Conflict: Desert Storm

"Here's hoping for the sequel"

When you first start up the game, there is only one thing you’ll notice. It’s ugly. Even the logo screens are low resolution, and the snazzy intro can’t hide the utterly basic graphics. Textures are fuzzy, Iraqis are angular and there’s a blanket of thick fog everywhere. Even worse, especially considering this is on the Xbox, the game is plagued by slowdown. In one player it isn’t too bad, but having the game stutter in multiplayer because of a badly programmed sand storm effect is just sloppy. Should you try to escape this hideous sand storm by running inside a building no doubt you’ll be puzzled by two things: the staggering lack of detail, and the fact that the sand storm is still at large. Yep, the interiors look a lot worse than those even in Goldeneye, in fact, the whole presentation reeks of the N64 era. Halo it ain’t.

Okay, I think I’m done with the graphics. After all, it’s the gameplay that counts. The controls are good, though they can be a bit overwhelming at first. Trying to give a soldier some medkits will initially result in all manner of chaos, including getting blown up by a tank. Persevere, however, and you realise just how much the developers have managed to squeeze onto the controller. Even ordering your troops around is relatively painless, but it is here that the flaws once again rear their heads. While you could order your sniper into position on that hill and get your heavy gunner to cover him, it’s easier said than done. For example, if you want your heavy gunner to follow your sniper, you’ll need to select your sniper, and order your gunner to follow – individually, mind, otherwise the entire squad will ramble after you. Then, you need to reselect your leader, and tell your sniper to mosey on up that hill. If you managed it, they’ll both scuttle off. Phew. To be honest, it’s simply easier to manually put everyone in position, unless you want very simple tasks done, such as a single person to advance behind that truck. This gives rise to laborious select-and-move gameplay, where you’ll spend ages moving each soldier into position. The effort required really isn’t rewarded enough, and a lot of the time your careful placement of your troops is worthless because to be honest the enemy attacks and ambushes are really quite predictable, and covering fire is rarely needed.

Sometimes, though, you will be rewarded for your carefully planned stratagems, as you lay waste to an enemy ambush thanks to your well-positioned sniper. When this does happen it’s extremely satisfying, and it has to be said that this is aided immeasurably by the very clever AI. Of your troops that is, because the labotomised Iraqis you’ll face are another matter entirely. You see, while your soldiers duck, throw grenades and have an aim that will rival even yours – all the while relaying their status over the radio – the enemy AI is lacking. Lacking, in that it isn’t actually there. Although they occasionally lay prone to avoid getting hit, they mostly stumble into your line of fire one after the other. A lot of the game involves enduring wave after wave of enemy troops, something that is made all the more predictable by the fact that the enemy is usually only spawned from two points – keep your sites over one of their routes and you can wipe out half of the enemy hordes by pressing R occasionally. Pants.

Sound is a mixed bag. The gun sounds are functional and quite satisfying. To be honest, they work, but it isn’t anything that’ll immerse you in the game. Whereas Medal of Honor: Frontline had brilliantly implemented surround sound, with gunshots and explosions echoing all around you, Desert Storm has bland explosions and basic effects. The voice acting is mediocre too. The music is utterly loathsome. It’s basic, it’s cheesy, and it’s looped over and over and over until you actually start getting depressed. Never fear, though, because it’s as if the developers didn’t bother with the music knowing that you’d much rather listen to your own music. Yep, you can stick your own music into the game. It’s a small feature, but it makes it quite a bit more enjoyable – if you pick fitting music, that is. Whether your listening to Beethoven’s Fifth, or some ungodly metal, the game is definitely made more satisfying when you’ve got your own score rousing you onwards. The only problem with putting your own music in the game is that you might irk some of your friends – game developers have an uncanny ability to create totally transparent music that you barely notice (most of the time), but if you’re playing the excellent multiplayer, maybe you should pick music that you all enjoy.

But then again, you’ll probably be shouting at each other too much to even notice the music. The multiplayer is what makes Desert Storm, without it, it would have scored far less. While the AI of your teammates is actually very good – and the CPU’s abilities may indeed be better than those of your friends – they simply don’t compare to having a few friends playing alongside you. It seems developers were onto a winner when they discovered co-operative multiplayer, and from The Chaos Engine, to Perfect Dark, to Halo, to this, co-op play is magnificent. Of course, Desert Storm benefits enormously from being a squad shooter, and rather than being stuck on (ala Perfect Dark) it actually works better than the single player. Problems do arise with three or more players playing simultaneously: slowdown can really spoil the enjoyment of the game. It’s a real shame that the X-Box’s power wasn’t better harnessed, and slowdown does bate the multiplayer somewhat. Nevertheless, playing two and three player co-op is a lot of fun, and much less arduous than the single player campaign – arguments over who gets the sniper only add to the fun.

Overall, Desert Storm is more potential than actual game. A lot of fun is spoilt by little niggles – stupid slowdown caused by a shoddy sandstorm effect, for example. The graphics would have been acceptable if there were less fogging. The multiplayer would be brilliant if it weren’t so jerky. The single player would be more fun if the enemy AI were better. With so many flaws, it’s hard to recommend Desert Storm, especially when there are so many titles more worthy of your money. So, don’t get Desert Storm, then. Let’s just hope the sequel can do better.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/03, Updated 04/20/03