Mountain Surfing

I have played through the game on both normal and hard difficulty and I can say that it makes for great fun.

The game begins with your introduction into the squad, the scene shown in the demo. The player then goes on to fight enemies referred to by the AI squad as 'Russians!'. What war is being fought remains unclear to the player throughout. But that is irrelevant, because the player and his squad are interested in getting the gold off of the mercenaries that they encounter. This makes for an interesting story, that no war games/shooters have.

I found the first few levels of the game quite dull and monotonous on normal difficulty. The destructible environment was a novelty at first but that soon wore off. However at a turning point, the game becomes far more enjoyable, and I'm not entirely sure why - the novelty factor of the destructible environment comes back too. I worked out that it was at the point that I picked up a sniper rifle for the first time. But I believe the gameplay and other aspects became more involving because it was slightly better paced. I soon got to drive tanks and other vehicles too which could only have helped. The latter 3 quarters of the story are thoroughly enjoyable, and I was constantly surprised by the huge sandbox environment, which was fully accessible to the player, and all the previously destroyed areas were exactly as I left them when I revisited.

The gameplay is very good. The aiming of guns is exactly how it would be done in real life, so it gives a realistic feel. The game is very forgiving in the respect that whenever you die you merely respawn at the last save point. Everything that you killed before your death remains dead. This is pretty useful, and keeps the game flowing really well. But at times you feel it is a little unrealistic for the enemy to have the same squad of men that they just killed run back up the hill. The other thing is the unlimited use of the health injector. That meant that staying alive was a lot easier. But saying that, I must have died about 20 times due to enemy tank shells or RPGs. The members of your squad are indestructible, which does help - if they died it would get annoying.

The graphics are really quite amazing. The fact that the entire environment is destructible makes it really fun to play through. I destroyed many trees because it was fun - at many points blowing a hole in a wall was easier than walking a few steps to the left through the door, again, just because it was fun. As I said above, the player can go pretty much anywhere on the map if they can get there. This means they can swim through rivers etc. Although if you go into the red area on the map then you get shot by artillery after a 5 second warning.

There are loads of different guns that the player can use, just picking them off the ground, or in collectable locations. Each gun has obviously been painstakingly detailed, each having it's own reload animation and sound. The player gets the main weapon, an attachment - normally a grenade launcher or pistol. Then they also get a secondary weapon such as a drill or an air strike designator.

The game has many vehicles. Boats, Jeeps, Tanks and Helicopters are the main types. Each of them are immaculately detailed and have their own benefits. They are also easy to drive. You can repair any broken vehicle using the drill, which is again quite handy - especially when you decide to use it for cover.

The sound in the game is unbelievable. I don't have surround sound, and I was blown away. Each time the wall you were taking cover behind gets destroyed by a shell or grenade, all your senses get dulled, your hearing goes in the way you'd expect after a loud explosion. Gunfire becomes muffled, as do explosions. It adds to the atmosphere a huge amount at those such points. The sound of walls or fences falling down is again very realistic. The mood is often lightened by your squad members banter, and you often get to hear what your enemies are saying. When they shout: 'Sniper! Get down!' because you sniped someone it is very satisfying.

It makes for a brilliant single player experience, with room for a sequel at the end. If you do get it, don't be put off with the slightly boring beginning. I was thinking about trading it in after completion at that point. But since then I have played through the campaign on hard, and the multiplayer is an addictive bundle of fun. So well worth buying.

Score:

Story: 8.0
Graphics: 9.5
Sound:10.0
Gameplay:9.0
Attention to Detail: 9.5

Singleplayer Overall Score: 8.7

Let down by the few stages at the beginning which I felt were a little monotonous, however when played through on hard they are much more of a challenge. Overall, a fun and immersive experience.

This article was written by Daniel Hinchliffe. For more information check out my blog http://x360talk.blogspot.com

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