Today's War Is Tomorrow's Act of War: Direct Action is a terrifying story of suspense, global intrigue, and geopolitical, military confrontation taken directly from today's headlines. This real-time strategy Game gives you direct command of counterterrorism forces and a sneak preview of the future conflict.

• The Predicament: A dire energy situation. Terrorist assaults massive attacks worldwide instability
• The Enemy: A mysterious consortium of behind-the-scenes plotters intent to use well-known terror techniques to destabilise the planet altogether
• Our Heroes:Task Force TALON is a new "direct action" organisation created to defeat an unpredictable enemy intent on overthrowing the world's governments by fending off large military assaults, rescuing hostages, carrying out top-secret spy missions, seizing detainees, and taking hostages.

Key Features

• Oversee incredibly realistic modern military troops.
• the powerful fusion of live-action, visual effects, and high-end cinema
• Up to eight players can engage in intense multiplayer operations.
• The actual urban battle involving the capture of POWs and the damage to the environment
• Thrilling plot by Dale Brown, a New York Times bestselling author

Gameplay

Over an hour of live-action video is mixed in with pre-rendered cutscenes in this Game. In the summer of 2004, live-action was filmed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Using the machinima process, which involves having one person play while being recorded from various perspectives, pre-rendered cutscenes were created (with all interface elements hidden). Then, sound effects and dialogue are added to the previously-recorded footage using post-processing.

Heavily injured warriors in the act of War are rendered immobile and unable to participate in battle until they obtain medical support. They might drown in blood or be captured by the enemy and held as prisoners of War. Realistic building destruction is possible, and barriers can be built. Act of War forces the player to utilise a range of units, unlike RTS games where all-around efficient units may be bulk and used almost entirely over other teams.

Marc Canham and Jonathan Williams wrote the music for the soundtrack, which the Nimrod Studio Orchestra performed. It became available on July 7, 2006.

Plot

Act of War takes place in what is only described as "a near future," which is either 2017 or 2023, given that the Game launches on May 10 and fuel costs in the U.S. have risen to over $7 per gallon as a result of an economic catastrophe. An oil refinery in Houston is destroyed by a terrorist bombing one week before the "World Energy Forum" meeting in London. Therefore, the World Energy Forum is under the protection of Task Force Talon, an elite top-secret military organisation. The team stops the attack, but two VIPs—Yegor Zakharov, a representative of the global energy consortium, and Arthur Kingman, CEO of TransGlobal Energy Corporation (TGE)—are taken, hostage. Task Force Talon reportedly saves these VIPs from being killed by retrieving them first. Later, a large military assault in San Francisco is launched by an unidentified terrorist group. Eventually, Task Force Talon can neutralise the assailants. The American administration issues a total troop recall, ordering American forces from all over the world to return home to defend against further attacks on American soil.

But Major Jason Richter, the Task Force Talon commander, is unhappy with the order to recall the troops. He has observed that TGE, the oil firm on the approach of ending the oil crisis, has been the main target of terrorist assaults in Houston, London, California, and other locations worldwide. Without American forces in Egypt, according to Richter, terrorists will demolish TGE. Therefore, Major Richter deploys Task Force Talon forces to Egypt to defy the U.S. President's executive orders. They can acquire adequate intelligence to persuade the President to support their military defence of the TGE complex in Egypt. Task Force Talon uses cutting-edge military technologies to fight an enemy inside the Egyptian TGE refinery.