Guns, lots of guns

As in most tactical shooter games, your arsenal will vary from support guns to high tech sniper guns. Most of the weapons can be customized, you can add a combat sight to give you better accuracy, you can install a frontgrip, a grenade launcher to dispose of fortified positions or a silencer to avoid alerting the enemies. You will be able to carry a main weapon, a smaller weapon, like a small submachine, a side arm (a pistol) and one or more backpack items (smoke grenade, frag grenade and zeus, the anti-tank disposal, also good in taking down helicopters). Trying to shoot in a burst will result in a lot of bullets but few hits. Why? Because the weapons are modeled very realistic and the recoil is almost the one from the real life. In order that you increase you hit ratio it is wiser to crouch and shoot the enemy instead of firing from you hip.

All the weapons have their advantages and drawbacks so keep an eye on their description or you will end up with a gun that will be unusable. The good news is that each enemy soldier gunned down will drop his gun. You will be able to use it and this way continue the fight. The enemy has almost the same firepower as your Ghosts so if they take you down, so can you. The key is to pick the appropriate guns for the situation. And of course, a rabbit leg to keep you lucky. A loose bullet and it's game over for you. Back to the last waypoint and try again.

In some missions you will be given a MULE, a small tank who gives you the possibility to resupply your ammunition or choose another gear.

Take some cover soldier, watch the firefight

The game manages to create the perfect balance between the easy parts, and the situations when you are pinned down and with no viable solution to get out alive.

If the enemy has the same amount of firepower as you, their advantage is in the numbers. Sometimes you will have to choose your positions so precise to resist attacks, that you will use the quick save and quick load a lot until you will find that perfect solution for the situation. I remember that, at the end of a mission, on my way to extraction, I had to resist against enemies coming from three streets, flanking our positions. While we were in a park with no real cover to resist, I had to test different strategies to overcome them. If I recall correctly there were about 15 enemies per each member of my team. Coming in waves, making use of cover fire, sniping us from the adjacent building, it was a adrenaline bath for me.

From time to time, you will be given additional support. Ranging from a reconnaissance drone (UAV), to tanks, artillery or air strike, additional soldiers to fight by your side, the missions are combining the original fast paced shoot them all with slow, planned gameplay. Depending on what you will encounter next, you will receive support. The drone will help you by scouting the terrain ahead and plan your next move. You can even see what the drone sees by using the video feedback feature, giving you all the necessary information. The same thing goes for each of your team member, allowing you to move them depending on what you want them to do. For example if you want a rifleman to go recon (use prone stance and attack only when attacked) and flank an enemy, you can use the video feedback to move him where you want him to be. This invaluable tool will save you ass many times, believe me.

If you prefer to attack on sight and make use of weapons all the time, the attack stance is perfect for you. Your team ammunition is somehow unlimited, while yours is not. While on the XBOX version of the game you could heal your teammates, on our hands-on version of the game the medic was unavailable. No matter if it will come as a later patch or it's been left out on purpose in order to make the game harder, you can finish the games even without his help.

The CrossCom feature is perhaps one of the most valuable in the entire game. You can give orders to your team and tell them exactly what you want from them. Move, attack, cover or use an item like machine guns, all is done very quick, allowing you to concentrate on the present situation. You also have a tactical view where you can see the whole map, giving you the chance to plan on a bigger scale. Sometimes it will help you, sometimes it will get in you way.

« Previous Page | 1  ·  | Page 2 of 3 |  · 3  | Next Page »

Please log in to access this section.