A commendable shooter experience...
Not much is usually expected from budget titles, let alone shooters. In a genre where games like Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R. and Call of Duty 2 have established lofty standards it is foreseeable that some titles would not be able to measure up. Such was the expectation for UberSoldier. Luckily expectations can be changed in short periods of time. While it’s far from a gaming masterpiece, UberSoldier does have its strengths that make it enjoyable.
One of the main issues with the game is the localization. Given that it was created by a Russian developer this is not completely unexpected. I knew I was in for an English treat when the first level “Psychopathic Hospital” loaded up. Grammatical errs are prevalent in the game’s dialogue and mission synopsis’. Any mistakes there, however, fail to achieve the cringing-effect of some of UberSoldier’s spoken dialogue. Sentences sound chopped with the player being unable to figure out what is going on in a scene until it’s finally spelled out for them. Accents are just plain wrong with both British naval officers and German sentries possessing a bit of Western U.S. twang in their voices. For comical effect you can always look for the game’s lead, Karl Stoltz, to deliver his lines in an emotionally devoid state. Bullets ricocheting off of debris in front, bodies exploding all around, and Stoltz talks on his radio with all the emotion of a posh London socialite during Sunday brunch.
But you must also consider that a voice actor is only as good as the source material they’re given. A German officer raised from the dead, given supernatural powers and ready to settle a vendetta against the scientists who interrupted his eternal sleep doesn’t sound like the most convincing of concepts. In fact, from mission to mission you’ll see what could have been developed into a convincing story be passed off as a weird series of coincidences. Stoltz himself is treated like an obedient dog throughout some sequences with supporting characters blatantly talking about how they’re manipulating him in front of his face. It doesn’t help the player think they’re fighting as a noble character and instead makes him seem like a hyped-up errand boy. It is a bit understandable though since he came from a Psychopathic Hospital.
What the game lacks in its premise and sub-par acting it makes up for in other departments. UberSoldier itself is a visual treat with some areas looking downright beautiful. Characters are modeled crisply with eyes, noises, fingers and other small features crystal clear. Damage is represented with actual bullet impact holes on corpses. Leaning down to a German soldier and seeing a shot that went clear through the eye gives off a satisfying feeling. Gear from soldier’s uniforms including shovels, ration bags and assorted paraphernalia spill to the ground. If there are any complaints it’s that wounding animations look the same as those for death. Soldiers consistently slump to the ground after a hail of bullets only to get back up three-to-four seconds later.
The game’s structures possess clear textures that convincingly show every brick, blistered paint chip and bullet hole. Levels will range from large, expansive factories to small and enclosed submarines where a leaky hull will have you clamoring for the nearest water-tight hatch. Visual options are extensive and everything from gun models, characters and antialiasing are scalable. The result is that UberSoldier will play on a number of different hardware configurations and still look great no matter what.
Gameplay parallels the game’s graphics in that, for the most part, you’re getting some great action but it does bog down in a few areas. The most notable quirk is Stoltz’s special power, a temporal shield. It stops bullets in mid-air and suspends them, creating a bullet-wall in whatever direction you were being shot at. Said bullet wall can then be walked in to enemy soldiers and gives them a severe case of deadness. It’s an incredibly useful power and may save you from a few restarts here and there but never feels like more than a gimmick. You’ll never feel the need to use it because you can but only because you’re heavily outnumbered. That distinction alone prevents it from being great.
Complimenting your shield is the developer’s self-titled emotion-driven gameplay that comes in two forms. Getting three headshots in a short time span will boost the power of your temporal shield while melee killing enemies with your knife three times will increase your maximum health bar by two points. Headshots are easy to come by but enemies are downright dangerous if they get close so knife combat should be reserved for weak or single baddies since, when it comes to the AI, there is strength in numbers.
While one soldier is giving covering fire another may throw a grenade at your feet or shoot at some nearby explosive barrels. Such is the brilliance of UberSoldier’s AI. If there is a corner, doorway or other obstruction, like a box, then the AI will hide while occasionally peeking out to fire off a few rounds. It slows the pace of the game and gives it a more tactical feel. But every coin has a flipside and while you may be gritting your teeth for some good firefights there are times when you’ll marvel at the ease of it all. In long corridors and wide-open areas the AI will simply rush forward, guns-a-blazing with little regard for their own life. No matter what they’ll always be tossing grenades like it’s their hobby. A lack of a distinct enough “clink”—ala Call of Duty 2—makes them dangerous since all you have to go for is your eyes. Grenades cause a lot of damage—and knock Stoltz off his feet in fact—so you’ll find yourself moving from one firing position to another.
UberSoldier does a lot to mix up the gameplay. You’ll have machine gun sequences, be tasked with detonating bombs at different locations, and even command a submarine to take out several ships. They occur at just-the-right intervals between routine gunfights as to not seem monotonous. When you’re fighting you won’t be alone either as you’re given squad-mates for some missions. The game lacks a command system so they’ll run around doing their own thing. If one of them has a rocket launcher they may last a while but more often than not you’ll lose everybody in the first few firefights.
There’s also a decent number of weapons that feature. Rocket launchers, sniper rifles, sub-machine guns and flamethrowers are just some of the death-dealers you’ll get to toy around with. Players have five equipment slots, one for each type of weapon. That means you can only have one type of pistol, sub-machine gun, support, heavy and grenade at a time. If you’re carrying a rocket launcher you’ll need to give it up if you want to start a barbeque with a flamethrower. It keeps your character from being too powerful and reminds you in the final boss fight that accuracy is key.
In conclusion, UberSoldier strives to be a fantastic gaming experience. There’s too little there though to make it stand out much from the FPS pack. That said, fans of the genre will find a lot to like here and given the budget price may find something worth playing.