AMazing game. better than the Battlefield series of games.
After finding a game that appeals, the player can join it and is then given a few options. He or she can choose a side, consisting of either a "allied" team consisting of the United States and some European countries, or the player can join the rebel paramilitary group, consisting of rebel Indonesian natives. After choosing a team, the player must then choose a class and their weapons. The list of weapons is huge: players can be a "gunner" and choose from an M60, M249, M240, PKM, and other heavy machine guns. However, this loadout is heavy, and with a sidearm, grenades, and extra ammo your player will be quite slow. If you want to play light and stealthy, then select the sniper class and chose from a variety of rifles such ar the SR-25, Barrett .50 cal rifle, M40 bolt action, and more. Only take a couple of claymore mines and a knife, and you have a character that can shoot from 1000 meters away, yet can quickly relocate after each shot.
Gameplay in JO is fairly typical, as there are two teams, and each team needs to take control of certain capture points for a prolonged period of time before winning. In addition to the various classes if foot soldiers, there are also vehicles to drive and fly, from Blackhawk Helicopters to jeeps, and from APCs to hovercrafts. JO has one of the best physics systems ever portrayed in a game. In addition to bodies flying everyone when a vehicle explodes, bullets react extremely realistic. For example, when shooting a machine gun, the first few bullets are accurate but after a second or two, they spray every where. WIth sniper rifles, bullets will actually drop every hundred meters or so, so a marksmen needs to use his binoculars to find the range to target, and then actually dial it into the scope on his rifle. This adds an incredable amount of depth to the game, and it takes a while to truly master shooting any type of gun in the game.
Graphically, JO is somewhat dated as it uses the same engine as is found in Novalogic's previous Blackhawk Down games. Despite its age, however, enviornments look extremely good, and vegetation is rendered beautifully, so it both looks good, and can also hide people. Character models are also aequate, and guns look realistic enough. JO looks terrific, just dont expect any Battlefield 2 looks. Sound is also well done, as many guns sound really good and you actually get into the game more: nothing is better than unloading with an M60, or hearing "boom-CRACK!" of a .50 cal shell going 700 meters to a target. Also, vehicle sounds are well done...there is a nice "whine" noise when a helicopter starts up, and an appropriate level of bass when the blades make the "thwop thwop thwop" sound as they turn.
While JO was released at a bad time and often often overlooked now that games such as Countertrike: Source and Battlefield 2 have been released, this game is none-the-less a classic, and deserves the huge communities that is found in other online shooters.