I am such a lazy pig sometimes. I have written a few reviews for games I have purchased AFTER completing this game, yet I keep putting off writing this one, for some unknown reason. Okay, maybe not so unknown, but still... Anyway, let's get on with it.
Synopsis
You are in control of an elite fighting force, known as
"The Ghosts. Your job: to eliminate all terrorist activities in many different settings, and areas of operation.
Controls
Realistic, to say the least.
Your view of the game is first person, so you use the left analog stick to move, and the right analog stick is for aiming. This is all typical for a FPS game.
Nothing is awkward, that I recall. I don't remember ever throwing a tantrum because it did something that I didn't want to do. Yes, I am a baby when I play video games. I throw fits, I cry, I yell, I jump for joy; well you get the picture.
There are three positions your characters can be placed in:
Prone- lying down on your stomach
Crouch- slightly bent at the knees, usually cutting your actual height in half
Stand- If I need to explain this one, then you are probably not old enough to play video games anyway
If you try to run while crouching, you will move much slower than if you were standing. If you are facing forward and wish to move left or right while still facing forward (this is usually called strafing), then your character will also move slower. Try doing this yourself and see how fast you move.
All of the controls were easy to master, and a joy to work with. Most people that play FPS games in the PC always whine and cry (more than I do) about the lack of control on a console version of a game. If I hear them whine and cry about this game, then I will know that they just suck at games. Period.
Graphics
The graphics are very nice here. Very lush environments, and detailed objects. Bushes look like bushes, etc. My one and only complaint, is the graphics, and animations of the characters and enemies. They are very "boxy" looking, like they were imported from the original PS1. I guess since this is such an old game (old by gamers' standards, anyway), I shouldn't be so harsh, but I call it like I see it. Pun intended.
Gameplay
Time for the meat and potatoes.
This game played very nicely, and had some aspects that I wish could be implemented into, my personal favorite game of the moment,
SOCOM II.
Total Team Control- There is an entire military company worth of personnel to choose from when comprising a team. Each person has a particular "specialty" (demolition, sniper, rifleman, etc.) that he or she (yes, there are women; this is an EOE kind of game) is proficient in. You have six members on your team when entering into a mission. This team is divided into two squads, A & B. You can chose the order in which the squads move in, where they move to (step-by-step), the squads firing arc (weapons coverage area, and their status of movement and positioning (assault or recon). At any time during the mission, you can switch to control ANY one of your team members. This fabulous! I love this feature the most of the entire game. On the downside, when giving your team orders to move, or attempting to switch to another team member, you must call up something called the "Command Menu". When you do this, you can no longer see what is happening within the mission, BUT the game does NOT pause. That is a bit aggravating. It is especially annoying if you are in the middle of a firefight and you are trying to call your other squad in for support, you are steady taking rounds to the a$$. That's no good.
Experience Points- When you start the game, you will notice that each member of your unit, has different stats in the following categories :
Weapon- determines your accuracy and overall handling of your specialized weapon
Stealth- think about it
Leadership- ?
Endurance- determines how many of the aforementioned "rounds in the a$$" you can take
Now, you may think, "hey, I'll just take the guys with the best stats every time. Nice try, Tito. If one of your members gets injured during a mission, they will not be completely healthy, or even incapacitated, for the next mission. If this happens, you will be forced to use one of the "lesser" members. Fortunately, there is a solution.
After each mission, your team members that participated in the mission will be awarded a certain number of points, based on how they performed. Things such as, kills, accuracy, and "rounds taken in the a$$" (okay, it doesn't REALLY say that), all affect the amount of points your member receives. So, during a mission, you don't want to take control of one guy and have him kill everyone, because that would take away pints from other members. It is becoming more and more obvious, that team play is ESSENTIAL in this game.
AI
No, not that $hitty Spielberg flick.
Your teammates are not dumb. They will take aim and fire properly, and won't jump onto their own grenades. That sounds like common sense, but you would be surprised at some of the things that I have seen in these kinds of games.
Also, the enemy troops are not so dumb either. If you fire on them, and miss, they will take cover behind anything that they can, and fire back sporadically, making it harder to kill them, and easier for them to draw reinforcements.
Sound
There is nothing to special about the sound in this game. There isn't any real music, and the in-game sounds (weapons firing, explosions, etc.) are nothing spectacular. At the same time, there are worse things about in the gaming world.
Conclusion
I quite enjoyed this game. I was PLEASANTLY surprised. I bought this game after it hit the "PS2's Greatest Hits" list, so I got it for a cool $17.99. It was worth every penny, and then some. My one and only complaint overall, was the ease of the game. Once you got the hang of the game, it was a breeze. The "Greatest Hits" version came with the "Desert Siege" expansion on it, as well. In all, the game has 20 missions. I finished this title in 3 days. I completed it on the next highest difficulty in 2 more days. So, if you are any good at games, it shouldn't take you too long to finish, but it is still fun to play
GameQuest Direct. com
