As squad leader, players co-ordinate the actions of multiple
infantry fire teams, leading them through a variety of hostile
environments. An intuitive control scheme allows direction
of squads in real-time as players outthink, outmanoeuvre and
outgun enemies through more than 12 levels of intense warfare.
Players use authentic battlefield tactics as they confront
the enemy with a deadly arsenal of weapons, the latest military
equipment, and new player-controlled mechanised units. With
an enhanced multiplayer mode, players can go online and battle
friends through a variety of new head-to-head and co-op objective-based
missions...
Ten
Hammers is
the game that Full Spectrum Warrior fans have been
waiting for for age - and you can count me in that category.
Sadly, there are just a few too many bugs that make the gameplay
just this side of playable, but will still frustrate most
gamers - especially those that loved the
first game.
Firstly,
the whole game has been given a bit of a shake-up, as far
as the controls are concerned. You can now take charge each
of your men so that you can, cover allowing, aim and fire
at the enemy. This does make for a much more exciting gaming
experience, but it doesn't always work as well as expected.
For example, when you are low on ammo and you need to lay
down suppressing fire, the gun will continue blasting out
long after the enemy is dead - until you tell them to stop.
Also the controls are a little awkward thanks to the fact
that you can't change the X and Y axis of the camera - which
is a little odd. This is made all the more bizarre by the
fact that in normal mode you must press up to look down and
vice versa (exactly how I like to configure my controls) but
when you switch to aiming the controls are revered so that
pressing up moves the sight upwards.
You
can also split your four men teams in half in order to take
up more positions. The only downside with this is that it's
more difficult to suppress the enemy.
The
A.I. of both your men and the enemy is next to laughable at
times. It's quite easy just to come out in the open and watch
as one of your enemies runs around ignoring you - while your
squad equally fail to notice them. This is a pain, because
it would be handy if your team automatically locked on to
them and offered some covering fire, or headed for cover.
And then at other times the enemy seem to be the world's best
shot - spotting your men the moment they appear and blowing
them away before you know what has happened.
Then
there are the problems with moving your teams. Let's say that
you are crouched behind some cover and you want to move behind
heavier cover, or to get a better position from which to fire
from. It's simply a matter ordering your men to move where
you want to go. But, instead of taking the most direct and/or
safest route, more often than not one or more of your men
will walk out into the open - where they can easily be picked
off. And what's annoying is that there's no way to prevent
this. Add to this the angle problems of not being able to
see anything occasionally when you are in a corner, or the
fact that you have a limited view of where you can move to,
and you can see how some people could become frustrated with
this game a little too quickly.
Your
grenade range is all over the place. Some times you can throw
for miles, other times you can throw just far enough to ensure
you are blown to pieces. And that brings up another problem.
Make a mistake, like not throwing a grenade far enough, or
suddenly being caught out in the open, and it's just too difficult
to react quickly enough to get out of danger. This means,
more often than not, that you have to replay the same segment
of a level over and over again until you work out where all
the enemy are.
Now
I know I've spent a great deal of time pointing out the negative
points, but that's because I wanted to list all of the niggles
I had. But there are lots of other cool additions (like being
able to enter buildings and go upstairs in order to get an
advantage on your enemies, or being able to take command of
tanks and other vehicles) that will please fans of the first
game.
At
the end of the day this game is not quite what it could have
been, but it's still great fun if you are prepared to put
up with the numerous bugs. A few tweaks and this would have
been a worthy contender to the first game. But, as it stands,
this can be more frustrating than rewarding.
Pete
Boomer
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