Atari commits Act of War in early 2005

Atari confirmed today another PC title for early 2005 in Europe following the recent unveiling of its deadly serious racing simulation, GTR.

Act of War: Direct Action will apparently take the player on a "techno-thrilling battle around the world," according to the publisher today, in what looks to be a suitably pretty RTS title from the new screenshots released earlier.

Developer Eugen Systems is weighing heavily on attention to architectural detail as a hook for creating believability around its Clancy-like thriller, with environments ranging from Russia to North Africa, taking in a smattering of Europe and the US of A on the way. Cities include San Francisco, Washington, Moscow and the good old streets of London. We're hoping they've modelled the crisp bags and dog faeces accurately.

"Warm" lighting is also being touted as an innovation. "Act of War uses a 'warm lighting' system that includes high resolution real-time depth shadow maps for bright and sharp sunlight and pre-computed radiance transfer (part pre-computed / part real-time radiosity) to provide a warmer feeling in shadowed areas," explained an Atari spokeperson.

Crazy destructibility is also promised, including smashed walls, burning trees flattened lamp posts and crushed telephone boxes. All the fun of the fair, in fact.

We'll have a solid release date for you soon. Have a look at the shots in the meantime.