than you ever could.
* CosmeticAward: Singleplayer gives you a variety of medals, awards and promotions for completing every objective. Online has a achievement system with the same goals, but there are multiple medals for each category (bronze, silver and gold). Medals are awarded for things like reaching certain scores in one match, being the best player in a match or best of role, total points per role and total, winning matches and launching nukes. A medal system is also in place for clans. Needless to say, none of these awards actually do ''anything'', although reaching a certain rank may be required for some servers or clans.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover prominently features the Statue of Liberty under attack. While there is ''one'' mission in New York centered around a surprise attack on Liberty Island, most of the game takes place in Washington State.
** The cover art for ''Soviet Assault'' shows New York City getting nuked, even though the only nuclear weapon used in both games was a single, relatively small scale tactical nuke.
* CriticalExistenceFailure: While most infantry units are composed of Squads that may lose individual members, this applies in full force to any other unit on the field. Buildings' HitPoints also do not effect its integrity and protection for infantry until they run out.
* CripplingOverspecialization: All of the general roles, creating combined arms teamwork necessity:
** Infantry are liable to die pretty much whenever they are out of cover to anything firing at them while being the slowest units in the game, though are enormously effective against what enemy the individual unit is made for fighting while they ''are'' dug in and the role is provided vehicle transports - though the transports are soft-skinned and are destroyed quickly while destroyed transports take the unit inside with it.
** Armor is the slowest of all vehicles and are vulnerable to air units, though their firepower and hardiness give them ground superiority.
** Support is deficient at direct close-combat, but can utilize long-range artillery and has [[TheMedic the Repair Tank]].
** Air is completely unable at capture points and dies quickly to anti-air weapons, but move the fastest and hit hard.
* CrowningMomentofAwesome: The CGI cutscene before the mission set in New York, with Audioslave as background music.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RSl4qlQzg The opening cinematic when the game loads up is an orgasm of weapons fire and combat shots.]]
* DeadlyGas: Nerve gas is available as a tactical aid, and horrifically deadly to infantry.
* DeathFromAbove: Not all Tactical Aids spew death exactly, but they all come from the air. The ones that do spew death, do so spectacularly.
* DestructiveSaviour: Faithful to real life warfare, saving areas is a messy endeavor. When Webb comments on the state of Seattle, Sawyer admits that the US Army caused as least as much damage as the Soviets. There are some objectives based around avoiding this trope for notable buildings, but [[spoiler: the Nuke on Cascade Falls]] is this in full force. At least most buildings are implied to be deserted by civilians.
** Indeed, many of the single player missions end with the "Victory!" screen displayed while the background is the camera panning over the ruins of the town you just liberated from the Soviets.
* DifficultButAwesome: The Infantry role. Slowest and squishiest units in the game, unless they've gotten to a good position providing cover - likely driven to it by their transports - at which their cover fixes the squishiest part while it holds and the squad easily beats up whatever they're made to beat up.
* DividedWeFall: In multi-player matches, the team who works together better usually wins the match.
* EasyLogistics: While reinforcements take some time to be dropped in (and there is another delay until the plane returns to the offmap base, during which you can't order any more units) and tactical aids take a while to take place, fielded units have unlimited ammo, fuel and other supplies. Infantry units can replace losses in a short amount of time. You will never run out of reinforcements aside from a few very specific instances.
** Not to mention, M1 Abrams tanks are air-dropped to where the player needs them. In accordance with the SquareCubeLaw, attempting to do so would likely result in the destruction of every single automotive component in the vehicle. It took a good while to develop an aircraft to even carry an Abrams and not make it the largest aircraft in the Air Force's inventory (and by the way, it wasn't operational by 1989, either), so needless to say ''air-dropping'' one is out of the question in real-life. That said, the game's M551 Sheridan light tank ''is'' a real air-droppable tank - and it's also about the biggest you'll find, too.
** On a strategic level, the game features massive amphibious invasions of the American West Coast and southern France. The first is pulled off, we are informed, by hiding Soviet troops in civilian freighters. The second goes unexplained. Neither makes any attempt to really explain how they intend to keep such a massive invasion over such a great distance ''supplied'' beyond the first few days, aside from brief [[HandWave handwaves]] about naval disasters suffered by NATO leaving the Pacific and Mediterranean open to Soviet shipping.
** The whole Mediterranean invasion is highly dubious, considering how many NATO-held chokepoints there are between the Black Sea and the South of France. One wonders why Massive chose the Riviera to invade at all - it's not iconic like a Soviet invasion of the US, and makes almost no sense, really.
