Have you even spoken to your Xbox, or for that matter any inanimate electronic device? I once said ‘thank you' without thinking to an ATM after it gave me my cash and I once had a girlfriend who said more loving words to her vibrating massager than to me! Nevertheless, I am sure that we have all at one time vocalised our thoughts whilst playing a game, especially if you have ever tried to play a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game with a console controller.

A mouse to a RTS game is like tomato sauce to a meat pie...It just fits. For that reason ‘mouseless' consoles have always been at a disadvantage when it comes to playing RTS games. When you are micromanaging your own private army in real time, console controllers are just not as quick as a mouse and a keyboard. The solution to this problem was to come up with a whole new method of control that suited the constraints of a console and its controller. The clever chaps at Ubisoft have done just that by incorporating a surprisingly good voice recognition system into their new RTS, Tom Clancy's: End War.

Certain Tom Clancy branded games from Ubisoft such as the Rainbow Six series have utilised voice commands before. However, End War takes voice commands to the next level with the game able to be played almost entirely via voice commands alone. Not only that, but the voice recognition system is brilliant. As long as you follow certain sentence structure rules, you can speak as fast as you like and the game will understand you 90% of the time.

The real beauty of the control system is that your voice acts like a second set of hands as commands can also be given with the controller. This allows the player to react much faster than if they were using a single control system as you can use any combination of button and voice orders to get your intent across. I found that I used my voice more when I needed an order carried out straight away, such as ‘Unit 5, Retreat!' and used the controller mainly for movement and camera control. The choice to issue a command via buttons on the controller or via voice through the Xbox Headset is up to the player but if you choose voice, the mechanic works superbly.

So now that the control issues are sorted out, what exactly are we fighting for? In the near future a worldwide missile defence system has dissolved the threat of nuclear ICBMs. This leads to conventional warfare being all the vogue once again and to massive build ups of ground forces across the world. Eventually the USA upset the status quo by attempting to launch a space based weapons platform and trigger a three way war between Russia, Europe and America.

The core units under your command in End War are Infantry, Engineers, Transports, Tanks, Artillery, Gunships and a Command Vehicle. There is only one of each type of unit per faction however a huge amount of upgrades and improvements can be applied to each unit type for a fee. Money is earned in battles and spent at the Barracks with more advanced upgrades only applied when your units reach a certain rank level. A units rank increases with battlefield experience and if you can evacuate them before total annihilation, they will carry over to the next battle. Units are automatically evacuated when they are below 25% strength, however ruthless enemies can wipe out a unit completely before they are evacuated.

At first glance, End War may seem a little simple by RTS standards but that could not be further from the truth. End War is a classic example of an easy to learn but hard to master game. The combat system rules in End War are similar to a rock, paper and scissor dynamic. Each unit type has strengths and weaknesses and is better suited to combating certain types of enemy units. The simplest example of this is Tanks beat Transports, Transports beat Gunships and Gunships beat Tanks. In addition to these match ups, Artillery delivers massive damage to every ground unit and has the longest range but is slow moving and vulnerable. When firing from in cover, Infantry and Engineers are powerful against Engineers and Vehicles respectively but are both very weak when exposed in open ground. Soldiers can enter buildings for cover and an elevated firing position and Engineers can be upgraded to allow them to place and clear minefields. Overall the combat system is very balanced which is essential for a RTS.

There is no resource gathering in End War and access to reinforcements and off map support is determined by your performance in a given battle and higher strategic circumstances. The alternative to resources is called command points or CP. CP is earned through defeating enemy units and capturing Uplinks. Uplinks can be upgraded to allow off map support such as airstrikes, force recon reinforcements or an EMP blast that will render vehicles inoperable and without shields for a period of time. Uplinks can only be captured and upgraded by Infantry or Engineer units. CP not spent on support can be used to fly in fresh units of your choice to join the battle.

