There have been a few media review surface today about End of Nations. Trion had a few folks into their studios last week. This is the first media look at the game since last year’s Pax Prime.

IGN: End of Nations: Is More Better?

Resource Hog, a four-versus-four map, was much clearer, and surprisingly enjoyable. A capture-and-hold map, Resource Hog put players on a large area of open terrain, with certain locations near the edges giving players the resources needed for victory, and others closer to the center giving cash needed to resupply units. Teams have to strike a balance between shifting their objective points higher and being able to recover from enemy attacks. Resource Hog is also fascinating because there are key portions of the map that are completely inaccessible by certain unit types. One of the cash capture-points could only be captured by infantry, with metallic structures blocking entrance by tanks and larger units.

TTH: End of Nations Hands-On Preview

The first map we played was called Operation Last Stand. In this map we were pitted against a single other player for a 1v1 game. However the rules were not what one would necessarily expect. Instead of fighting each other the goal was instead to survive the longest against the computer AI as wave after wave of enemies were sent to infiltrate each base. The player who survived the most waves won.

The flavor to the map came from control points which were able to be commandeered by the players themselves. And, should they desire, they could opt to spend their time and resources trying to sabotage the other player’s chances at survival. Alternatively one could choose just to hold their ground and see who was the most resilient. These kinds of options are important to a Strategy Game as it allows the player to develop their own methods and play styles.

PCGamer: End of Nations preview

That’s where Trion’s MMO experience comes in. “We find that what’s really worked is a lot of the social features,” Lena says. “like clan mechanics, chat, friends lists, being able to find groups together. We want as manypeople as possible in the game because it makes it more fun for everyone else.” As we talk, we end up using MMO phrases like PvP and PvE time and time again, partly because of Trion’s MMO background, but also because End of Nations is making a determined attempt to bring the scale of a free-to-play MMO to the RTS.