* EnemyExchangeProgram: You can repair and take over vehicles left behind by the other side; they apparently do not require crews. One mission features Soviet special forces using a ridiculously large amount of captured U.S. vehicles.
** Captain Vance, an Army {{Ranger}} CO helping out in that mission, actually lampshades this, saying that the local base was undermanned and over-supplied.
** Another mission has the player take over a lot of left-behind vehicles starting with nothing but 3 vehicles. Although it should be noted that this only happens in the singleplayer mode.
* AFatherToHisMen: Malashenko, while rather horribly [[WouldNotShootACivilian wanting to shoot civilians]], did so because he felt the American troops were taking advantage of [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar the law against it]]; ambushing his men, then [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything dressing as civilians and hiding their weapons.]]
** Indeed, most of Malashenko's berating of the player specifically refers to the men of his command being sacrificed because you did something wrong.
*** When you do keep his men alive, particularly in the first Soviet mission, Malashenko praises you for it.
**** [[spoiler:Ultimately, Malashenko steps away from this, [[MoralEventHorizon choosing to have his men fight a defence in Seattle to continue an now-apparently impossible invasion after killing Orlovsky because Orlovsky wanted to retreat and have their battlegroup return home.]] It is implied that revenge for those who have died has become more important to Malashenko than preserving the lives of those who still live.]]
** Orlovsky is one too - his wife writes to him saying all the women there who husbands are under his command are truely lucky because they know he cares for them. When Malashenko wants to attack civilians right after one of the previous mentioned ambushes but Orlovsky refuses, Malashenko angrily says "But these are my men lying here!", to which Orlovsky sternly replies, insulted, "They are my men too, Captain. ''Never forget that''."
* {{Feelies}}: The collectors edition included a small, authentic piece of the Berlin Wall.
* FogOfWar: Unlike in most other RTS, this game doesn't directly refer to it, and it's not visible on the field, but it's there. And unlike in most other RTS, units aren't revealed when firing at an unit that can't see them. But their shots are, which is a drawback to US and Nato Heavy Artillery which fire highly visible rocket barrages.
* FreudianExcuse: Bannon has a phone conversation with his stepfather, a grizzly abusive Vietnam-vet by the sound of it. Which goes a long way to explaining his usual behavior during the campaign where he shifts between GeneralRipper and CowardlyLion.
* FragileSpeedster: The Air roles' units are fast and do good damage - however, they are incapable of taking points and die quickly to what can target them.
** The Infantry roles' transports move fairly fast and die just as quickly.
* GarrisonableStructures: Makes Riflemen and Anti-Tank squads formidable against vehicles, but [[CriticalExistenceFailure make sure the building doesn't get destroyed]]...
* GatlingGood: The US AntiAir unit, the [=M163=] Vulcan. Also the A-10 Warthog the Americans can all for Tactical Aids...
* GeneralFailure: Captain Bannon, until sacrificing himself on a suicidal mission.
* GlassCannon: The Infantry role's units. Their weapons are as effective as any vehicle's [[CripplingOverspecialization against their intended targets]], but without trees or buildings for cover, they tend to die when enemies look at them funny.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Orlovsky has a single scar running down his right cheek, and is a sympathetic character. Since no other characters have a scar, though, it's more likely used to convey Orlovsky as an experienced officer.
* HeroicMime: Player characters Parker and (in ''Soviet Assault'') Romanov. They are never heard to speak in-game, Parker has a bodily presence in certain cutscenes but we never see his face, and Romanov is never seen at all. They are both clearly Russian and white American respectively, though.
** [[spoiler: The intro to the final mission to retake Seattle reveals that the narrator of the US missions (voiced by Alec Baldwin) is, in fact, Parker, though at that point it should be pretty obvious.]]
** [[spoiler: By the same token, it is implied that the 2nd narrator of the Soviet missions - the one talking about the realities of the war- is Romanov.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: The foolish and cowardly Captain Bannon redeems himself by volunteering for a holding action against an overwhelming Soviet force so that the tactical nuke intended for them can take proper effect.]]
* HoldTheLine: Some objectives are like this. Also during the Invasion of Seattle, a Private is on the radio having a small HeroicBSOD screaming about how the Soviets won't get one inch further. Seeing as how he only appears in that mission he either died or calmed down - maybe both, not in that order.
* ImpressivePyrotechnics: The game includes fire support options ranging from mortar bombardment through napalm drops and carpet bombing by B-52s all the way to tactical nuclear strikes, all depicted with massive amounts of sound and fury.
** Gets into SceneryGorn if you've got DirectX10 enabled, enhancing the fire and smoke effects. Smoke will even roll around foliage a little more realistically.
