Act of War: Direct Action

 PC
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 43 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 43
  3. Negative: 0 out of 43
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  1. GameSpy
    70
    In many ways, it's a by-the-numbers RTS, but a solid one, with a few imaginative mechanics built into it.
  2. GamePro
    70
    The single player campaign does a good job of gradually introducing new gameplay concepts and putting them to use. Unfortunately, the great gameplay is saddled with a ludicrous story (complete with overacted FMV cut scenes and techno-fascist iconography).
  3. games(TM)
    70
    Will it make you rethink how you see strategy games? Don’t be daft. Will you enjoy playing it? Almost certainly. [May 2005, p.88]
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  5. Thunderbolt
    70
    However, it’s most definitely a great step for the genre in terms of storytelling that will hopefully be properly mimicked and expanded by another developer or in a sequel.
  6. RealGamer
    68
    Quite brutally it’s old school that just doesn’t meet the modern grade.

Awards & Rankings

28
#28 Best PC Game of 2005
91
#91 Most Discussed PC Game of 2005

User Reviews

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User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 63 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 63
  3. Negative: 8 out of 63
  1. Yuri
    Mar 26, 2005
    10
    If you thought c&c:generals was good, think again.
  2. UltraGamer
    Mar 31, 2012
    10
    This game is awesome. It is one of my favourite games of all time up there with homeworld 2. Both of these games are so great i find it hardThis game is awesome. It is one of my favourite games of all time up there with homeworld 2. Both of these games are so great i find it hard to decide which is the ultimate. These guys really stepped in and picked up where westwood dropped the ball, dropped the live action cutscenes and went "in game 3d"… Full Review »
  3. Delta_Assault
    Sep 22, 2011
    10
    I played this RTS religiously for about a year before I moved on and found out about Dawn of War. Anybody who likes RTSs at all should tryI played this RTS religiously for about a year before I moved on and found out about Dawn of War. Anybody who likes RTSs at all should try this little-known gem from Atari. To put it simply, Act of War is in my opinion the perfect Command and Conquer game. It takes everything that made Command and Conquer great and dials it up to 11. This is strange because Act of War isn't actually an official Command and Conquer game. IMO, Act of War got exactly the right scale of combat. With DoW 2, you have small intimate squad battles. With Supreme Commander, you've got a ginormous scale with epic battles across entire peninsulas. Act of War had the perfect average of scale with good infantry action (even inside buildings!), while also allowing for devastating nuclear strikes and massed tank rushes. They even managed to pull off air combat in an innovative realistic fashion, which Relic later mimicked in CoH. Even Command and Conquer 3 came out later and tried to follow the magic and execution of Act of War, but I think they fell short. About the *only* complaint I can ever make about Act of War is that the infantry are individual units rather then squads, but I played it before DoW so that didn't bother me at the time.… Full Review »
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