By Joseph Luster

From the battles of the past to the future that lies ahead, we now turn our attention to an upcoming team-based first-person shooter known simply as World War 3. Despite the fact that World War 3 depicts a fictional combat zone that has yet to happen, developer The Farm 51 has done its best to adhere to our reality throughout the process. The game is being produced in cooperation with military research-and-development centers and consultants, ensuring that the battles in which you participate unfold with some deep global consequences.

That realism spans everything from the overall setup to the weapons, uniforms, and maps. World War 3 depicts real-world locations such as Warsaw, Moscow, and Berlin, with more locations to be added into the mix as development progresses. The goal is twofold: The team wants to make the stakes believable for all players, while also making their individual efforts personal for everyone on the battlefield. Supporting the weapon realism is a robust ballistic system that competes with advancements in armor to make every shot count across the game’s various competitive maps.

At the heart of all of this are two distinct game modes, Warzone and Recon. Warzone is the more action oriented of the two, tasking players with beefing up their teamwork skills so they can effectively take their infantry and armored vehicles over specified points of fortification. Advanced tactics come into play in Recon mode, which has players forming small reconnaissance squads and attempting to enter hostile territory and survive while capturing high-value targets. It sounds like something for two varied types of players, but The Farm 51 is hoping both will combine to create a cohesive field combat experience.

As for those aforementioned consequences, each battle will bring with it a series of rewards in the form of resources that will let high-performing players conquer or defend specific territories. This aspect of World War 3 essentially creates a meta-game centered on the bigger picture of global war. The more bonuses you earn throughout each mission, the better chance you have at turning the tide of war in your side’s favor. The results of this ongoing conflict will be on display on an interactive world map, with which the developers intend to eventually represent the entire world.

World War 3 has the potential to scratch the itch of those interested in teamwork-focused shooters on a large scale. It’s too early to tell at the moment, but it’s due out on Steam Early Access this fall, so we’ll be able to get our hands on the not-so-final product soon. If everything goes according to plan and The Farm 51 is able to launch World War 3 without too many issues, we should be seeing that global conflict spread through more real-world locations in the not too distant future.

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