* InvadedStatesOfAmerica: The game's plot.
* InstantWinCondition: Many missions, particularly ones that involve defending something, feel a bit unsatisfactory to win. Since there are no bases, you are fighting endlessly respawning Soviet troops with your own army of respawning forces. After a while of not screwing this up, the game declares you won, although the fight rages on behind the victory screen.
* ItsRainingMen: Infantry unit creations and reinforcements parachute down to the field. On the AcceptableBreakFromReality side, ''all'' land units are airdropped in, included the heaviest tanks of your military force.
* JackOfAllTrades: The purview of the Infantry role, whose infantry within its role are capable of fighting off all the other roles... [[CripplingOverspecialization as long as they can get to cover first]]. The role even includes the Troop Transport unit, which is one of the few units that can repair vehicles. Exemplified by the Infantry squad, whose combined individual soldiers make the squad capable of attacking every unit in the game.
** The Armored Transport of the Armor role is also capable of damaging every unit in the game.
* JustAStupidAccent: The NATO side is a curious mishmash of units from various countries, with German heavy armour, British medium and light Armour, French footsoldiers, Danish transport vehicles and Italian Helicopters. While the British speak proper British English, the rest speak English with JustAStupidAccent and [[PoirotSpeak a handful of words taken from their respective languages]].
** To be fair, that's only when they address the player. Their idle chatter is in their original languages (the same applies for the Russians in multiplayer).
** Justified, they are addressing an American officer. (And the words are often exclamations that make sense in context)
* KillItWithFire: Lots of incendiary weapons to be had. Bonus points for the experimental incendiary bomb the Soviet air force asks you to field test in the Soviet campaign.
* KindaBusyHere: A response that comes from infantry units if you select them while engaging in combat.
* KnightTemplar: Capt. Malashenko in the ExpansionPack follows [[WarCraft Arthas]]' path so closely, he can be considered his {{expy}}. He does have a [[ItsPersonal more convincing cause]], though: [[spoiler:his wife and baby daughter are killed during Sawyer's surprise raid near Murmansk]].
** KarmicDeath: It's strongly suggested that [[spoiler:he gets killed by Parker and Co. in Seattle while the rest of his battlegroup survives by disobeying that order]].
* MauveShirt: A CGI scene shows many American soldiers in transport helicopters gearing up and readying themselves to fight. A bunch of those choppers then get shredded by anti-air guns.
* ManlyTears / TearJerker: Listening to the phone call Bannon makes to his mom before the incident at Cascade Falls brings tears and a salute from this trooper, since his mother received the phone call after the battle was over, [[spoiler: and she was aware of her son's HeroicSacrifice]]. Also, the deaths of various characters. Subverted by [[spoiler:Malashenko]] when news came that [[spoiler: his wife and baby daughter didn't make it. But his delayed reaction only adds to the sense of grief as he attempts to rationalize their deaths. Also, you do get to hear the letters the couple wrote to each other before the incident.]]
** Hell, the whole game. As much as the plot takes refuge in ArtisticLicence to function around several factors that make it an implausible scenario, the presentation is easy on par with the best war dramas in cinema.
* TheMedic: The Repair Tank, being one of the few units capable of repairing but cannot transport infantry and is completely unarmed. However, it is still in the body of a tank and is fairly hardy.
* MissionControl: Colonels Sawyer and Orlovsky.
* MonumentalDamage: Subverted - the Soviets destroy the Kingdome, a sports stadium that is only really recognizable by Seattleites, and was demolished seven years before the game was released. Meanwhile, the Space Needle, easily the most recognizable landmark in the city, survives intact.
** The Statue of Liberty is also endangered at one point. If you fail to save it, there is a special cutscene before the gameover.
*** Played straight in multiplayer, where both the Space Needle and statue of Liberty are quite destroyable.
** Of course, you get the chance to destroy tons of monuments on the side yourself (the main building on Ellis Island, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haus_der_Kulturen_der_Welt Haus der Kulturen der Welt]], etc.).
* MoreDakka: There's ''plenty'' of dakka to go around on both sides, but the true firepower comes from the Tactical Aids you can call onto the map. The Americans, for instance, can call an air to ground strafing run in a straight line wherever on the map they like, and an [[GatlingGood A-10 Warthog]] will happily oblige.
* MultinationalTeam: The NATO side features Western European members (No Canada sadly). Done probably for balance as most of them as individual armies lack certain categories of units the game uses. (Only Britain and France have nukes, Britain lacks an amphibious APC, Only Italy has attack helicopters etc.)
