Global Operations doesn't beat Counter-Strike but they did a great job making a game with the same general idea of it.
User Rating: 8.2 | Global Operations PC
This Review is with the latest patch. Barking Dog Studios developed Global Operations with the same vibe of Counter-Strike and other similar games. Barking Dog studios has actually worked on previous versions of Counter-Strike. Global Operations is a squad based military shooter that focuses mainly on the online play and there is a variety of real world weapons and equipment found throughout the game. There are currently up to 15 multiplayer maps set in real life locations. You can go online and duke it out with up 23 other players. There are 7 soldier classes to choose from with specific weapons/equipment and some other minor differences. There are similar game types to Counter-Strike but they usually involve more than just running into a room and planting a bomb or rescuing hostages. You usually have a list of objectives that you must complete before the primary objective. An example of this is that in the Chechnya mission where the Russian Army must raid a rebel compound and eliminate the rebel leader. They can’t do that because the area is barricaded and only an air-strike could clear the path but they can’t call in an air-strike because there are two anti-aircraft vehicles in the area. The Russian Army must first blow the anti-aircraft vehicles up so that the air-strike can clear the barricade and give access to the rebel base for the main objective. Most of the maps in Global Operations are good and they believably make you think you are in that part of the world. The bomb diffusing sequence is very interactive and interesting. You can either wait for this device to find which wire to cut or you can simply guess which wire it is. This is useful if there is only a few seconds left or if someone killed your backup and is coming for you. The weapons and equipment throughout the game are based on real world weapons and all of them are worth using depending on the funds you have available. You gain funds by completing an objective, killing enemies and other pro-teamwork things. None of the weapons are way overpowered or useless but paying for a very expensive gun will get you your moneys worth. You have to wait to spawn in after you die and that can take from 1 – 40 seconds depending on the server settings. You can select your weapons and equipment here while you wait or spectator your teammates or camera points. You also have the choice to risk running to where you or you teammate died to retrieve the dropped weapon. There are always weapons on the ground but you are practically target practice if you only have a pistol and the weapon was dropped in the open. Almost all the weapons can be upgraded by adding attachments like scopes, double clips, silencers, extended clips, drum barrels and attachable flashlights. Just about all the guns are very useless if you spray the gun fully automatic. Even at close range spraying is difficult so you should learn shooting in precise bursts. You can switch your fire mode to single or three round burst for most guns if you are having trouble shooting accurately. It doesn’t take many shots to kill someone with rifles and powerful pistols so learning to shoot precisely will definitely give you an edge. Also, moving while shooting makes your shots very inaccurate. There are multiple kinds of armor going from light to heavy but some are limited to different classes. The equipment is pretty standard stuff ranging from multiple grenades to night vision goggles. You will be able to choose from 7 different soldier classes in the game. The demolitions expert, heavy gunner, commando, recon, medic, sniper and intelligence officer classes are available for choosing. The medic is a very important class for the team. They can heal themselves and teammates by injecting them with some green substance using a med-kit. You can also revive fallen soldiers much like Return to Castle Wolfenstein. You should try to heal your teammates and yourself as fast as possible because the longer you stay injured, the less amount of health you can heal. The recon class is extremely useful and hasn’t been done in other games. The recon soldier can use some sort of device which lets you see teammates and enemies through walls. He can’t keep the device detecting enemies forever but it is a huge advantage to a team. The disadvantage of being a recon soldier is that your weapons are limited to light-machine guns. The sniper is a valuable team asset depending what kind of map you are playing. The sniper can only buy sniper rifles as his primary weapon and that should make you choose wisely upon using a sniper. The three classes I explained move exceptionally faster than the other classes but they are limited to light and medium armor. The commando is an all around killer. He has access to many weapons including the devastating L.A.W. anti-armor weapon. This weapon eliminates everything around the blast. The heavy machine gunner has access to heavy machine guns like the SAW and shotguns. The demolitions expert has access to an M-79 grenade launcher and different types of explosive like remote charges and timed C4 that can be used to set a trap around the corner. The last three classes are a bit slower than the first three but they do have access to the heaviest armor. The final class, the intelligence officer, is rather useless and unused. I can’t say much because I was so incredibly bored within the first minute that I went back to fighting. You see an overhead map, your teammates and remote cameras, which are the same things you can watch as a spectator. You can give waypoints but I wouldn’t expect anyone to go there. All fighting classes have access to the four different types of grenades and equipment like night vision goggles and thermal heat sensor goggles. The graphics are just good. They don’t have anything special to describe them as anything but good. Although the environments are good looking, they are really square. I mean that everything seems straight and it is blocky. This won’t interfere with game play but it is something you notice. I think it is a great feature that each level takes place in a different location and all of the player models have a different look corresponding to that location. The explosions are standard stuff but they don’t give you a feeling that a blast just went off near you. The smoke grenade does its job well with no slowdown as you run through it. The tear gas grenade gives a blurry effect that makes you close your eyes repeatedly and cough. The flash bang gives off the same effect you see in counter-strike. The guns all look authentic and they are used as they would be in real life. The sound is used well in thinking that a small battle is going on around you. The guns sound realistic when they are fired which is great. Unfortunately, the radio commands keep the same language throughout each mission. If a grenade or flash bang goes off near you, it will cause your ears to deafen for a short time. I kind of wish that the explosions were a bit louder but I can’t say from experience what they sound like in real life. Aside from the radio commands, the only other voice in the game is from the tutorial. The game has an option for voice over IP but I have never heard anyone use it and I don’t know if they hear me. There are some nice effects like wind blowing while you are in the mountains and other ambient noises that make the maps feel more real. The sound overall is very well done and should do better in immersing you in the game. The servers are a bit lacking though. There are currently 30 servers running and only 11 have players playing in them. Team-killing is still the same as anywhere else but you can vote him out if everyone binds vote to a key. Cheating is another problem. The servers that don’t actively have administrators playing are probably going to have cheaters in them. Even the official EA servers have cheaters. You can vote them out but most people on their team vote no because they are raking in money. That and some people haven’t bind vote to a key. The game is great if you find a good server though. Even the servers in a separate country from my own played with no lag. It is also worth mentioning that there is a single player mode but it isn’t worth checking out. It is only the multiplayer maps with bots that you can play in succession. If you were planning to get this game for single player then you should cancel those plans now. You can have a fun time if you find a good server with a good number of people playing. The game did not quite get an audience as large as Counter-Strike but is a good game that is worth checking out. 
