Well, looks like there's a new bad boy on the block to compete with Counter Strike in the squad based shooter (SBS) category... Or is there? I've been receiving emails and ICQs for a month or so now from SBS fans who are pumped about Global Ops. Frankly, I was getting interested until I played the Multiplayer demo. It was sorta fun, even with the outdated graphics. There were some very cool features, which we'll get to in a bit.. But nothing new, nothing to grab people away from Ghost Recon and CS. (And yes, comparisons with CS will of course come up with ANY game in this genre, sorry but it's inevitable.) I had hoped that the full retail release would be better, and man.. Was I ever disappointed by it. It's not that this is really a bad game.. It's just not a great game... I've always felt that when a game (or any product for that matter) is released, it should do something better than any other product in it's niche. I mean, if you can't improve on something, why bother? Anyhow, let's get down to it.

Premise

In Global Ops, you're a member of an elite team, trying to complete a series of missions. (13 whole missions in total.) Your objectives range from bomb planting/disarming and VIP assassination/rescue to protecting sensitive equipment from terrorists. Each of the 13 terrain types has unique teams.


Gameplay

Played CS? Then you've basically played Global Ops. Two teams, one of terrorists, the other of your local elite police/military types. Complete your objectives, and prevent the enemy from accomplishing theirs and you win. The game almost plays like a cross between CS and Ghost Recon meet Team Fortress. You have a variety of specialty roles to take from the Commando, who's a good midrange attacker with a wide variety of weapons and the scout, who's fast, but lightly armored and armed to the medic who can revive wounded players. More about roles a little later in the review. For the most part we're talking standard shooter fare here. Kill enemies and earn money. Use your money to buy bigger and better guns when you die, or kill yourself. (The icon of self inflicted death is pretty funny incidentally, it's a little guy with a pistol to his own head.) No money? Run around with a knife, and pick up other people's guns.

One of the major things that pisses me off about this game is having to spend time sitting (30 seconds usually) waiting... waiting to spawn again...... Grrrrrr. Fortunately they have a sweet observation mode, an overhead map that allows you to see what all your teammates are up to.

Good luck getting back to the enemy spawn and camping as well. (One of the first things could see happening in this one.) There's AI defenders tasked with guarding their teams spawn point, and these guys are deadly. I wasn't able to kill any of them, and I tried quite a few times. I never survived. :)

One very interesting thing they've done is in the bomb defusing. You 'use' the bomb, and hook up a defusing kit. There's three wires on the bomb. You have to cut the right one, or kaboom. You can guess which one, or wait for your disarming kit to tell you.... Problem is that takes time, and the enemy isn't going to be happy with you and your disarming of their bomb action. :):) Very, very tense at times.

Graphics

Uh. Well. Gah. Graphics are quite outdated looking, and certainly aren't anything special. (*Cough* Stupid Lithtech Engine *cough*) I'd place them as sub CS/Half Life. While some of the maps are quite large, many of the textures are ugly and grainy, and lack detail. The maps also show a lack of detail, and don't really look very realistic. Player models are pretty decent, but do look sort of washed out in some places. Weapon models are excellent, showing a lot of detail and the team has obviously done some serious research into the guns, as they even have the sight rails down pat. Overall, I think we've all been spoiled by Quake III and UT engine games and expect some eye candy in our gaming. The intro movie however was pretty amazing. Really liked that part of the engine. ;)


Sound and Music

The most impressive thing about the sounds in this game, and the only part worth mentioning is the weapon and footstep sounds. Excellent work here, the firearms (And there are a crapload of them!) all have unique sounds, and from what I've heard actually sound like the real thing. In fact, considering that the credit list a few gun clubs and arms suppliers, I suspect they built their models, and based their sounds on the real thing. Every type of flooring also has a distinctive sound, which makes it very easy to tell exactly where an enemy player is if you're near him. Ambush time!

Not much music in the game at all basically just the intro movie and main menu, but what there is sounds pretty good.

I enjoyed (well, not really enjoyed, but it was interesting) the fact that a near miss from a grenade makes your ears ring for a bit, and deadens all other sounds around you. Just a nice little touch.

The radio voices sound like complete crap. They're all in a dead monotone, and single words sound like paragraphs. (Must be read by William Shatner) There's nothing that ruins a tense firefight more than seeing your buddy take a round in the chest, go flying back and say "I'm hurt and need a medic." in the same tone that you'd say "Please pass the cheetos" You just got shot you idiot! Scream! Rant! Beg for help! Show some emotion for godsake! Shesh.