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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This game rules!!, January 24, 2003
I have always been a big fan of first person shooters. But also adventure games. Games of this type I've played in the past include Marathon series, Tomb Raider series, and Unreal & Unreal Tournament. (There would be more, but I only have so much time.) The story is important to me. If I want to just blast things, I'll play Unreal Tournament. Anyway . . .The first thing I noticed about the game was how real it felt. You start out in the back of a german transport truck, you know the kind with the canvas cover, getting trucked into a German compound. The tension and anticipation is amazing!! Your first job, with your squad, is to rescue an SAS agent being held hostage there. I'll just say you encounter resistance. When one of the truck drivers papers don't check out, the mayhem begins. Other campaigns involve capturing and then driving tanks, stealthing through winter forests at night to take out antiaircraft guns, sneaking into bases to gather intel, demolition missions, rescuing pow's, infiltrating and planting charges inside a german UBoat, and the most insane - storming Omaha beach to commence operation Overlord, infiltrating their defenses, and taking out the gun towers - totally harrowing!! Sometimes you're alone, sometimes with others - Rangers, SAS, etc. The missions are believable, sensible, and seem necessary to the allied effort. While the game is basically a 1st person shooter, there is always a mission to guide you. It always takes a little thinking to get the job done. On your compass there is a general guide as to what direction your mission should take you, as well as a general distance guide, but it's not that easy. Let's just say the shortest distance between two points isn't always a straight line, and getting there is no stroll down 5th Avenue. I think the AI is great. Very few stupid guards and enemies. A little advice: Stealth works. Staying out of searchlights, and walking rather than running are quite effective. Sometimes not killing enemies is preferable to machine gunning everything. Often, if you're too loud the germans will sound the alarm, which brings others quickly. And it's damn tough finding your way out of town after destroying their radio communications, when you have twenty to thirty highly trained nazis with machine guns looking for you. The weapons are appropriate to the period - which I like. This helps the learning curve. The range on the pistol is very different from the machine gun, from the sniper rifle. Reload time is a factor! At the beginning, I would run out of a clip at just the wrong time. Pay attention. This is especially true of the sniper rifle. I like that different weapons are useful in different situations - it's not just a "machine gun always" kind of game. My favorite part is that skill works. Thinking works. If you walk in the middle of a road, you'll likely get taken out by a sniper - in one shot! Sometimes you have to impersonate German soldiers and officers. Know how? Neither did I. You have to learn. Hint: don't run. Good games always feel a little short, and this is no exception. There are twenty levels, and they're all fun! The finale (which isn't Omaha beach) is so damn exciting and difficult, that you'll really feel like you've accomplished something! Graphics and sound: Outstanding! A couple rants: 1) Sometimes you can be firing a rifle or machine gun, say to take out a guy in a tower, yet 50 yards away, others don't hear it - good for us, but not too realistic; 2) No knife to use when you sneak up on folks; 3) You should have to drag dead folks out of the way - into closets or behind walls to maintain your secrecy; 3) When you're fully loaded up, you can carry two machine guns, a sniper rifle w/ scope, a silenced pistol, ten grenades, approx 1000 rounds of ammo, and sometimes a bazooka. Can you say 75 lbs? Hardly inconspicuous. Sometimes, you might start with just a sniper rifle, or a pistol, but you can load up pretty quick, with no adverse effects; 4) On a couple missions you end up killing like two hundred folks - by yourself. Hmmm . . . . These are small points - I just get excited about the realism and envision the next level. I haven't enjoyed a game this much in a long time. Can't wait for the sequel.
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