Conflict: Desert Storm II - Back to Baghdad

"Under-rated, involving, exciting, fun game"

CDS II is a very underrated, fun squad-based shooter. It does a great job of keeping the tension up; I was never, ever bored. Commanding the squad is the best part. You learn how to position your men, when to stop and interchange ammo, guns, and health packs, how to approach tanks, how to manage choke points, how to split up your squad, how to handle ''man down!'' and how not to get slaughtered in an ambush. Some people play through the game quickly -- run and gun style -- but I think it's much more enjoyable to take your time, think out your positions/cover/strategy, and go thoughtfully through the game. There are always multiple ways to approach any situation.

I think this game is really underestimated and underrated. I see the reviews in the mainstream press, and I can't help but feel that the reviewers have subtracted because of graphics, political correctness, or an unrealistic demand for realism. This game isn't intended to be realistic! It's intended to be fun! And it is fun. If you need your war games to be ultrarealistic, stick with the Tom Clancy games. Me, I like the CDS series better -- they lack the polish of the Clancy games, but they're a lot more fun to play.

I think that doing a squad-based shooter well is very hard. Take Brute Force, for instance, which had all kinds of attention, hype, and development time...and yet still missed the mark. Graphical shortcomings aside, CDS nails it.

I liked the difficulty balance. Some games are too easy; others are too hard. CDS seems to get the balance just right. One unique thing about the CDS series is that they give you 2 saves per level, and so part of the strategy is figuring out when to use them. It can be frustrating if you save at the wrong point, die at a tough spot 5 minutes later, and have to repeat those 5 minutes over and over in order to get past the tough spot.

The graphics are the weak point, definitely nothing to write home about. Still, they do the job, and they're better than those in CDS I. Another weak point is the length: the game has only 10 missions, although they are long, interesting, and challenging ones.

Overall score: 9. I almost gave it an 8 because of the graphics, but I enjoyed this game so much, giving it less than a 9 seems unfair.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/04