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: A SubvertedTrope, since Orlovsky doesn't seem to like invading the United States.
** Played fairly straight soon after the game begins with Colonel Sawyer, who will make any sacrifice--including American lives and infrastructure--to achieve victory for the United States.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: he doesn't say it but when Bannon kills a bunch of surrendering soldiers/Civlians accidentally, he does not take it well.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: Arguably what prompts the above sentiment for Colonel Sawyer, and unlike other examples it's not part of the backstory, but part of the plot. He sees having to use the tactical nuclear weapon at Cascade Falls to be his own horrific failure (over the objections of Captain Webb--see the Mission 12 introduction movie) and will do anything--even sacrifice American lives in high-casualty, head-on attacks--to stop another nuke from being used.
* NoodleIncident: The game hints at a black mark on Sawyer's military career prior to the cutscene showing him being re-activated to command forces in Europe.
* NoCampaignForTheWicked: In the original single-player campaign, the Soviets are non-playable. Even in ''Soviet Assault'', they get 6 missions, compared to 14 for the US-Nato alliance. Though it is an expansion.
* NoOSHACompliance: Subverted. The opening cinematic when Soviet armored vehicles are shown being directed off their transports by safety-conscious personnel, wearing professional-looking earmuffs.
* PoirotSpeak: In the Soviet missions, characters will often speak a single phrase in Russian (''"Govorit Lebedjev"'' = "Lebedjev speaking") before delivering the rest of their statement in English.
* PoliceAreUseless: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since the police forces of Seattle and Washington State are not meant to engage professional soldiers, armoured vehicles and ''attack helicopters''. Debatably even averted, as they still manage to do their part, and are seen building and defending barricades with revolvers and otherwise helping during the evacuation.
--> '''Port Authority Officer:''' ''*dodging a gunship's minigun with his car*'' 11-99! Repeat, 11-99 emergency! They have gunships! I repeat, gunships! We need help immediately, America is under attack!
* ThePoliticalOfficer: Major Lebedjev of KGB in ''Soviet Assault''.
* RatedMForManly: The rest of the game isn't at all overtly this, but the opening cinematic when you open the game? Other games might have a basic backstory and a few lead-ups to the game's present, connected to some cool action shots. The opening cinematic for the game mostly consists a ridiculous amount of shoots that call consist of combat and shooting from various different sources.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: See HeroicSacrifice example above;
* RevengeBeforeReason: Surprisingly averted with the already angry Malashenko, when he learns his wife was killed by NATO back home, swallows his considerable anger and continues. [[spoiler:Subverted later as he orders his men to defend Seattle against the American counterattack when it is clear the very notion is completely hopeless, especially as the American missions attest this by ending it with you succeeding in this counterattack.]]
* RightManInTheWrongPlace: At least for the Soviets. Parker and Bannon were in Seattle, either visiting family or getting reassigned for just being in the area when the Soviets attack.
* RPGElements: Like in other recent RTS, units gain experience and may "level up" 4 times. The effects of this are reduced ability and fire cooldowns aswell as increased sight and accuracy. However, defense isn't affected in any way.
* RunningGag: Mike's CD player and the (missing) batteries for it. Mind you, it's 1989.
* SeparateButIdentical: While each faction uses vehicles that they used during the Cold War in real life, they pretty much function identically with the exception of special abilities. One notable exception is the Heavy Artillery unit. The US and Nato use MLRS, while the Soviets use cannon artillery firing just a single powerful shell.
** The Heavy Artillery differences are significant, however, as following the smoke trails of the MLRS can pinpoint it's location, even if you can't see it, whereas the cannon artillery is not nearly as vulnerable to counterbattery fire. In addition, there are minor differences between the various units depending on the faction: for the most part, the US units are more heavily armored than the Soviet units, while the Soviet units are faster. The NATO units also have a slight benefit in speed. Functionally, however, two heavy tanks against two heavy tanks will result in a Pyrrhic victory for whoever wins, so it doesn't really matter that much.
* ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon: Partly averted with tanks which have an impressive range (for an RTS unit, anyway) provided a forward scout, but artillery units have a drastically shortened range compared to their real life counterparts, However, this is only true for on-map artillery pieces - artillery strikes ordered through the tactical aid menu can hit anywhere on the map.
* ShownTheirWork: For a developer based in Sweden, Massive Entertainment did a hell of a job depicting downtown Seattle circa 1989.
** This troper lives near Seattle, and was down there a couple months ago. He went down to the docks and surrounding streets, and identified most of the roads, cranes, and buildings present in the first Seattle mission. In fact, there were few differences between the actual Seattle, and World in Conflict's Seattle.
