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It's A Sad fact, but the conflicts in the Middle East are showing no signs of cooling off any time soon. However, if there is a small silver lining in the black clouds of burning oil, it's that they make a damn fine videogame setting. Full Spectrum Warrior is the latest PC wargame to storm the desert, and this third-person squad-based action title, already released on Xbox, is certainly one of the most original and enjoyable.
Set in the fictitious country of Zekistan - a sort of hybrid of Iraq and Afghanistan - the game puts you in command of UN and NATO-backed American soldiers on a mission to depose the terrorist leader Al Afad, blamed for the genocide and sterilisation of the ethnic Zeki people.
Two's Company
There are two fire teams under your command - Alpha and Bravo. Each is made up of four soldiers with special skills. There's a high-ranking Team Leader for issuing commands and taking charge, as well as an Automatic Rifleman armed with a fast-firing M249 machine gun. Plus, there's a Grenadier holding an M203 grenade launcher, and a Rifleman packing a light rifle, available for giving aid to injured soldiers in battle.
Jun 01, 2004 Full Spectrum Warrior to storm the PlayStation 2. In case you missed it on the PC and Xbox, THQ and Pandemic are bringing their Army-approved combat sim.
Full Spectrum Warrior is not your standard third-person shooter - for a start, you only directly control the aim of a weapon when you're using grenades. Basically, the gameplay is about deploying your two light infantry squads (sometimes growing to three) to the best of your ability. Use the best tactical positions, take cover at all times, take out opposition forces and make it to your next objective without getting any soldiers killed. In some ways, it's like a more complex, true 3D Cannon Fodder- but maybe I've spent too much time in combat lately...
You certainly learn an army-dictionary worth of new B phrases, the first and most important being MOUT, or Military Operations in Urban Terrain. This is how you operate in a hostile, built-up environment teemingwith dug-in enemy snipers, mortars and tanks.
This is one of the best elements of Full Speccy Warrior - that it actually teaches you much about how soldiers plan and execute military operations in urban areas. No great surprise really, considering that Pandemic initially developed the game as a training tool for the US army.
Where To, Sarge?
Moving your Alpha and Bravo squads is simple and intuitive. First, choose which team you want to control by clicking the mouse wheel, then tap the right mouse button and you instantly bring up four location markers that represent where your four soldiers can be positioned in the environment. You can now move these circular markers around the gritty 3D world, and watch as they automatically suggest correct formations depending on the context - in a line behind a wall, for example, or in a wedge shape behind a burnt-out car.
It's beautifully simple, but also brings an element of tension as there's always a few seconds between issuing commands by tapping the left mouse button, and seeing them carried out on the battlefield. This delay can be fatal if you don't give your troops enough cover from enemy fire, as it's difficult to react quickly if you make a duff decision.
Actually, yomping your fire teams around the environment is when FSW makes its first big impression. The juddering, handheld view of the game's camera as it follows behind the shoulder of the soldiers is truly fantastic, giving a real documentary feel to the action -you half expect a flak jacketwearing Kate Adie to pop up from behind a pile of sandbags.
Cover Story
As well as rushing your troops around, you can move them using a 'bounding' move, which is a slower, but more methodical manoeuvre. Your team of four troops split into two smaller teams of two to cover each other, with the added bonus that they'll be on alert and react instantly if fired upon. The animation of your troops during this move - as with most of the game - is impressive, with your soldiers holding their weapons menacingly, constantly checking for enemies in the direction you've ordered them to face.
When they've reached their destination, you can then define a 'fire sector' for your team, so any enemies that blunder into it are shot immediately. Alternatively, you can use suppressing fire to make any of Al Afad's goons duck for cover and allow your other team to move safely, but this burns through bullets very quickly - run out. and you're a sitting duck.
Most certainly, the key in Full Spectrum Warrior is to always move from cover to cover, such as shielding your squad with an obviously-placed pile of rubble or the comer of a wall. Also, placing your Team Leader correctly means he can lean out and call out any opposition forces he sees. If your team is in cover, a shield icon appears above their heads meaning that any amount of enemy bullets won't hurt them. Of course, the flipside of that is that if an enemy is behind cover, they can't be hit with bullets either, which often results in both sides firing upon each other in a lengthy but futile exchange of hot lead.
True To Form
Missions are pretty straightforward, with variations on search and destroy/disarm, and rescue, organised into bite-size chunks with save points and CASEVAC stations where you can reload with ammo and treat any fallen comrades. It's really a great shame, but the initial excitement of FSW soon pales when you realise that the game is really just a series of quite linear puzzles. You solve them by inching forward using cover, flushing out foes with grenades mortars, and using your other team to flank enemies by using smoke grenades and convenient alleyways.
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Although you can use it to call in a recon helicopter flight on occasion, the handheld GPS device is really poor, only offering a confusing view of the area, with no way of rotating the map or zooming in on your squads' positions. Plus, although your own men react to situations and, if prompted, will automatically fire or find the best place to shelter from firefights, the Al of enemies is often suspect. For instance, throw a grenade towards them and they shout and scream, but also stay rooted to the spot, waiting patiently to be blown up.
Sandstorm
Graphics textures are sometimes basic, but there are some really excellent particle and dust effects in FSW. There's also some polished soldier animation that has them coughing and shielding their faces in a sandstorm, as well as the de rigueur Havok physics, that sees soldiers slumping to the floor and bleeding in gruesome super slo-mo. Also included are wooden boxes that splinter and cars at fall apart.
All of the soldiers have their own voice and react to the situation with lovely phrases such as: 'If that bastard kills me, I will kick his ass!' Plus, the general standard of the sound effects and music is top notch. We have to award points too for the superb replay feature, which, while enabling you to watch your battles in Benny Hillstyle double-speed, also means you can jump in at any point to rectify mistakes made.
Finally, there are two extra missions for the PC edition(although these are available on Xbox Live too), and co-op multiplayer, enabling you and a friend to play as the Alpha and Bravo fire teams. So, despite a few shortcomings - such as having a name like a Greenpeace anti-whaling ship -Full Spectrum Warrior has much to recommend, delivering a unique squad-based action game that Storming Norman himself would be proud of.
Medic!
Treating Wounded Soldiers In The Field Is A Vital Part Of FSW
You won't find any convenient health packs in Full Spectrum Warrior. If any of your soldiers are shot and injured, they become incapacitated, leaving you with only a short time to treat them at a mobile CASEVAC aid station before they die. To do this, you have to actually pick up and move the wounded fella with your Rifleman - of course, this means that your fire team is immediately two weapons down and has to move at a slower pace.
Here's where you need to use your other fire team to suppress any nearby enemies, so you can make a retreat for the nearest CASEVAC, indicated by a cross symbol on your HUD and GPS. Once there, a medic will treat your soldier, returning them to full health, and your other troops will be re-supplied with ammo. Although this can often be a painstaking process, it brings a real tense realism to the missions and shows the horrible consequences of a bad decision in battle. Remember: the US Army has 'zero tolerance for casualties'. Ahem.
DescriptionFull Spectrum Warrior is based on a game commissioned by the U.S. Army to train light Infantry troops in urban combat situations.
Soldiers are placed in a tense, hostile, and claustrophobic environment where they must complete a variety of military objectives. Players act as the Squad Leader, providing direction to Alpha and Bravo fire teams.
The successful Squad Leader effectively uses cover in the environment and moves his fire teams in a coordinated fashion so they can protect themselves from possible attacks that could come from any direction. Full Spectrum Warrior puts you in the dirt with your men, where danger lurks around every corner.
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