Today the RUSE public beta has closed and so ends my 4 week long obsession with that game.
 
To call it an obsession perhaps may be a little strong, I only spent the weekends playing it, as my weekdays are devoted entirely to College. But when I did get to play... I really threw myself into it.
As a little background, I've always been an avid RTS player. Some of my earliest memories of videogames are of playing the original Age of Empires and Warcraft. I played Starcraft nonstop for a long time (though I was too young to really get competitve). The last RTS that I seriously sunk a lot of time into was Rise of Nations, where I managed to climb ranking ladders and even top the charts a couple times.
But then that all stopped for awhile. I started focusing more on studies, games like Civ 4 and the Total War series drew my attention away.
 
But then, just 4 or so weeks ago, a friend tapped me on the proverbial shoulder and asked me to play some RUSE with him. I was hooked instantaneously.
 
I could go on and on about what RUSE has done right. It's truly a phenomenal game. It's core concept is to make an RTS unlike any RTS before it... an RTS that does not focus on "micro".
For those unfamiliar with the term, "micro" is what you call minute manipulations of your units to gain advantages on the field. To give a good example of "micro", take a look at "muta stacking" in Starcraft.
For many new players to RTS, micro is incredibly frustrating and counter intuitive. Most new RTS players want to build up their units and invest in large numbers and the late game. Micro is tedious and annoying to them, and they get beaten because of it.
 
I don't disagree, "micro" can definitely be a huge pain. There were times when I bemoaned micro. I've come to terms with it now and employ the same tactics to win matches. I still, however, feel that muta stacking is... well. Silly. It's a Real Time Strategy game. Not a Real Time Click a Bunch game.
 
What RUSE sets out to do is remove as much micro hassle as possible and focus all of its gameplay design on making the focus being outwitting and outmaneuvering your opponent. You do this by concealing your units and fooling your opponent into making mistakes, small ones over and over, until they lose.
------------------
 
But I digress. This is a blog post, not a what's-so-great-about-ruse post.
All of this RUSE hysteria I've had culminated last weekend when I and a friend I made playing RUSE online entered into the 2v2 tournament sponsored over at the official RUSE ubisoft forums. The prize: 2 preorders of RUSE.
 
We started off shaky, narrowly escaping some early losses during the lightning elimination rounds. Miraculously, though, my friend and I made it to the semifinals and finally... the finals.
 
It was a complete shock to us, we incredibly nervous. We hadn't been involved in the RUSE forum community, which pretty much all the other high ranking players were, we were complete unknowns. Here we were up against the no. 1 best RUSE player and his teammate, the 4th best.
 
Here's the match:
 

Today the RUSE public beta has closed and so ends my 4 week long obsession with that game.
 
To call it an obsession perhaps may be a little strong, I only spent the weekends playing it, as my weekdays are devoted entirely to College. But when I did get to play... I really threw myself into it.
As a little background, I've always been an avid RTS player. Some of my earliest memories of videogames are of playing the original Age of Empires and Warcraft. I played Starcraft nonstop for a long time (though I was too young to really get competitve). The last RTS that I seriously sunk a lot of time into was Rise of Nations, where I managed to climb ranking ladders and even top the charts a couple times.
But then that all stopped for awhile. I started focusing more on studies, games like Civ 4 and the Total War series drew my attention away.
 
But then, just 4 or so weeks ago, a friend tapped me on the proverbial shoulder and asked me to play some RUSE with him. I was hooked instantaneously.
 
I could go on and on about what RUSE has done right. It's truly a phenomenal game. It's core concept is to make an RTS unlike any RTS before it... an RTS that does not focus on "micro".
For those unfamiliar with the term, "micro" is what you call minute manipulations of your units to gain advantages on the field. To give a good example of "micro", take a look at "muta stacking" in Starcraft.
For many new players to RTS, micro is incredibly frustrating and counter intuitive. Most new RTS players want to build up their units and invest in large numbers and the late game. Micro is tedious and annoying to them, and they get beaten because of it.
 
I don't disagree, "micro" can definitely be a huge pain. There were times when I bemoaned micro. I've come to terms with it now and employ the same tactics to win matches. I still, however, feel that muta stacking is... well. Silly. It's a Real Time Strategy game. Not a Real Time Click a Bunch game.
 
What RUSE sets out to do is remove as much micro hassle as possible and focus all of its gameplay design on making the focus being outwitting and outmaneuvering your opponent. You do this by concealing your units and fooling your opponent into making mistakes, small ones over and over, until they lose.
------------------
 
But I digress. This is a blog post, not a what's-so-great-about-ruse post.
All of this RUSE hysteria I've had culminated last weekend when I and a friend I made playing RUSE online entered into the 2v2 tournament sponsored over at the official RUSE ubisoft forums. The prize: 2 preorders of RUSE.
 
We started off shaky, narrowly escaping some early losses during the lightning elimination rounds. Miraculously, though, my friend and I made it to the semifinals and finally... the finals.
 
It was a complete shock to us, we incredibly nervous. We hadn't been involved in the RUSE forum community, which pretty much all the other high ranking players were, we were complete unknowns. Here we were up against the no. 1 best RUSE player and his teammate, the 4th best.
 
Here's the match:
 

Wow dude, that's pretty freaking sweet!

I'm really regretting not trying the beta, but the guys I normally game with had just discovered Borderlands when that came out and we've been rocking it for a couple weeks now.   I'm definitely going to read through your guide and think about picking it up now.

Fantastic job you guys, allow me to personally congratulate you and especially your newbie buddy.
 
Albeit, I have no idea what's going in that video, but still!