WinBack: Covert Operations

"A decent 3rd person shooter, rent!"

Winback: Covert Operations. Okay. Title is kind of lame, created by the "Dynasty Warriors" companies, and is given bad reviews because of it's annoyances.

The annoying thing that I think that bothers people is the "laser targeting." It reacts responsibly but it is too small. If you aim at a body part of an enemy, IT WILL shoot there, it won't make a crooked shot. It's not like those other shooters. The laser helps you in this game, but the controls for it, lack.

Another possibly annoying thing are the laser traps. They are stupid. They are just there to distract you. If you cross one, it will kill you instantly. Sure, you can shoot the power source but some of them you cannot and you have to roll through them which is risky and I always panic during this.

Story: This big "satellite" destroyed a control center. Now the secretary of defense has to either follow the "Crying Lions" orders or to suffer something else. This is a bland storyline. It's like a hostage situation, where millions of lives are in danger! OMG! Lets send in the SCAT team! Of course, from here on, you play this guy named Jean-Luc, which is a horrible name in my opinion.

Sound: The "English" voice acting is terrible. I don't even think it matches with the characters personality, but the "Japanese" voiceovers are TERRIFIC! They sound exactly like the characters. It is an option in the PS2 version. Changing the language is awesome! Usually, the Japanese voice acting sounds better in translated games, like Final Fantasy. The gunshots are plain. You hear the same shots over and over and they don't sound different from the enemies. Plus, the enemies shout "Over Here!" or "Freeze!" Even if you do, they'll still shoot you.

Gameplay: This game is HARD. It's not easy. You always have to take cover, otherwise, you'll die and get this "OPERATION WINBACK ABORTED" message. The enemies are kind of stupid. If they spot you and you hide for a while, they'll just stare off into space, giving you a free hit. The bosses are CRAZY also. They know no mercy. They will kill you, like all of the enemies. Sometimes, you can't even find a place to hide.

This game 4 different guns, handgun, shotgun, sub-machine gun, and silenced handgun. The handgun has an unlimited supply of ammo while the others do not. The handgun is kind of weak but is worth it when you are saving ammo. Shotguns and machine guns are useful also. The shotgun is suppose to help you in close combat, which will frequently happen. The machine gun is far ranged to take out far enemies. Sometimes, the enemies doesn't know this. So, sometimes you'll see an enemy a mile away with a shotgun and a close enemy with a machine gun. They are really dumb. WARNING: this game has lots of backtracking.

Conclusion: This game has 3 endings, in which I already figured out before I saw it. It's SO obvious. I won't spoil anything. A decent 3rd person shooter. Hopefully, the 2nd one will be improved.

Story: 6/10, common storyline with a few twists.

Sound: 7/10, crappy voiceovers except for the Japanese ones.

Gameplay: 8/10, can be improved with the laser targeting, crappy puzzle solving, and backtracking.

Overall: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/05