Customer Reviews

Hidden & Dangerous 2

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This game rocks. As far as gameplay, it is as good as it gets. My only gripe is all the patches, and that if one doesn't have the same patch upgrade, their may be issues on connecting to some of the servers.

That said, I had very few bugs in the single player game, and only the patch issue for multi-player. I think this game blows away MOH and is graphically better than BF 1942, though BF 1942 is fun to play as well.

If you don't have this game, I'd highly recommend getting it. Also, the Sabre Squadron expansion is a must get. If you are watchful, you can get both for around 20 bucks US.

A note for those who have performance anxiety lol, please upgrade your GUI(graphics card) to the latest drivers. If your card is older, it may not run DX 9 games. Another thing to upgrade is your ram. The one person with only 256 of ram, well.... that's the minimum for Windows XP. Up that to 512, plus get a more advanced card like the ATI 9600, or better(the equivelent in nVidia)and together with a 2 ghz machine or better this game will fly!!!

Also, for those worried about too many controls, you can customize them to your likeing. Almost all games allow control customization.

I'm not a huge war gamer but with the most recent war game titles coming out out such as Call of Duty and MH Pacific Assult and of course I had to try them, found overall that they were great war games especially Call of Duty (The original version) United Offensive is way to scripted! MH Pacific Assult was my last purchase before this beauty and so far I have not been able to finnish it due to the unforgiving scripting of the game at Henderson Field where you have to shoot down Japanese Zeros before they bomb your hangers from above. Somehow the game kills me for not being able to do this correctly meaning shooting down all the Zeros which I find nearly impossible!

Now to this game. It is something to behold why? Well, you can acomplish any mission any way you want using hardcore Tactics rather than closely folling scripted objectives like in the previous two game I have mentioned. Also, the AI is not overly hard which I like. Sometimes it is down-right-dumb but with such gameplay like taking cover and using your men's way points to complete objectives, the game shines! Also, you can choose to run and gun or secretly devise a plan of your own to accomplish your missions. The latter is far more rewarding though because it takes some brain power rather than how fast you can click to shoot your enemy. I feel sometimes I am part of the Dirty Dozen and have to sneek into a camp or town to blow up a building or steel documents rather than just kill everything that moves and then get out in a shooting match to the death! This game makes you feel like you've accomplished more than just body bags for the enemy, it makes you feel like your part of a SAS team in WWII. Both of my GrandFathers fought in the war and though they were not part of a specialized force like the SAS being Americans and trying to reck havic on the German's or Japanese, they saw some combat and didn't really talk to much about it because it just something you don't talk about if you really were there! The horor of war is abscent from most of my generations eyes due to post Vietnam and pre Desert Storm kind of falling in between things but I always wanted to know what it was like to accomplish what those guys did 50+ years ago when thier odds were less than favoritable against the overwelming numbers of the Nazi's or the Jap's trying to make a safe-free world to come for all of us. It was a job not a obligation and they did it very well. With H&D 2 I feel as if I was really there doing my job like they did! If you liked Call of Duty the original and are currently or have finished playing MH Pacific Assult and do not already have this War title, buy it at the good price that it is! It is a welcomed change to the run and gun everything down mindless WWII shooters of the past and present!

I normally (about 80% of the time) buy a game based on its reviews. Not H&D2. I saw the packaging and thought "wow". If they've put this much into the packaging, surely the game can't be too bad? Plus there was the reputation of the first H&D. I buy games often, maybe one a week, and I wasn't as excited about getting home and installing, as with No One Lives Forever 2, for instance. Besides, I just bought Secret Weapons a few days ago. Anyway, smooth install, excellent manual, everything looked okay. Nice intro. The automatically selected preferences turned out to be just right. The game started to grab me. That was Friday afternoon. It is Monday morning now, and I am writing this to rest my eyes. It is THE BEST GAME I HAVE EVER PLAYED. Ghost Recon was good, so was No Lives Forever and Op Flashpoint. Even Medal of Honour and Battlefield '42 deserves a mention. But they don't come close to Hidden & Dangerous 2! Everything in this game reeks of quality, refinement and professionalism. It is well balanced - difficult enough to be challenging, and to give one a sense of achievement upon reaching an objective, but not frustrating. The graphics are brilliant and the game runs smoothly at the highest resolutions. The maps are great. Even the music is good - this is THE FIRST game ever in which I've kept the music "on". Even though the mission objectives are rigid, play is quite open ended. There are many driveable vehicles. The game drips with atmosphere and sucks one in. The learning curve is not steep - the Campaign starts off with a good tutorial level which compliments the neat manual nicely. The bottom line is that this is one of the most enjoyable games I have played in a long time. By now it has probably become pretty obvious to you that I am totally "chuffed" with this game, and with myself for having made such a wise purchase. This is what gaming is all about. At 300 South African Rands, this game is worth every cent. My recommendation? GET IT!

If it weren't for the quirky squad AI, this would be a five-star game yet I highly recommend it in smite of that. This game is a classic in my book. It's better to play this on Lone Wolf campaigns. The squad AI is too annoying for me. For example, if you tell a squad member to follow behind you, most of the time they will get ahead of you. Or, if you tell them to go somewhere, usually they make some round about path before eventually settling on where you want them to be but even then they sometimes miss your mark.

