Platform: Abandonware
Genre: First Person Shooter
Completed: 17/04/2024
I never really owned a copy of this game before, but I vaguely remember when I was younger playing a demo of this game. I don't remember much, except for a submarine pen/dockyard level. It goes to show how "memorable" it was for me. But the name stuck with me. Even though I might not have actively sought it out, the name lurked in the back of my mind.
The reason I chose to pick this game is actually because of the sequel. Between June and August last year, I had a massive First Person Shooter binge and was going through quite a lot of them (Medal of Honor Allied Assault; Line of Sight Vietnam; Elite Warriors Vietnam; Soldier of Fortune franchise, and much more) I had acquired the sequel at around this time, but I held back from playing it primarily because I wanted to play the first title. But, after 14 first-person shooters, I started to move on to different genres.
This challenge reminded me I still had the sequel in my backlog and the reason why I had not picked it up. So after a little searching on My Abandonware, I found the first game. I was quite pleased that getting it to run took no effort.
I wasn't expecting much when I loaded up the game. You cannot compare it to Medal of Honor or Return to Castle Wolfenstein (though you can see the inspiration). But saying that, I found it had some of its own qualities.
First, I loved the main menu music. It's not usually my style, but it was very fitting. I read that it was specifically made for the game. For those interested, it's Save Me by Martin Kesici.
I was also impressed by the detail they put into some of the character animations and physics. For instance, if an explosion went off close to a soldier, they would stagger in a daze or be hunched over, all while cupping their ears. Or, if a grenade is thrown at their feet they would jump away flat on the ground while shielding their head/cupping the ears. It's something I do not believe I had seen previously done in a game from the 2000s.
I even enjoyed that downed soldiers, if concentrated in a spot, stacked on top of each other. A lot of the time, dead bodies would clip through each other, fade out of existence, or have stiff limbs. While the photo might not be the best, you can still see how the soldiers are piled on top of each other. And this wasn't a cutscene. They were coming through a doorway at the time before they met their untimely end.
Now I am not saying the game didn't have any flaws. In fact, there were quite a few of them. But, most of them added to the charm (for me anyway).
For example, the opening cutscene shows a German convoy delivering important equipment. From all the soldiers there, how do you spot the one who would ultimately become the game's hero character? He is the ONLY soldier out of uniform. Not even a different uniform, just completely in civilian wear.
From the whole game, there was one thing that took a while to get used to, and that was the voice acting. On the tamest level, it was absolutely bizarre to hear a Wehrmacht soldier shout in an unmistakable English accent "Die rebel scum!". Or to discover that the American ally (assumed from accent and get up) was in fact the brother of a German ally. But things really kicked up a notch with the actual dialogue and voice acting. Oh my god, it is bad. And I mean BAD. At least it wasn't Desperados 2 levels bad. I could still play the game, and the cringe levels made it more amusing than annoying. But wow, it's one of the things you need to experience to truly appreciate how bad it is.
As I played the game, I could see that the developers had tried to add/change features to make it stand out from other World War 2 shooters. For one, in some missions, you were part of a squad but it doesn't mean you had any interaction with them. They mostly did their own thing - meaning they were mostly cannon fodder. It felt like there was a missed opportunity there. Also, while there was a minimap in the corner, it didn't show enemy locations. It only showed health pickups in the form of red dots, which when first encountering it, I kept mistaking them for enemy soldiers.
One feature which was entirely its own, was the level-up system. For every three consecutive headshots, you would upgrade your shield power. For every three stabbings you then upgrade your health. It took me a while to get used to this. More often than not, it got me killed whenever I focused on this. But, after I started playing just for the sake of playing, I got the 3-kill combo inadvertently - particularly the headshot one.
Though the game was nothing special - I mean the story was forgettable - the game made for a fun shooter. I would recommend it to people but with the caveat that while I enjoyed it, some of the game's failings might not be for everyone.
Now on to the next. Next up will be - VirtuaVerse
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