"Graphics are not everything."

There is more to a game then the graphics. This game has really good graphics. Sadly every thing else is mediocre. This game seems more like a demonstration of what the engine can do. It really doesn't introduce anything new into the FPS genera. It's almost like an outdoor version of the original half-life. I'm not saying it's a bad game, it's just a game that doesn't stand out

Gameplay 7/10
Good level design, in single player there are multiple ways to attack an objective in the outdoor levels. The levels themselves are HUGE. You can snipe across them. The enemy models might not draw if you're not close enough but if you zoom in they will appear. The addition of vehicles add even more to the gameplay, they handle realistically. If you bring a boat in shallow water you have to get out a push it back. If you drive a car into deep water you can't drive it anymore. Sometimes i felt like jumping into a boat and just cruising around. There are many types of vehicles, boats, cars, and flying ones. Not all of them can be controlled by the player. But the ones the AI controlled handle like I would expect them to in real life.
The AI on this game is outstanding. Attacking an enemy from one direction will have anyone that's close heading toward you. But if you where to sneak away, you could attack the AI from behind without them knowing where you where, until you get spotted or you attack.
One of my problems with this game, is throughout the single player levels you have someone on the radio giving you instructions. Sort of like a hint system. In the later levels you encounter these "creatures". I won't elaborate much (don't want to spoil the game) but I though they where kind of lame. Finally the transition between swimming and walking can be kind of weird. When coming up the beach from the water the screen might show the character out of the water, but he's still making swimming animations. This can be corrected bu jumping, but it's still a time period where you could be getting shot at and unable to shoot back.

Controls 4/10
The first thing i would recommend doing is reassigning the controls to something you prefer. The default layout is kind of awkward. Even after doing that this game feels clumsy. The controls don't feel very responsive, and I turned the mouse sensitivity way up just the get the mouse speed that I like. The swimming controls are just like every other game you look in the direction you want to go and then move forward.

Graphics 8/10
The graphics are just stunning. The outdoor levels are just awesome. The water reflects just about everything. There's plenty of bump mapping on the indoor levels. The vegetation looks very impressive on the High setting you can see grass sticking up from the green textures on the forest floor. The trees look impressive. When you walk through a jungle you can see spotted light on your weapon as you walk. Weapons with a scope will actually display a burred image of where the cross hairs are if you're not looking through the scope.
Unfortunately it's easy to pick up repeated textures, especially the ones on an indoor level and especially if they have bump mapping. On portions of the second level this was very obvious

Multiplayer 6/10
The game has three modes Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Assault. The first two aren't very impressive. Their just like every other Deathmatch / Team Deathmatch. The really saving factor for this game was the Assault mode. In this one the red team has to capture three flags from the blue team. In order the help defend it's flag the blue team has to construct fortifications. There are several classes to choose from.
Multiplayer for this game is shadowed by older games. I played this for a few weeks and shelved it. Only to return to playing Counter-Strike, and Return to Castle wolfenstien: Enemy Territory. I would not suggest purchasing this game if you are mainly looking for a good multiplayer experience. It does have mod support so something good might come out of it in the future.

Final Score 7/10 Not an Average.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10 | Originally Posted: 05/28/04

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