Almost all information and controls are on the screen at once, and interface commands are reduced to their simplest level. The simplistic interface and cartoonish infantry units betray WarGames’ simultaneous development for the PlayStation and PC. Resource management is largely out of the loop, reduced to gaining funds through “hacker” units that can hack into computers to transfer cash used for structures and units. The game unfolds in a semi-narrative, fluid fashion, as you receive E-mail messages from headquarters, Professor Falken, WOPR, and others. The thirty campaign missions that drive the game are fairly interesting, with large maps and multiple objectives. The campaign can be played from either side (human or WOPR) in a series of large-scale missions, but there are no single scenarios or mission editor. From there, gameplay settles into a comfy pattern of building units and conquering map objectives. The Cold War and nuclear elements are gone, to be replaced by a stand-off between the mechanical forces made, deployed, and controlled by WOPR in an attempt to start a global war and the human forces out to stop it. WarGames essentially takes the premise of a large military computer protecting itself and jettisons the rest of the movie it’s based upon. It has no great surprises, but is solid and enjoyable in a genre that is too often neither. Of course, Bungie beat them to the shelf with its 3D tactical game Myth (and a more attractive one at that), but WarGames still looks and plays well.
The attraction was the 3D graphics engine, a novelty at the time, which added full rotation and zooming to base building and tank rushing. Among the wave of real-time strategy games at the 1997 E3, WarGames was one of several that stood out.
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