Warning! This is both Spoiler filled and Graphic (in description). If either bother you ladies, don’t read on. Also, I’m only discussing the Single Player here.
I want to give my general thoughts on the game, and then there are 4 scenes that I want to talk about specifically.
General Thoughts: The game is expertly paced. There is never a moment of “well… this is boring”. It’s “GO GO GO GO!!!… ok now breathe while we load the next part… deep breathe…. NOW GO GO GO!!!”.
There are several different play styles or mechanics through out the game:
1. Obtain Objective
2. Chase and Capture
3. Sneak
4. Assault
5. Defend
6. Escape
1 is where you and/or a partner or team need to get to a point (base, house, etc) and find info (files, laptop, security card). This often includes Sneak, Assault, Defend, and/or Escape.
2. Chase has you trying to chase a guy through a ghetto. They make this work by having you as the “Go around the back and cut him off” guy, so you have a chance to take your time and not die instantly or lose the target. The other Chase scene is on a river boat, very akin to a scene Half-Life 2, and much more “don’t lose site of him”.
3 Sneak is when you and a partner have to evade patrols to get to a point. This can include stealth killing.
4. Defend has you holding a point against a wave of attackers, or defending a transmitter that’s sending out digital files.
5. Assault has you attacking a position, and promotes the move and shoot, because if you don’t keep going forward, more and more will show up to kill you.
6. Escape is pretty interesting. One sequence has you on snow mobiles, racing at break neck speeds down a mountain. Another has you just running through a ghetto or swampy field, with little or no time to shoot, while being shot at from all directions.
Most missions eventually break down to assault, defend, and/or escape(by design, not through “oh, forget this tip toeing. Lock and load, I’m going in!”. You will die that way).
Ok, so that was a little technical, more on the side of “facts” than “general thoughts”. I’m not writing reviews here…
My thoughts: I hated the premise of the whole war/invasion. Basically, a terrorist group that the US planted an undercover agent with kills “thousands” (I saw, maybe a hundred) of civilians in a Moscow airport. At the end, right when you go to jump in the truck, the leader turns and kills you, because he knew you were a plant.
This here is the part I hated. The Russians find 1 terrorist. And go “America has attacked us!!!!”. How the hell do they know he is an American? He has a fake ID, and was part of terrorist group. American isn’t a race that is easily identifiable. He’s white? So is 95% of Russia. And even if he had a Ohio State driver’s license on him, why would they immediately leap to “INVADE AMERICA”? Just stupid…
Then there is a scene where a British 141 (new SAS) guy goes into a (Soviet?) sub and launches a Nuke at the US. Not clear as to why, at all. The Nuke is aimed at DC, and explodes over it. Not sure if it’s in the Air or in Space, but the only effect it has is as an EMP, knocking out all electronics. So the Soviet vehicles are now useless, and their aircraft just start falling out of the sky. So, did the guy know this would be the end result, and that he was trying to help the US? It is just so unclear.
The environment and ambiance is just awesome. Just the story doesn’t make sense. The gameplay is flawless. In pieces, I love the game. The set pieces are just fantastic, and the pacing is perfect. This is probably why I love the Spec Ops portion of the game. They are basically like the Epilogue at the end of the first game. Very reminiscent of the missions from Golden Eye on the N64.
Blah Blah Blah. Now, onto the 4 scenes that I think should be talking points. (I named all but one of the scenes, because I don’t know any of the other level names).
1. No Russian
3. Is this barbed? Come out already.
2. The burning ditch.
4. Eye Roll, You roll, We all… no. YOU! You just DIE-IED in my arms tonight.
I think everyone and their Grandmother’s Bridge partner have heard about “No Russian”, a Massacre of unarmed civilians. The game has an option to skip the scene if you find it disturbing. I played through it, and I have to tell you, it affected me. The scene allows you to never fire your gun at the civilians if you don’t want to. I tried a short burst and decided that I couldn’t do it. I found myself only shooting those that were already on the floor and dying, trying to drag themselves to safety. I mean, the first volley that the Terrorists shoot off is at a crowded gate, and a wall of people just fall down. I know my reaction may seem odd, since I have no problem killing the bystanders in Assassin’s Creed, Prototype, or Grand Theft Auto III (not really in IV). I think its the fact that these people are trying to run away in mass, and behave more like humans than drones. I honestly don’t know why, but I was honestly disturbed.
At the same time, I thought 2 of the 3 other scenes were even MORE disturbing than that, even if no “innocents” were involved.
2. There is a point in the game where you have a knife in your chest, and your only ally in the whole world is trying to protect the both of you from 1 other guy, but is getting the shit kicked out of him. You have to do something, but you can’t move around, and no gun in reach. Oh right, there’s a KNIFE IN YOUR CHEST, let’s use that. The scene is brutal. You are on your back, struggling to pull a knife out of your chest while you watch your buddy get absolutely pummeled a few feet away. This was the scene that was not worse than No Russian.
3. Another scene that I still think about is one where one of the characters you play is running for his life across a field to a rendevous point, where an extraction team is waiting to touch down and pick you out of there. Just mere feet away, a mortar lands, and you are grievously injured. I thought I died, didn’t realize for a moment that this was a designed scene. I keep going in and out of consciences. And yay, my buddy is picking me up and the helios are landing. The “Mr. D” comes out to help carry me in the copter. “Did you get the data?” “Here it is, Mr D.” “Great, one less thing to clean up.” Bam, bam. Mr D guts shots you and blows your buddy away. Great… betrayed right after a hard fought victory. Mr D for Dick. And now I’m dead. Oh wait, no I’m not. I’m being carried by guys in black gear. Friends? No… Friends don’t toss friends into a make shift mass grave of a ditch with my other dead buddies. The Dick is blah blah blahing about something. You can move your head a little bit, but nothing else. Those non friends in black come back. They are pouring water on you. A Bath? Nope, not water. Those are gas tanks they are pouring from. And the Dick just stands there and lights a cigar, and then flicks it (in slow motion) on to you. As you are immolated, you can still hear a little, and look around a tiny bit. The effect was quite a sight. It’s kinda of like those space movies where the guy who’s about to die is staring at the Sun or Fire in space. Beautiful and frightening all at the same time. I was disturbed by this.
The last scene I’m going to talk about is probably a small thing to most people, but one I found the most provoking. Remember the scene from The Rock when Cage and Connery are split up, and Cage doesn’t notice the 2 guys coming down to hang above his head? Image you are 1 of the 2 guys coming down, and you grab an unsuspecting guard from above, with a choke hold and a knife. The scene holds you there for a few seconds, as your face is a inch away from your victims face. You hear his last sounds. And you see his eye’s just roll up into the back of his head as he dies. All while you are holding him as you take his life. That part really got to me.
I think only the 4th scene was meant to be provoking. I think the other 3 seemed more like the gaming equivalent to radio’s and news networks “SHOCK” treatment. They were crazy scenes that got people talking about them, but did they serve any purpose out side of that? I’d hate to have to relate them to Paris Hiltonesque life and be “Famous for being famous”. The 4th scene just personalized that killing. Showed you, in a quiet subtle action, what you were really doing in that game.
Sounds like the game tries for shock value for no reason but shock. Basically, it’s like Saw
On a sidenote, The Rock is a great movie.