April 7, 2006

Rush for Berlin Units Revealed

Paradox Interactive and Stormregion proudly unveils the officers, their skills and their path to victory in the upcoming RTS title Rush for Berlin

Similar to the heroes found in RTS or RPG games, Rush for Berlin introduces heroic officers with a special skill system. The officer unit is an important "add-on" to the player's army. In this release, Stormregion wants to reward the player for using officers as "hero characters" on the frontlines instead of placing them at the edge of the map to keep them safe to ensure neither they nor the whole mission is lost at the same time.

Rush for Berlin will motivate players to send officer units into the action-packed battles. The officers will introduce special skills, which will influence the units nearby and level up when fighting successfully. This, in turn, enables the units to learn new special skills. The WWII RTS game Rush for Berlin introduces a skill system for officers, which is quite easy to use and understand while providing more depth to the gameplay.

The western Allies, the Russians, the French and the Germans are played differently when it comes to tactics and gameplay. Each side also has 4 different officers with unique skills, all matching the style of the nation. Essentially, each officer has a standard weapon (e.g. a machine gun) and - most importantly - up to 3 skills. Even the strongest opponent will be crushed by the German tank ace's precision shot capability, while the Soviet commissar uses propaganda to demoralize his enemies, and the Allied supply officer uses supply planes to bring in reinforcements.

To see all new screens of Rush for Berlin's officer units, click here.

More examples of officer skills:

Russian Officers
The commissar uses the "Double Vodka" option to raise the morale of his soldiers. His call for "Propaganda" will cause a massive amount of propaganda material to be spread over a designated area, lowering the morale of enemy soldiers significantly. The partisan leader will detect hidden units, e.g. units hidden in a building or in the forest as well as camouflaged or wooden "fake" units.

German Officers
The engineer uses the radio-controlled "Goliath". He sends an exploding miniature tank, the so-called Zwergpanzer (translates to "dwarf tank" which existed in reality) to attack the target in sight. The Luftwaffe ground officer has the "Fliegerfaust" (literal translation: flying fist, an AA system) at his disposal and provides Air Superiority. For a limited time, all hostile planes on the entire map will be shot down by Me 262 super jets (also real)! The Volkssturm officer has "Last Reserves" and lowers the cost of Panzergrenadier units.

Western Allied Officers
The SAS officer's "Sabotage" skill will slow down the hostile facilities' production. The communications officer orders a "Photo Recon" and for a limited time, the fog of war disappears on the entire battlefield. The supply officer calls for a "Supply Drop" from an airborne supply container next to him. Note that the plane can be shot down…

Last but not least, an example from the French campaign: The French Maquisard leader carries "High Explosives" kits. These kits can be blown up or defused on the bomb's interface. These explosives cause extra damage to buildings and vehicles.

Skills in general
Skills can be active or passive and officers can die during a battle! Should this happen, another officer of the same type can be deployed on the battlefield by parachute. The player will have to level him up again, something that is done quicker the more he fights.

The combination of the different officers and their skills in particular, as well as their impact on other standard units nearby adds a huge amount of tactical finesse to both the single player and multiplayer gameplay. Officers can also select their best action in automatic mode, which will be activated if the officer's vehicle is attacked or when he is shooting at the enemy. Each nation has been given an interesting combination of different skills.

About the Game
Top developer Stormregion is going one step further in this release. The 3D real-time strategy game Rush for Berlin depicts what might have happened if a new leadership had faced up to the advancing Allies and Russia, following Hitler's removal from power. What if they had deployed the already developed super weapons?

Your first aim is to win the race for Berlin in 1944 - 1945. Playing on the side of the Americans, will you succeed in hoisting the US flag on the “Reichstag” before the Red Army? Prepare yourself for a visually luxurious strategy hit that focuses on the enjoyment of the game: tactical WWII war gaming full of fresh ideas. Officers have special abilities and acquire new skills at every level. And the time factor will be introduced as a resource in a game for the first time.

Paradox Interactive publishes the World War II title Rush for Berlin in the United States and Canada under license. The race begins, May 2006. For further information on the latest hit from the creators of Panzers, please visit the Rush for Berlin website

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