Q&A by Dmitriy MOROZOV – Best Way Director

Faces of War is the sequel of "Soldiers: Heroes of World War II", which was your first game. Why did you choose to create a real time strategy focused on WWII and especially on squad leading?
The development of Faces of War began with search and research. We sought a new gameplay, a new idea, which would become as important in the game, as the "Direct Control" feature in 'Soldiers'. After a lot of testing, it appeared that squad leading could well become the very element, which would make a new game, without disrupting the basis we have been working on for so long. As it turned out, squad grouping gave the game a lot more than merely a new control element. Combined with "Direct Control" it provided an entirely new gameplay, which – I hope – has become the cornerstone of 'Faces of War'. Previously, with the high level of game world detail and vast gameplay possibilities, we were still lacking in scale: all operations were limited to three-four troops. And even with such a small number of units to control it was becoming a problem and caused complaints of many users. Now, with the AI substantially upgraded, the player gets the precious needed time to evaluate the situation, while the units are taking care of the enemy. The squad acts as a whole, while at the same time, each unit takes individual decisions. They can retreat, advance, take positions, and fix vehicles on their own. This approach helped ensure a more dynamic, fast, and interesting gameplay. In my opinion, this is an excellent example of how a player can "relax and enjoy" the game.

What were your initial primary ambitions for the game?
Essentially, there was no certain ambitions. As I've already said the development of Faces of War started with search and research: without these we wouldn't have been able to understand what we can do and what the player expects us to do. The basic idea was to create something larger and more eventful, than Soldiers. That is to say, that, for landing in Normandy we needed some completely different gameplay control tools: the instruments which were at hand then could not provide for a smooth gameplay with the given number of attackers and defenders. Then again, the search was not limited to gameplay only: we were looking for a way of making a more detailed, interesting, and better-quality picture. We changed the camera behavior too, because the new gameplay required new angles.

Many WWII RTS titles are planned to be released. What will differentiate ‘Faces of War' from competitors or even from ‘Soldiers: Heroes of WWII'?
The difference of Faces of War from the competitors is obvious: first of all, no other game so far can offer such a large range of actions in battle: on the one hand, the player can control a 5-10-strong squad, on the other – he can descend into the thick of combat and control a separate given unit, almost as in 3rd person action. Also it is about the truly unique damage system, which accounts for ordnance hits and breakdowns on the component level. The highly detailed building damage, which allows the player to not only use his firepower to destroy the enemy, but also for the purposes of clearing the path for the troops, eliminating enemy cover, or just for the kicks of its.
Another feature worth mentioning is the different weather conditions and seasons. ‘Faces of War' spans the full period from summer 1944 through spring 1945. This means that the game will feature all four seasons with all the specific effects and game elements. For instance, the winter campaign will featured icebound rivers, with tanks breaking though the ice and sinking and soldiers freezing to death in cold water.
We also decided not to limit ourselves to daylight combat only. All in all, the time of day and weather conditions will differ from mission to mission. We can boast with spectacular sunsets, moonlit nights, thunderstorms, and – of course – snowfalls. During the night streetlamps and vehicle lights will be on, explosions and flashes will cause bright effects – in short it will be everything a player can expect from a night fight. And in some mission weather would change during the game...