Beware! Jason's amount of warning is distinctly lacking!
Publisher: Capcom/THQ Australia
Mon, 5 December 2005
by: Jason
Without warning is exactly how I happened across this game, hiding in the mailbox (thanks Sam). Upon firing it up, I discovered this is a game that is suffering of something of an identity crisis; it doesn't appear to know if it is a stealth type action game in a similar vane to a Metal Gear or a Splinter Cell. Or a first person shooter similar to Medal Of Honor, or Call Of Duty.
The basic viewpoint is from behind and slightly above your character, where a fan of the first pair of games I mentioned would expect it to be. Here's where it gets a little tricky, the controls would be instantly familiar to any player of FPS games on the PS2, with movement being controlled with the left thumbstick, looking around with the right and weapons on the shoulder buttons. The target in the centre of your view should prove instantly familiar as well.
 | | I think he needs to go to the toilet |
A small point to mention is I personally think the home of FPS games is the humble PC (often overlooked as a gaming rig), as the left hand keyboard and right hand mouse combination (or the reverse if you're a lefty) is perfect for controlling this type of game. The point I'm trying to make, in my long winded dribbling type of way, is I am no good at this type of game (hence the PC plug, trying to cover the fact that I suck).
Any way back to the game, here's the plot: terrorists have taken over a chemical factory, planted bombs and taken hostages (very original plot I know but wait there's more) The gamed takes place over a period of 12 hours and covers the experiences of 6 different characters, 3 special force team members and three civilians: a security guard, a camera man for a TV station and a secretary.
The game doesn't exactly move in a linear fashion, each mission consists of a limited area and some fairly basic run of the mill objectives (e.g.: find keycards, open doors, diffusing bombs etc). Once the mission is complete its a simple case of a loading screen or two and on to the next one, however the focus on a character usually changes as well, with the whole game giving you the combined experiences of the entire cast over the 12 hour period.
One unusual difference to the great bundles of games out there of a similar style, there is no choice or selection of weapons, with all characters carrying different equipment: the leader of the special forces team carrying a sniper rifle (allowing him to zoom on targets), the token "new guy" on the team carrying a fairly generic assault rifle and the bomb disposal expert toting the ever reliable 12 gauge shotgun.
The civilians for the most part are a different kettle of fish, the security guard with his pistol has missions similar to the Special Forces team i.e. shooting terrorists but where the Special Forces grunts will accept hostage deaths as collateral damage for the security guard its game over. I have yet to progress far enough into the game to encounter a mission with the camera man or the secretary but according to the games website the cameraman's objective is to film the goings on while the secretary must simply escape the plant and avoid detection.
The bomb disposal and door lock picking deserve a special mention for following the growing trend of incorporating min games into action titles, the bomb disposal resembles a basic rhythm action game with icons scrolling up the screen and the corresponding button needing to be pressed at the right time. The lock picking resembles something more like a puzzle in a resident evil game, with 3 different length pins needing to be pushed back onto springs to all cross a line in a specified order (sounds complicated but makes sense when you see it).
 | | I've seen stormtroopers with better aim than that! |
While nothing about this game screams crap, it doesn't exactly holler outstanding either; the graphics are average, the sound average, the gameplay just south of average. Several years ago this may have been an outstanding title, but in these winding up days of this generation of consoles, other teams and developers are extracting so much more from the hardware.
by: Jason
More articles by Jason
If capping terrorists' your thing then give this a look, otherwise there are things more deserving of your dollars. | |
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