* SlapOnTheWristNuke Devastating no doubt, but mostly a waste of tactical aid points and nowhere as powerful as a real-life nuke. In the single player mode, it's used only once; the player doesn't actually activate it as much as as activate a cutscene.
** Nukes work well when your enemies are bunching up their forces too much over a large area, or if you want to make a part of the map difficult to occupy due to radiation poisoning.
** PowerOfFriendship + ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Three nukes launched by a single player costs a lot less than three nukes launched by three (or two) players. This means that teams who are willing to let one player take a high score and pool points to that player for a triple nuke will get to inflict MASSIVE damage on the rival team.
** Unless you download the No Hope mod, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDfZjBBCut0&feature=player_detailpage#t=14s in which you get a H-nuke, which can destroy most of the map.]]
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: In ''Soviet Assault''. Malashenko is the idealist, believing in most, if not all, of his country's propaganda. Lebedjev is the cynical one. Incidentally, their wives are on the same ends of the scale as them.
** Parker, though this transpires earlier on, as each pre-mission narrative reveals his clear dismay at the reality of the situation, while recalling the sense of invincibility and confidence he had as an American, before the invasion.
* StuffBlowingUp: [[EvilLaugh Muh-ha-ha-ha...HA-HA-HA]]''[[EvilLaugh ...HA-HA-HA]]'''''''[[EvilLaugh ...HA-HA-HA!]]''''' ([[CaptainObvious There's a lot.]])
** Realistically, too! For instance, the effects of the BLU-82 "daisy cutter" bomb look pretty much the same as in [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/BLU-82_Daisy_Cutter_Fireball.JPG real life]].
*** [[spoiler: In the last mission after you keep the Chinese from landing, and driving the Soviets away, you get full access to all the Tactical options and you don't have to worry about points..... Well, this part of Seattle needed to be renovated anyway.]]
* SupportingProtagonist: Lieutenants Parker and Romanov may be keys to the military victories of their respective armies, but the story of the game ultimately revolves around the fall of Colonel Sawyer and Captains Bannon and Malashenko, and the redemption of the first two.
* TacticalRockPaperScissors: This is the essence of the multiplayer roles. TropesAreNotBad.
* TakeCover: Infantry can do this in sufficiently dense woods, or [[GarrisonableStructures garrison buildings]].
* ThoseTwoGuys: Corporals Mike and Anton of the Washington Army National Guard.
* WouldNotShootACivilian: Played with for Bannon getting in trouble for shooting surrendering men and ignoring an assertion that something was off by one of his crewman. Orlovsky is enraged at the idea of Malashenko wanting to subvert this.
** Potentially played straight by Bannon--the description of the men he opens fire, and the fact that the battle was happening outside a major population center, suggests that he fired not at surrendering soldiers, but Soviet civil defense workers.
* YouAreInCommandNow: Happens to Bannon in the open cinema of the first mission.
--> (Bannon is driving a Humvee through the increasingly debris filled streets of Seattle while on the Radio) "This is Captain Bannon! I need to speak to who in charge!" *Beat* "What do you mean 'I Am'?!"
* ZergRush: [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard The computer will be trying to do this all the time]]. ''All the time''. Use your artillery and tactical aid ''constantly''.

Due to its setup, it averts many typical RTS tropes:
* DeathOfAThousandCuts - subverted: Infantry may only harm tanks and other heavily-armoured vehicles if they have specific squad members that can attack them, while attacking from other vehicle unequipped to deal with tanks deal literally no damage to them. And the setup doesn't really lend itself to overwhelming enemies with massive numbers. Where you shoot a target is important too; a missile shot at a tank's rear will do a lot of damage, while a shot to the front has a high probability of simply bouncing off.
* RealTimeStrategy unit archetypes: The game lacks basic workers, has no on-map naval forces and the only directly controllable aircraft ''are'' helicopters. It also lacks dedicated siege units, though heavy artillery serves this in a pinch. Fixed-wing aircraft are available from the support menu, as well as, on one memorable occasion, the main guns of the ''U.S.S. Missouri''.
* RidiculouslyFastConstruction: You never really construct anything other than fortifications, which are built faster the more units are in a certain area.
* TechTree: All units and tactical aids are available from the start, although the nuke has a significant delay before it can be used.
* UnitsNotToScale: [[AvertedTrope They are here]]. Infantry can be pretty difficult to spot as a result, which is especially unfortunate since you require certain infantry squad members alive to attack heavy and air vehicle threats.
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