War Inc. (1997)
Genres:Strategy, Real Time Strategy (RTS)
Themes:Warfare, Science fiction
Game modes:Single player
Story:War Inc. (Project Airos in Australia and Germany) is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Optik Software. It was published by Interactive Magic for DOS on August 31, 1997. It incorporates a rudimentary stock market, placing the player directly in control of research and development and the ability to completely customize units by using a variety of components.Show more
In the times when there was a host of great RTS games, this one stood out: it had some actual meta going on between missions... and arguably even more engaging than battles themselves!
Stock market, not mercenary wages, was your main source of income.
Careful R&D was your key to victory. Never had I spent more time thinking if I need a swift lightly armored APC or a heavy energy-shield equipped tank (and on a budget) - the balancing and prototyping was that engaging/challenging!
Also you could be fired.
As others have noted, this was an odd mix of RTS and business sim. You were fighting on two fronts, on the battle field and in the board room. As the head of a PMC, you were responsible for getting contracts, getting your army together, deploying it to the target location, achieving the objectives, then go back, make sure you had the proper finance to keep going, bet on the stock market, outright buy your opponents (apart from a particular one), and invest in research of new units. I remember War Inc offering a large variety of unit types, from fairly normal military equipment to terminators, and they were all customizable, within the budget you had available. It made for some very harrowing battles when fielding really expensive prototypes that you could not really afford to lose. But who can resist the siren's call of shoving a lot of firepower onto a helicopter, and hoping the enemy doesn't have surface to air capabilities?
I haven't really seen many RTS games go in this particular direction, at least not ones that have been on my radar. Which is odd, because War Inc did everything quite well. Sure, maybe it's not an RTS to the standard of Starcraft or C&C, but you have a much larger say in what your units are and how battles flow. If you fielded a large enough battle force from your HQ, you could even skip the base building aspect in some situations. A refined version of the idea would be most welcome. Lacking that, it would sure be nice if the original was still available for people to buy and run on modern systems.
An interesting blend of real time strategy and empire management plus stock market simulation. You can design your own units, play the stock market, improve your army and then send your mercenaries on different missions C&C style. One of the most unique strategy games out there.
This was one of my first PC games, i searched for years for it and i rememberd it having a lot of uniqe aspects to it. Not a lot of RTS games had a stock market or units with limited ammo, it might have been confusing but those are my memories
Also something that is just etched into my memory from the game is the Main Menu office, always adore the diagetic UI like that
War Inc. was an incredible RTS experience, and what set it apart for me was its seamless integration of a stock market system with the traditional strategy gameplay. The R&D mechanics outside of matches added an extra layer of depth, making every decision feel meaningful. It was a truly fun and engaging time.
Reviving this classic wouldn’t even be that difficult. Like many older titles, it just requires some DOSBox know-how—mounting the game file as a virtual CD and launching it from there. Once set up, DOSBox handles the rest, making it surprisingly straightforward to get running again.
Played this game in my youth and always stuck with me for how innovative it was. The use of stock market investments in conjunction with R&D to design your own units blew my young-mind away! The innovation of this game is at par with juggernauts Dark Reign (1997) and Syndicate (1993). A MUST play for any RTS fan!
It was a perfect blend of skirmish RTS, Base building and financial management. It's honestly unbelivable how unknown this game was for the quality it presented even at teh time of release. I found it in a discount bin and ended up playing it considerably more than Warcraft or C&C.
I loved the balance of building a prototype that didn't utilize the best tech I had. Instead I had to think about what was economical in the field ($ and metal) and could fit a variety of roles.
I only beat this game because of a glitch that paid me twice after every mission. But I would like the opportunity to beat it fair and square.
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