R.U.S.E.

Summary

R.U.S.E is a groundbreaking real-time strategy game that lets players outwit their opponents and guide their country to triumph through clever deception. The game offers fluid transitions between perspectives, from the intense chaos of the front lines to the sweeping scale of the entire war theater. Players will dive into the action with the exclusive IRISZOOM engine, which provides a user-friendly interface that effortlessly shifts from a panoramic view of the battlefield down to the close quarters of combat and back again. In R.U.S.E, your mind becomes your most powerful tool as you wage a psychological war where the ability to trick and misdirect your enemy is key to victory. As a first in the strategy genre, R.U.S.E breathes new life into the formula by introducing deception as a core gameplay element, adding a fresh layer of strategic depth.

Storyline

R.U.S.E. is set during World War II and follows a single narrative thread from the viewpoint of Joseph Sheridan, a U.S. Army officer. Sheridan, a former Harvard student, enlists in the military and eventually leads the First Armored Division. The game begins in 1945 with General Sheridan liberating Colditz Castle to rescue an undercover operative known as Nightingale, who holds the key to identifying a double agent codenamed Prometheus. Through a flashback, Sheridan recounts his experiences in 1943 during the North African campaign, where leaked intelligence caused heavy Allied losses at the Battle of Kasserine. There, he teams up with British intelligence officer Colonel Andrew Campbell to counter the enemy, despite the incompetence of his superior, General Weatherby. Sheridan’s success earns him a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. In 1943, Sheridan plays a key role in the Battle of Monte Cassino, where he disobeys orders to mislead German intelligence and successfully pushes the enemy back, opening the path to Rome. Promoted to General, he meets Kate Garner, an American War Office attaché. At a celebration, Campbell warns that the war isn't over and that Sheridan is starting to resemble the very rigid leadership he once opposed. In 1944, Sheridan commands U.S. forces at Utah Beach on D-Day, while Weatherby oversees Omaha Beach. Despite Weatherby’s failure to secure Sheridan’s flank, Sheridan secures a beachhead and holds it against counterattacks. However, misleading intelligence from the French resistance, along with comments from Kate, causes tension between Sheridan and Campbell. Later that year, Sheridan leads the U.S. forces in Operation Market Garden, while Weatherby is quietly reassigned to a reserve role. After a conversation between Campbell and Kate, Campbell admits he can no longer offer the same benefits as Kate and requests a transfer. Though Kate insists Sheridan has outgrown Campbell, Sheridan is visibly affected by the British officer’s departure. Despite receiving flawed intelligence about enemy forces, Sheridan keeps the "Highway to Hell" open. However, the operation fails when British troops at the final bridge are forced to surrender. Kate then departs for Washington D.C. for a new assignment, leaving Sheridan feeling defeated. Three months later, Sheridan and Campbell reunite on the Belgian front. They reconcile, with Sheridan admitting Campbell was right and they should have listened. With Campbell’s support, Sheridan defends Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. During the siege, General von Richtor, a former adversary, personally offers Sheridan a chance to surrender, promising safety for his men if they do so honorably. Sheridan refuses, questioning how a man of von Richtor’s integrity could serve the Axis. After repelling the German assault, Sheridan and Campbell interrogate von Richtor, who reveals that only Admiral Canaris of the Abwehr knew Prometheus’s identity. However, Canaris had been arrested for plotting against Hitler. Returning to the present, Sheridan, Campbell, and the undercover agent Angie travel to Torgau on the Elbe to meet the Soviets. The meeting becomes a race to reach a secret weapons facility before the Russians. To avoid a diplomatic crisis, Sheridan allies with General von Richtor, who also opposes the weapons falling into Soviet hands. Under the cover of German troops, Sheridan’s forces reach the facility in the Soviet zone and destroy it. During the mission, Sheridan discovers that Prometheus is Kate Garner. It is revealed that Kate has been leaking information to both the Germans and the Soviets, and the weapons in question are long-range V2 rockets armed with nuclear warheads. Though the facility is destroyed, Sheridan learns that Kate has already moved several rockets to another location. Sheridan and Campbell plan to attack Kate’s base and destroy the remaining weapons, but their mission is complicated when Kate warns that she will use the rockets if they continue to threaten her. Sheridan vows not to back down, and Kate dismisses him, claiming he will be "rolled over by the modern world" as communism will inevitably triumph. The situation changes when the Soviet government labels the 8th Guards Army, the faction Kate worked with, as a rogue extremist group. General Eisenhower then orders a full-scale assault on Kate’s base. Using new nuclear artillery, Sheridan destroys the base, eliminating the German warheads and killing Kate in an atomic explosion. In the end, Sheridan expresses a desire to take a vacation and see Europe "without the bullets."

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Release dates by platform

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