ip82
01-18-2006, 05:38 PM
This is the first game I genuinly liked after a long time.
You're an American sniper spec-op who's stationed in Berlin near the end of WWII. You're doing missions against both sides (Soviets & Nazis), often playing one against the other to get what you want (practically the beggining of the cold war).
What I liked in this game is ultra-realism regarding anything related with the sniping itself - bullet weight and free fall, wind, breathing etc... All factors are accounted for. Also, don't think that you can just waltz in and take out 50 germans without hassle. While dirrect confrontations with machine guns are possible, you probably won't survive more than one or two of them per mission. Patience and intelligence are paramount when playing this game - you spend a lot of time circling the enemies and building up the possition, but once you execute the kill, the elation is much greater than if you'd simply barged in shooting (and got yourself killed).
The effect upon performing a good shot is definitely the biggest hook in this game - cammera follows the bullet all the way to it's target and then you're rewarded with a juicy animation of your target's head exploding in gore, while pieces of his brain are flying all over the place. If you saw the movie "Enemy at the gates", you'll know what I mean.
Actually, this whole game seems designed by that movie, especially the general feeling of being a sniper in a ruined city. Some moments and tactics are litteraly coppied from it (and maybe "Saving Private Ryan"); Like, hitting a guy in his stomach (at which he falls down and starts crying for help) and then waiting in ambush for someone to come and try to carry him away. Or for example, waiting for the artillery to fire, to cover up the sound of your gunshot. Very reallistical, gory and cool.
What I didn't like in this game is the fact that the POV is locked from the playing character's behind (3rd person shooter). This IS useful, since you can cheat by rotating the camera behind walls and stuff, but I'd prefer to play a game like this from the First Person view, with commands to lean left, right and up, for better visibility.
Also, the enemies are sometimes unrealistically accurate with their sub-machine guns, but I guess it's just a motive more to play it safe instead of rushing forward.
And finally, there are some bugs and clipping regarding character interaction with the surrounding, but it's nothing too bad (unless you're an techno perfectionist).
In hidsight, very good game if you're patient enough for something like this. Oh, and don't judge the game by it's first mission. It's not very good. I was hooked only after the second one.
Graphic: I'd say above average. To me it seems nice enough, but I guess those who'd wasted $3000 on the perfect playing machine will find faults with texture resolution or some meaningless shit like that.
Sound: Good. Ambient sounds can get a bit irritating and over the top at times, but other than that, it's cool.
Gameplay: Great if you're into realism. Misses first person view, though.
General: Very good game. 8.5/10
You're an American sniper spec-op who's stationed in Berlin near the end of WWII. You're doing missions against both sides (Soviets & Nazis), often playing one against the other to get what you want (practically the beggining of the cold war).
What I liked in this game is ultra-realism regarding anything related with the sniping itself - bullet weight and free fall, wind, breathing etc... All factors are accounted for. Also, don't think that you can just waltz in and take out 50 germans without hassle. While dirrect confrontations with machine guns are possible, you probably won't survive more than one or two of them per mission. Patience and intelligence are paramount when playing this game - you spend a lot of time circling the enemies and building up the possition, but once you execute the kill, the elation is much greater than if you'd simply barged in shooting (and got yourself killed).
The effect upon performing a good shot is definitely the biggest hook in this game - cammera follows the bullet all the way to it's target and then you're rewarded with a juicy animation of your target's head exploding in gore, while pieces of his brain are flying all over the place. If you saw the movie "Enemy at the gates", you'll know what I mean.
Actually, this whole game seems designed by that movie, especially the general feeling of being a sniper in a ruined city. Some moments and tactics are litteraly coppied from it (and maybe "Saving Private Ryan"); Like, hitting a guy in his stomach (at which he falls down and starts crying for help) and then waiting in ambush for someone to come and try to carry him away. Or for example, waiting for the artillery to fire, to cover up the sound of your gunshot. Very reallistical, gory and cool.
What I didn't like in this game is the fact that the POV is locked from the playing character's behind (3rd person shooter). This IS useful, since you can cheat by rotating the camera behind walls and stuff, but I'd prefer to play a game like this from the First Person view, with commands to lean left, right and up, for better visibility.
Also, the enemies are sometimes unrealistically accurate with their sub-machine guns, but I guess it's just a motive more to play it safe instead of rushing forward.
And finally, there are some bugs and clipping regarding character interaction with the surrounding, but it's nothing too bad (unless you're an techno perfectionist).
In hidsight, very good game if you're patient enough for something like this. Oh, and don't judge the game by it's first mission. It's not very good. I was hooked only after the second one.
Graphic: I'd say above average. To me it seems nice enough, but I guess those who'd wasted $3000 on the perfect playing machine will find faults with texture resolution or some meaningless shit like that.
Sound: Good. Ambient sounds can get a bit irritating and over the top at times, but other than that, it's cool.
Gameplay: Great if you're into realism. Misses first person view, though.
General: Very good game. 8.5/10