All complaints aside, the game really shines as being one of the more realistic WWII game (or any other genre) out there. You have realistic weapons, the outdoor environments including the building interiors, and just the overall ambience. If you played Call of Duty, you might like the slower pace in H&D2. Stealth is heavily used and recommended. Yet unlike CD, this game has RPG elements. At the end of every mission, and depending what skills you used and the success of them, you increase your skills and abilities. This contributes to game longivity. As far as replayability, let's just say I've played thru this game about 5 times already and still not bored. Why? The game is sorta open-ended. You decide how you want to go about a mission: all out assault or stealth or both, using only certain weapons or all of them, do a certain task first before another or do them in order.

There will be a sequel according to Illusionworks. I can't wait. :)

The only thing better about HD2 compared to the original gem is the wholescale destruction of game crashing bugs. Yep, HD2, out of the box, has been crash proof for me. Played over the weekend, finishing it, and not once was I booted to windows or had any significant bugs. The only glitch I noticed was how your character had the most difficult time going through doorways while sneaking.

Yes, the major bugs are gone (the only reason I couldn't finish HD1 was because of game crashing bugs in that one level where you drive...memory doesn't serve me that great), but in its place are less then ideal AI, needlessly complicated maps, and those damn tanks that are everywhere!

AI...not too bad, but I see a glaring problem when the enemy AI can shoot your before your can clear a corner, yet you can peek out forever without them noticing you. And when you're in tall grass, do yourself a favor and switch to a different character when your character says he's spotted an enemy. You CANNOT see out of those blades of grass, but the enemy and ally AI can.

Maps - too many blank rooms. Too many areas that will never, ever be of significant use. I like big maps, but some of the maps on the game are overtly twisty and turny. Some missions you're gonna have to do a dry run just to get familiar with which doorways leads to where.

And those tanks...damn those tanks!

H&D2 is a very nice, well produced WW2 shooter, but some of the more ambitious aspects could've been toned down a bit.

All in all this game reminds me of a cross between Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell in a WW2 theater. The core of the gameplay is very good and certainly on par with any other shooter out there. Where the game mostly suffers is in the less prominent aspects of gameplay.

The tactical setup, imho, is far too cumbersome to be as useful as it could be. To cite Ghost Recon as reference, you were able to plot and execute group commands quickly and on the fly though the use of a simple tac-map. HD2's interface, by comparison, requires far too much clickity click and forces you to pull away from the real action to plot manuvers.

While this arrangement is suited well enough to more complex environments, a simpler interface would have been nice to see included as supplement to it.

All in all there's no reason any fan of WW2 shooters or tactical shooters in general should not check this one out. The game's respectably high production values and good core dynamics make up for its few shortcommings well enough.

I am constantly trying to find the next best war game. H&D2 is the best single player war game Ive played. Packed with hours of gameplay. well thought out and attention to detail makes it an even better game. things like taking a hostage and stealing their uniform. scavaging corpes for ammo and weapons. the ability to give orders to the other soldiers, gives an actual feeling of military rank, something all other games have not thought to tackle. It takes a while to complete a mission which is a good thing. its not fun when you run right through it and jump to the next one. lots more i could mention.

cons: if you buy this game do not neglect to download any available patches. there are quite a few bugs, but the patches will fix these and the game will run fine.

also the training mission at the start of the game is terrible. most people wont get through it before they uninstall and find another game. the actual gameplay however is totally different....trust me. although it is a good concept and a nice touch to the game, not a single game ive played has had a good basic training mission. the idea is to teach you how to play the game before you actually start playing missions, but its just to arcade like to feel realistic. if your shooting for realism then why bother doing it "half-job". they should have your soldier get out of bed at 4:00 am and hussle to fall in rank. make it tough to complete the training and have you do pushups when you screw up. the obstacle course is totally weak. why not have your men go out on a night excursion and engage targets to simulate what combat will be like when you start doing actual missions. just my thoughts.

Just because you can play first person, do NOT think of this gloriously beautiful game as a shooter. If you do you'll be disappointed. It's a strategy game and almost a role playing game. You have to THINK and manage more than you have to shoot. This is absolutely NOT a game that's all about running headlong into danger with guns blazing. It's about crafting careful plans through deadly situations. That said, if you like chess as much as you like Half-Life, then you'll LOVE this game. It's provokes a perfect combination of thinking and adrenaline.

I loved H&D2, graphics are outstanding the levels are realistic and envolving gameplay is nice, there is a learning curve though. If you are looking for an alternative to Call of Duty or Medal of Honor and want a new challenge pick this game up!!!!

Funny, I have been playing all of the MOHs, BIAs CODs Battlefields etc for about 4 years now and diddnt know this little GEM even existed.

Stumbled across it in an on-line forum where I read good reviews on. I quickly bought a copy and have been playing for a few weeks now.

First impressions were that it was going to be a rough ride because of all the required commands, especially coming off playing all the MOHs where you can get by with 2 mouse clicks and 3 buttons.

I got used to the console after a couple of hours of playing, slow at first but got comfortable with about 6-7 buttons that are "must need to know". Once you figure out the sequences of commands and how to get guys doing what you want this is the most robust and intriguing of all the WWII FPS games and the funnest.

I would say its almost the perfect game if you like this type of game.

BUT FIRST...BEFORE YOU PLAY..make sure you have applied ALL of the patches, there are 4 or 5 of them. Once having done this you will be totally awestruck by the gameplay.

I can't begin to describe all the cool features and amazing gameplay, pick up a copy and you wont be disappointed but hang in there while learning the commands. It will pay off. The developers here should be given huge Kudos for their attention to detail in this game, I am shocked that it flew under the radar as it did. Very happy to have discovered it.

ML