Introduction
Advanced Warfighter is the latest 'Ghost Recon' game in the Tom Clancy series of games.
Mission Brief is as follows:
The Year is 2013, The place Mexico City. You are a 'Ghost' a highly trained expert in all aspects of M.O.U.T. (Military Operations in Urbanized Terrain). Highly trained and well armed rebels are attempting to start a civil war in the city and your mission is to stop them. Not only is your training the best you also have access to the best and newest kit that the US Military has to offer, From Prototype weapons to Body armor, even CROSS-COM a miniature personal screen in front of your left eye offering you all the newest intelligence.
Gameplay
As i mentioned in my previous 'review' I'm a massive fan of the First Person Shooter genre of games on any format. Having heard nothing but good things about this game from the many PC magazines i read and a few friends who have it for the 360 i couldn't wait to play it.
After installing it i had a look at the 'Standard control settings' and came across the games first flaw, no crouch button. Sure you can press 'C' to crouch and then 'V' to stand up again but that's no use to me when I'm under fire and trying to get up and run to cover as i soon discovered, let me set the scene: First Mission on your own (team split up due to wind), there i am sneaking along a wall when 'zoom PING, zoom PING' bollocks I'm being shot at, i know ill stand up (run quicker you see) shit don't lie down you dumb F*!k......arghhhhh DEAD. Now if the games controls had a single button to crouch AND stand up i would have been OK and wouldn't have had to start the mission again.
Also i was truly disappointed to discover that even for a 'Realistic Game' there's no roll button for when your in the prone (that's military speak for lying down on the floor). The last thing i want to happen is to come under fire and have no way of quickly getting back behind cover. Sure when your stood up and running its possible to press 'Space' and perform a slide on your ass towards cover into the crouched position, so why no bloody roll button.
Now the gameplay itself is really very good...on your 6th attempt at the mission that is. However this is only because you know what to do, where to send your teammates and what the enemy soldiers will do when you open fire. As i quickly discovered the game flows smoothly and really picks up pace when your leaning round corners popping the guy in front of you, waiting two seconds then throwing a grenade over a wall to kill the guy who's coming to investigate the shots. It just doesn't last though because soon enough your dead and having to redo it all again just to complete another mission. This quickly becomes so utterly stressful that you'll quit the game and watch the telly then have another go when you've calmed down a notch.
The final nail in the coffin for this game is the AI controlled team you get stuck with. I found myself constantly babysitting them as they're just to thick to trust and leave alone. You can point too a waypoint and they will happily run through enemy fire to get there, without returning fire!! This really pissed me off after the 4th time it happened as not only was my health in the red (the computer doesn't miss...EVER), but so was my entire team. A real ball ache in my opinion when you consider you still have to get to the extraction zone.
Sights and Sounds
Ah the sights and sounds section, where to begin??? Let me see, Sights First.
SIGHTS:
Now for a computer that runs FEAR, BEEF, COD2 and Oblivion all at the highest of the high graphics settings, why the hell does GRAW look so bad??? The straight lines are fuzzy and pixelly even with Antistropic Filtering set to MAX. The Sky is pale and dull even though the game is set in Mexico City apparently in the summer. The building all look dreary and drab there's just no colour to the game everything seems to have been coloured in different shades of beige with the odd splash of colour thrown in to the mix. However amongst the bad there is some good, walking into shadows is an awesome experience. When outside looking at them you cant see much but walk into the shadow and wow!!!! The effect of you Digital eyes getting used to the dark is pretty damned impressive. The only thing that betters that is walking from shadow out into to the light. I physically felt myself scrunching my eyes up whilst watching the HDR Bloom effect in action.
SOUNDS
Ah the sounds, this was a joy to experience in such a truly disappointing game. You can tell that the developers have actually been to check out all the weapons featured in the game. They all sound meaty and real, the cocking of the weapons is right, the recoil is right and the sound of the rebounding rounds sounds right. They really have put a lot of effort not just into the weapon sounds but the ambient sounds as well. The roar of the Blackhawk as it hovers over you, the rush of the wind in your ears as you hurtle to the ground from the transport plane in the opening video. Its pure sex for the ears.
Stuff that sucks
Where to begin....
1. Stupid controls.
2. Stupid teammates.
3. Horrid Graphics
4. Lack of interesting features (sideways roll).
5. The incredibly unrealistic shooting skills of the Mexican rebels.
6. The lack of a quicksave feature.
Stuff that Rocks
1. The CROSS-COM, press 'G' with a teammate to see the world through his eyes. The best feature in a game other than Slo-Mo
2. The sounds are awesome.
3. Weapon detail and customisation features.
4. HDR Bloom effects.
Conclusion
I must say that in all my years as a gamer i have never been so disappointed in a game. The really good features of the game are just fantastic and truly are brilliant but the bad points to it are just that... Really really bad. They completely spoil the game for me and there just no way around them (not unless someone ports the BEEF controls across).
Sure I'm not saying don't buy it, but borrow it from uncle Mininova before you spend 30 quid on an online key. Also unless you have the patience of a saint and don't mind the whole: Move, die, reload, move differently, die reload, move succeed thing then you should enjoy it. But if like me you prefer a more fast paced FPS then for the love of all things holy avoid it and play BEEF instead.
Score : 4/10
thanks and goodnight.