Conflict: Desert Storm

"One of the Best Games From the Conflict Series"

The two Desert Storm games to come from the Conflict series were the Conflict series' best that they ever had to offer. For a four a player cooperative multiplayer game you cannot do any better than with what Desert Storm has to offer.

Conflict: Desert Storm is a third person squad game set between the US Special Forces and the British SAS. You get to conduct secret missions behind enemy lines to prepare the way for the main armies to advance as well as rescue hostages such as prisoners of war and the Emir of Kuwait. Conflict: Desert Storm is very historical as the game developers enlisted the help of real special forces personnel to get a grip on what going behind enemy lines in Iraq was like and this really helped make the game a success. The historical accuracy is dead on and the squad based game allows for a great single player experience as well as an excellent up to four player cooperative experience.

The missions involve a lot of rescuing or blowing up particular objectives-standard for any type of war game. The missions are somewhat open as you can plan out what you will do before advancing on the enemy positions in the game. A lot of the fun game play comes from being able to try different means of attacking like sneaking up on an enemy and knifing him or by picking off enemies in the distance while your buddies watch with binoculars. The controls are not too bad and they did not remind me of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes so you can move pretty easily in this game. There are some fun missions involving vehicles and a lot of this game depends on you having to heal your buddies each time they take one too many hits. I liked playing this game by myself and that way I was able to switch between characters, but of course you have to worry about the AI of your non-controlled characters getting incapacitated. Playing a cooperative game is much more fun as you get to work close together on a split screen and you can get through the missions a bit more quickly than doing it by yourself.

The graphics are very good for Conflict: Desert Storm and although they are a little bit generic in some areas you get a good feel for your surroundings. The graphics work really well in effects more than anything. The music is not too memorable, but the in-game dialogue between the characters helps to carry the plot forward in the missions.

Conflict: Desert Storm carries a good game length and plenty of multiplayer replay value. This is one of those games that started some fun late night parties with my friends, but of course as the series dragged on the graphics never really improved, but the game play became much more difficult and generic. However, Conflict: Desert Storm is a great first game in this style of game play and provides plenty of replay value.

Final Recommendation 8/10

Conflict: Desert Storm is a great for a Gamecube multiplayer experience. The Xbox really took away from the splitscreen multiplayer gaming experience and this is one of those rare games that made it still worthwhile. If you still have a Gamecube this is a good game to have. For one the Gulf War is not a subject covered often in war games and I think this game gives it some justice as far historical accuracy goes. The game play is also unique and makes it a great cooperative game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/25/08

Game Release: Conflict: Desert Storm (US, 04/22/03)