The worst shooter on PS3
The most obvious problem are the graphics. An absolute disgrace, and have a similar look to early Medal of Honour games on PSOne. This is no exaggeration, and considering its use of the Unreal Engine 3, this is all the more shocking. Textures, objects and entire sections of the map are re-used, while the overall look is blocky with minimal detail. Non essential paths are blocked off, enforcing the hugely linear design. Explosions look alright, yet nothing in the environments can be destroyed at random, not even crates.
Enemy intelligence is appalling, often taking several seconds to notice you (even on the harder settings).
The story is schizophrenic to say the least. At the start of the game you are a construction worker, yet a few levels in are leading an assassination attempt on the White House. By the games final act, you are Americas last and only hope. The story flits between locations and set pieces with no real character development, in fact almost every level sees a new type of resistance group needing your character to perform a random task, giving the plot no sense of continuity and shifting focus when its not needed.
But plot and character development are the very least of Turning Points problems. For a game set in an alternte history, more could have been done to liven up the weaponry. They lack any sense of power and the contol scheme is twitchy. Thanks to the aiming system used, unfavourable comparisons to Call Of Duty 4 are inevitable. This aiming mode blocks the majority of the screen, including whats being aimed at!
Enemies don't even flinch when shot, those crouching when killed have the tendency to stand up and then fall down again. Comical. Quite a few Nazi soldiers literally appear from thin air when walking into a room.
The game is just 8 short levels, one of which is the games opening invasion where you dont even possess a gun. The whole shambles is easily completed within a day. More upsetting is the fact there are no unlockables or rewards; so everything really has been seen on that first play. The game is broken and glitchy, heads appear through doors, guns stick to walls. The animation is laughable, especially when an enemy runs or attempts to crouch.
The human shield, Turning Points one innovative feature doesent always work. Similarly, certain actions require button prompts, like when opening a door or activating a switch. These don't always appear, leaving you wondering where to go next. As the game is so linear, it seems obvious. Then, after returning to the spot it will finally appear. Sometimes reloading the previous checkpoint is required for these prompts to appear. Similarly, squad members will refuse to repeat a mission objective, leaving a reload the only option if it was missed. The game switches to a third person viewpoint when performing some actions. However, the shift feels awkward and disorientating. In fact, this mode serves to highlight how poor TP's graphics are and how unplayable it actually is. On a less important but equally frustrating note, the game installs itself on the PS3s hard drive (2.5GB). This supposedly reduces loading times, yet even in Falling Points small environments, the loading screen flickers violently at random points. So what is this space used for?
I read somewhere that Spark, the games developer, made Turning Point in 9 months. Which makes you wonder what they actually did during this time. It looks and plays like a PSOne game, not a 2008 full price release. Very insulting stuff.