I went to my local Walmart to pick this up with the IGN review hating it and fans loving it and one guy who pirated it.
And you know what. I could not be happier with my decision to pick it up. It really has been a long time since I just said forget the reviews this game just looks like pure fun and something that was missing from my library of games. The game has short load times and it reloads checkpoints in a blink of the eye. The lighting and textures in the game caught my eye and have me constantly checking them out with the light on my jacket on and off. Watching the kills being performed are great.
Now to the nitty gritty. #1 DO NOT TREAT THIS GAME LIKE SPLINTER CELL! U R NOT SUPPOSED TO TRY AND ELIMINATE THE ENEMY WITH A HEAD SHOT FROM ACROSS THE ROOM! YOUR GUN IS YOUR LAST RESORT! as any good assassin should know. Your knife and your ability to trick the enemy is. Your gun is also just another tool to use to distract the enemy. You can shoot oil puddles that enemies are on to set them on fire. When the other German officers come to check his comrade out you can decide how to dispose of him.
The actually gun CONTROL of the game is fluid and not broken, buggy or laggy or any of those things. The reticule just doesn't come to a perfect + its more like -- -- and then another one below it just like this: I Its primarily used to perform head shots up close. I found myself repeatedly using the ability to whistle and distract the enemy to another area and then popping him in the head whenever I felt it necessary or was just feeling evil! Most of the time you can use all your skills to take an enemy out including the enemy themselves. Dead comrades make it easy to get the Alive enemies closer to you so you can plan out your next strike and follow their movements.
What was neglected in the review was the fact that you can also sneak up on enemies pull the pins from their grenades and then watch them become walking time bombs. I cannot tell you how many times I did this and had a grin on my face. But! This game is about patience and strategy and yes you will have to reload to the next checkpoint ( i did it more often because I wanted to play the game and never be seen). But unlike dying because of a glitch or because of some stupid AI. Most of the time I died because of my own mistakes. You do find a plethora of health kits and Morphine scattered across the game and finding collectibles is fun also. Also, she is based on a real person and in accordance cannot take 20 bullets to the chest. she can take just as many (pistol)bullets about 3 to 5 just like the enemies. The game is very balanced. Also, I believe each level has an art artifact that needs to be saved. I had stumbled upon a German guarding a golden statue of the what appeared to be the Virgin Mary and I had to push it into another room and lock in behind the wall. Very clever, I had not heard about this until I actually did this. I found no need to install this game to the hard drive for better performance as I did from others. I have had no glitches that I can tell either.
The game is medium to hard. It rewards you with points for finding collectibles but you also have to get the next checkpoint in order to have those saved. Meaning if you found a collectible and then died, you need to go back and retrieve that collectible again. I know it sounds tedious but c'mon. Too many games reward us for just walking through it (Prince of Persia).
The voice acting and the acting on the German Soldiers are excellent. The animations are pretty good and once again the lighting is supreme. I have yet to get to the end of the game so I cannot judge it with a full review. All I know is that I believe heavy gun play comes into effect. NOW with what I said up above about the gun play, sure I can see why it would be a pain but. I do believe there has to be a way to play it safe and I found myself having no problems dispatching enemies with the shotgun or any other weapon at all. Just take your time and you will be rewarded with greatness.
I give this game a 8.5. I give it one higher that Gamespot strictly because I give credit to any company that doesn't DUMB DOWN there game for the masses and stays true to what games are. Games are supposed to be a challenge. They do not always have to change the world but just the way we are entertained. I have had more than enough fun with this and I love it. I recommend it to any gamer who truly loves being challenged and likes games with historical accuracies. Also, and thank god its a new take on the WW2 genre.
I would like to thank South Peak for not disappointing me and I'm sure I will get flamed for my comments on this game. But for everyone who tries it out and likes it. You know exactly what I am talking about. Take care ya'll and good hunting.