Tom Clancy's EndWar Online turns your browser into the theater of war

Tom Clancy's EndWar Online is a browser-based spin-off of the original EndWar, which features intense tactical combat, resource management and faction-oriented battles — all delivered in matches that can be played in short bursts.

Speaking to Polygon, EndWar Online's creative director Michal Madej said part of the reason Ubisoft decided to create a browser-based spin-off was because the original EndWar aimed to create a global theater of war, but the problem was not everyone who was playing was connected.

"The original game was on console and it was faction versus faction, but what was lacking was not everyone was connected," Madej said. "There wasn't a shared theater of war. But on browser, almost everyone has a web browser, so we can try to achieve the goal of the original EndWar of having everyone be connected."

Set 10 years after the events of the original EndWar, the major factions of the game (Europe, Russia and the U.S.) have started falling apart. Separatist factions have spawned and most major cities have been destroyed. Players must now rebuild their headquarters, reunite their army and contest areas for resources and dominance.

Players will be able to take part in single-player PvE missions or play against others in PvP matches. In PvE mode, the storyline is all about rebuilding and reuniting, with the story being told through 10 chapters — each chapter contains five missions and each mission has its own series of battles.

Instead of taking place in an expansive world, battles are played out in tower defense-like arenas where players will have to send out unit types like tanks, artillery, infantry, drones, helicopters, anti-aircraft vehicles and more to take down the opponent while defending their own base.

Grid View

All units have a rock-paper-scissors element to them, so players will have to strategically equip their forces and figure out which units to send out at which time. For example, tanks are powerful against other ground vehicles, but are vulnerable against helicopter gunships. Helicopters are great against most land-based vehicles, but are weak against anti-aircraft vehicles. Battle units can also be upgraded, with each unit having its own upgrade tree.

EndWar Online is expected to go into closed beta by the end of the year.