Status Chovus Jul 17, 2021
Beat using mostly the starting squad. I used save states to avoid any unnecessary deaths and accepted a single loss near the late game. The last couple missions seen a few more guys die and I beat the final level with only 2 seconds left on the timer. This game started out a blast, being kind of like a real …
Beat using mostly the starting squad. I used save states to avoid any unnecessary deaths and accepted a single loss near the late game. The last couple missions seen a few more guys die and I beat the final level with only 2 seconds left on the timer. This game started out a blast, being kind of like a real time strategy mission where you can't build more units. Having to manually aim gave the game a fun top down shooter feel. I did not figure out how to split the squad until quite a few missions in, and I had to check a walkthrough to figure out how; it was a little more complicated than need be. This was also around the time where the game started to get annoying. Rocket enemies that can shoot from the full screen distance forced a slow crawling advance or a mad rush with 1 guy. It was more annoying and cheap than fun. Then add in turrets, vehicles and choppers that were even more difficult to defeat. The guys were difficult to control because there is no path finding in the game; they just go in a straight line. It was incredibly annoying how often they got stuck on stuff, and the ground vehicles were even worse. The npc hostages to rescue were probably the worst part of the game. Why does it have to be so finicky to get them to move where you want, and get in the god damn chopper?
While some of the level design was very creative, there was way too much luck based trial and error. The worst was starting off so close to enemies that if you did not act immediately your guys would die. Other things like running to a turret to kill another turret before it shoots you, or swiping a chopper before it is shot down, were frustrating. Split soldiers that were not actively controlled did not perform all that well and were sitting ducks for vehicles, without any kind of warning that you might need to switch control. There was also a distinct lack of narrative structure or believable war progression. The game felt like a random series of challenges rather than a coherent campaign. The early game was definitely 8+/10 but the mid and late game bring that score down. Better level design and less emphasis on luck would have made the game better. The life system where you only have so many soldiers was cool.
7.2/10
