Friday 9 February, 2007

I suppose predictably, the game gets darker and less tropical, while introducing some fairly run-of-the-mill plot points; nefarious research, evil scientist, there's a girl, etc. However, it's pulled off rather well, and the resulting mutants from the nefarious research are sufficiently more difficult than regular soldiers, without being obnoxious, but while still providing a boost of adrenaline when they pounce.

The weapon system is nice; instead of simply having the 10 possible weapons 0-9, there is a reasonable variety but only four can be carried at any given moment. Choices have to be made, as almost all have a good use (aside from the pistol, which is only useful at the beginning when there's nothing else). Fortunately, I know that, for example, the next time I find sniper rifle ammo is probably going to be in the form of an actual sniper rifle, so I can safely discard the one I have in favor of a shotgun for the current indoor level, and then trade it out when the time comes.

The continuing dialogue between the mercenaries on the island is cheesy but welcome. It is also the first of two reasons that using binoculars is actually useful in this game (as opposed to most). So firstly, the dialogue can only be heard if you view the mercs from afar without their knowledge, using the binoculars. Secondly, in an interesting gameplay mechanic, enemies will only show up on the radar thingy once they've been spotted through the binoculars. This is a nice addition and prevents me, the player, from magically knowing where enemies are in the foliage until the game is reasonably sure I've actually found them.

Stealth is an important part of this game; after all, you're one guy against an island full of hardened mercenaries. An all-out guns-blazing approach will end in tears for all involved, and it is integral to get at least the first kill or two in any sortie before others are alerted. The game provides satisfying distances and vantage points such that the sniper rifle can be an extremely fun weapon; I chuckle along with the game designers as I spot two soldiers chatting near an explosive barrel, and fire, creating some amusing rag-doll entertainment. There is a meter which purports to show how close you are to being discovered by enemies in the area, but it sometimes lies. Another interesting twist is the ability to throw rocks to distract an enemy. This can backfire, however; when grenades are found, the game automatically replaces rocks with grenades as the thing to be thrown when G is pressed. Aside from these minor grievances, however, the stealth aspect makes this the sort of game which is right up my alley, and I look forward to beating it.

Like you, I also really enjoyed this game. :-)

I like the point you make about how games often "give away" too much information about the weapons you might want to select/use based on the ammunition that you find. The next time you come across a cache of ammo that has, say, shotgun shells and sniper rifle ammo, well...you'd be daft to assume that you aren't expected to use those weapons soon.