"A one-of-a-kind."

Aurora watching appears to be a combination of shooting, puzzle, and stealth action. It's hard to decide what genre this game is. It's actually an interesting game. Too bad not many people know about it… Oh, by the way, this game recently changed it name to "Soldier Elite". So, no confusion to it.

Graphics >> 9/10
As important as it is to any action game, Aurora watching features beautiful 3D graphic. It's one of the best graphic I've ever seen in 3rd person game. Clean, sleek, and detailed textures make it very pleasing to the eyes. It's easy to say that this game is worked on seriously. Various particle FX for explosions, fog, snow, smoke, and lighting make the game more enjoyable. Good looking character (and humanoid) makes it even better. It's easily in par with other 3rd person shooting games (such as Splinter Cell and MGS). It also features a labyrinth-like view (like those in MGS). Both is good, I say. If Doom 3 gets a perfect graphic score of 10, than I guess this game got a 9. Impressive.

Sound >> 8/10
Very high audio quality. The dialogue is very clear. The same for speeches. The sound of footsteps, bullets hitting wall, explosion, gunfire, and other sound effects are very good. Environmental audio also work well. Such as gunfire sound ‘louder' in a big empty room. You can even hear clearly what the guards shout at you.

The background music is quite good. It's not memorable though, as the real purpose of music in this game is to ‘accompany' you. Just like most shooting game…

Story >> 5/10
Can't say much about the story. Like most shooting game, it's not really important. You're a secret agent -code name White Fox-, whose mission is to investigate the recent sink of a submarine. You start by infiltrating a snowy base somewhere. After that, the conflict grows and grows until you finally have to stop a super-human-weapon. Not surprising. Along the way, you will shoot bad guys, meet another undercover agent, kill the boss of bad guys and stuff. Nothing new, really.

Gameplay >> 9/10
Really shines. As I say above this is a combination of shooting, puzzle, and stealth action, with a focus on stealth action, in my opinion.

You get to play like splinter cell, or MGS. Yeah, you can't just bark in and start shooting. You can do the usual stuff, like sneaking behind an enemy and kill him with knife, leaning from wall to perform a headshot and kill enemies instantly. Throw a few signal emitting grenade to attract enemies and shoot them wildly, snipe enemies from afar, throw a smoke or sleep grenade. Place a mine or just set an explosive.

And you can also play it wild. Get a machine gun and start shooting, throw a grenade, or roll one. Or just ignore enemies. Sneak behind them, slip when they are not looking, or just creep in the shadows. You can also go through an air duct, hide in bathroom, and such. It's your choice.

The control is good. Movement is not sluggish. Shooting is fairly easy. You can easily do a headshot if you aim a little. Not many function to remember. You will master the controls fairly soon.

Your movement is quiet limited though. Don't think you can climb walls, go roping, trampeze, or other acrobatic stunts like you do in splinter cell. You can't even roll! Well, it actually proves an additional challenge cause you can't just do a back flip and dodge enemy bullet or some stuff like that. But thankfully you can drag dead body and hide them.

I did say that this is a stealth action game, but there are times when you must simply confront enemies. This is where your shooting skill will be put to test. You can kill almost anyone with a headshot. In fact you just need a handgun to finish the whole game, if you can *aim* anyway.

However, the most challenging aspect of the game is the ‘puzzle'. Yes. Not like many shooting games, aurora watching requires a lot of thinking. The puzzle are action based, such as crack PC A to open the west wing door, then crack PC B to disable airlocks, and stuff. It can be really *challenging* sometimes. Impressive.

AI >> 10/10
I would describe it as perfect (if there is anything like perfect AI). The enemies are highly sensitive. They can hear the slightest noise and see the slowest move. And very deadly. If you just bark in you are dead within seconds. They aim perfectly. Either you take them down by stealth, headshot, or luck.

Alarm goes off the second you do something wrong, or the moment a guard see his friends dead. Once they do, they will call others and start searching for you (and pulverize you). Impressive.

Replay Value >> 3/10
I say finishing it once is hard enough. You will most likely turn your head upside down playing this game. Take every path and explore every possibilities, so there's not really much to re-play. You may want anyway, if you like to put your brain to work.

Conclusion >> 7/10
Although it can be quiet boring or hard sometimes (or both), Aurora Watching really offers a new style of playing. For gamers tired of playing those all-similar-FPS game, or just looking for variety, Aurora Watching is a perfect choice. Be warn though, only the most *persistent* of gamers can finish this game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/09/06, Updated 03/16/07