The Command Vehicle, when deployed, gives the player greater situational awareness and the ability to call in support or when the shit really hits the fan, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). Command Vehicles allow the use of the SITREP view which is a 3D overview of the entire battlefield showing friendly unit positions and the positions of all detected enemies. Units are displayed as a faction coloured symbol with a number. Players can use this view to quickly issue orders by referring to the corresponding unit numbers. This view is particularly handy when many units are deployed and a lot is happening at once. Additionally, Command Vehicles can be upgraded so that they can deploy Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Unmanned Combat Vehicles which makes them even handier.

Battles in End War consist of four game modes, namely Raid, Assault, Conquest and Siege. Raid battles involve destroying or defending key buildings within a 15 minute time limit. The goal of Conquest battles is to control the majority of Uplinks on the map, whereas Assault is good ol' destroy all enemies to win. Siege battles occur in the three nation capitals, Washington DC, Paris and Moscow and require the defender to hold Uplinks and survive for a set period of time before reinforcements become available. All these battle types are available in multiplayer skirmish modes and you can play with and against AI commanders if you have no friends.

For those without Xbox Live or who just want to practice, an offline single player campaign, tutorial and skirmish mode is provided. These modes are a good starting point and the easy AI is actually easy whereas the hard AI is quite challenging. The main online game mode in End War is the Theatre of War which is quite an interesting and unique concept. In the Theatre of War campaign a strategic view shows the current progress of the entire war. Battlefields are colour coded as to which faction currently holds them and those under contestation on the territorial edges are highlighted. Battles can only be fought in these currently contested battlefields but here is where this online campaign is unique. A strategic turn lasts 24 ‘real time' hours. Within that time the outcome of every online battle on each contested battlefield is collated and this data then determines the progression of the strategic front line. For example, on a battlefield contested by Russia and Europe in round 12, Russian players won more games, therefore in round 13 that battlefield now belongs to Russia and the frontline will have moved further into European Territory.

This is a neat idea which certainly gives the player a sense of being part of a much larger conflict but it does have a few irritating limitations. Firstly, depending on your chosen faction, there may be only one or two battlefields available to fight on for an entire 24 hour period. It can quickly become boring fighting the same battles over and over again. Secondly, you can only fight against the factions contesting your battlefield so if there are not many Russian players online or if the Russian players have many battles to choose from, you may be waiting for a game for a very long time.

This brings me to the only real negative aspect of End War...The matchmaking system sucks and I mean really sucks! I have never had to wait in a game lobby for so long in my life. Games do not begin unless you have the same number of players on each side so waiting for a full compliment can be painfully slow. Playing with a party speeds things up a little but you still need to wait for enough players on the opposing side to get started. You will quite literally spend more time in the Theatre of War campaign waiting in a game lobby than fighting on the battlefield. If this is how the game is now whilst it is still relatively new and popular, I would hate to try and find a game 12 or 18 months down the track.

Once in a game, the actual multiplayer matches in End War are a delight. If you are big on teamwork in games (and can find a good team) you will love End War. I have never played a game where teamwork was so essential to success. The more players you have on your team, the less units each player can field at once. This means that in a 4 vs 4 match each player can only field a maximum of three units at any one time. This forces players to choose a role and actively support each other. A good team is devastatingly effective but just one rouge player (or someone without a headset) can result in a catastrophic defeat.

In terms of graphics, End War is pretty enough to be mistaken for a third person shooter from screen shots. It is definitely better looking than a lot of RTS games on the market. The level of detail is very impressive for units, buildings and terrain and the interface is very slick looking. Unfortunately, you very rarely have time to sit back and enjoy the visuals during a battle. Luckily you can save replays of battles and admire the visuals whist assessing your performance.

Sound design is of the high standard that fans of Ubisoft titles must now come to expect. Sound effects are convincing and the voice acting is deliberately a little cheesy and at time quite funny. Friendly units give you verbal updates on what is happening and you are warned if a particular unit is approaching a bad engagement before it is too late. If you find the time to watch them intently and listen, the individual soldiers in your units even have animated conversations between themselves.