Genre: Action/Strategy
Developer: Pandemic
Publisher: THQ
Released On: June 1, 2004
# of Players: 1
ERSB: Mature
Supports: Xbox Live, DLC, Dolby Digital
MSRP: $49.99
Also On: None
Website: www.fullspectrumwarrior.com
Better Than: n/a
There certainly is no shortage of war games this console generation. Everything from World War I, II, Viet Nam and Desert Storm have had more than their fair share of video game releases, with more and more in development every day. It’s almost silly, really, but there seems to be a large enough audience out there that just can’t get enough of killing Germans and the Viet Cong so I guess we had better get used to it. But this latest entry, Full Spectrum Warrior, sets itself apart from the crowd by not going the tried and true war game method, the first person shooter. Instead, Pandemic Studios and publisher THQ bring us the first ever console military 3D real-time strategy game. But does a clunky RTS interface translate well into the fast and chaotic pace of war?
Originally developed as an urban combat training tool for the U.S. Army, Full Spectrum Warrior is not your average game. Your in-game characters are smart – very smart in fact – and as well trained as, well, as a soldier should be frankly. They know the proper procedures, positions, and all of the military lingo for the job. OPFOR? CASEVAC? SITREP? Don’t worry, there’s a glossary in the back of the manual to help out. These guys are not your typical 1-dimensional video game characters, either. Pandemic has gone the distance to give each and every member of your two teams a distinct personality of their own. My personal favorite, a punk Jewish kid from Philadelphia (nicknamed “Philly”) that always talks like he’s black, which just so happens to grate on the nerves of the soldiers that actually are black. It’s pretty funny. Combine that degree of character intimacy with some better than average voice acting and you are really drawn into the “lives” of these individuals.
The game begins by sending you to virtual boot camp, the MOUT training missions (5 in total). Here you will learn the basics of movement, switching from Alpha to Bravo and back again, and what all of your team’s positions are for. Most of the time in the game you will be in control of two 4-man teams. You have your team leader (TL), rifleman (R), grenadier (G) and automatic rifleman (AR). The training missions also walk you through commands such as issuing fire sectors (since you won’t be actually pressing a button to fire, you will simply tell your team where to point their guns) and throwing grenades (which, thankfully, you actually do get to aim). Lastly and most importantly the training teaches you about military strategy, such as flanking your enemy, the use of suppressive fire, and when to call in an air strike. Okay, I know what you’re thinking; yeah, yeah, I’ve played games for years and I can figure them all out on my own. Well friend, sorry to say, the MOUT training course is not an option. You actually cannot begin the game’s main campaigns until you have completed each training course. But trust me, you will be glad you did as they are invaluable to your team’s survival later on.
After completing the training missions you will finally be deployed to Zekistan, a fictitious middle-eastern country that looks a lot like all of those ugly brown-colored towns you see on CNN. Armed with a finite supply of ammo, a GPS device (map) and lots of four letter words, your teams begin to make their way through the labyrinthine streets. Missions are issued to you on the fly via the squak (radio). One moment you will be clearing the roads of enemy RPG-wielding militants for your tanks, and the next you will be rescuing NATO forces that are pinned down and need assistance. Once you have completed one objective, your commanding officer will radio in and give you a new objective and mark it on your map. You will often need to clear 3 or 4 objectives per mission. On each map will be a medic (or CASEVAC) on standby so that you can bring wounded soldiers to be healed and also to replenish your team’s ammunition. Sadly you cannot get more grenades; perhaps Pandemic thought the game would be too easy if you could. Save points will also appear from time to time in the middle of a level. Actually, on some missions the save points are so frequent that it’s almost a joke. You might walk 50 yards, encounter zero enemies, see a save point, walk some more, find another one… I suppose it’s better than too few, right? One nice thing about the game’s save feature is that it also automatically saves replays of your progress so that you can go back and relive your dramatic acts of heroism. But unlike other games, you can pause the action at any time and “jump into” and begin playing again at that point. Pretty slick.
The graphics in Full Spectrum Warrior are perhaps slightly better than average on the Xbox, but nothing groundbreaking. Texturing is well done and the architecture of the city itself is unique enough that you never get the feeling that you’ve walked down that street a dozen times already. The explosions in the game are particularly cool looking, especially when you call in an air or mortar strike. Also of note is the cool brightness effect of the sun, where the light bleeds over the building rooftops giving the illusion of a very bright and realistic desert sky. But where the graphics might fall short, the game’s music and sound definitely makes up for it. Bullets ricochet, helicopters fly overhead, rockets whiz by, and all in glorious Dolby 5.1 surround sound. Once while hiding behind a corner I was faced with a nearby enemy hiding behind a car. I lobbed a grenade at the him, and upon exploding the car flew into pieces with the bumper bounding over my shoulder finally coming to rest behind me, and trust me it sounded sweet. The Havoc physics engine (of Half Life 2 fame) only sweetens and seals the deal. Combine all that with a dynamic soundtrack ranging from Arabic instrumental medleys to more modern electronic, and you have one immersive video game experience.
And as if that wasn’t cool enough, FSW can be played cooperatively over Xbox Live. This function was the greatest of all selling points for me, and disappointingly it is the worst part of the game. Your only option for Xbox Live play is to play through any of the game’s single player missions with a friend. That’s it. No random missions, no new maps – nothing. The only customization you really get is the difficulty (whoopee!). And unless you are playing with a close personal friend it can get frustrating when your team-mate runs his squad on ahead killing all of the enemies and taking all of the best cover points, or even worse when all he does is run around like a dumbass getting shot. Oddly enough the game allows you to trade replays with the person you are playing with, perhaps to challenge someone with an impossible scenario when they “jump into” your fight. Personally I don’t find this feature to be very useful. The game also supports downloadable content, so maybe we’ll get lucky and we’ll see some new missions in the near future.
The lackluster online experience is not FSW’s only shortcoming either. Most of the gameplay consists of leapfrogging your teams down a street, jumping from cover to cover, which can get repetitive. There is also a lot of trial-and-error involved. As you come to the end of a street, it dead-ends into a tee. Which corner do you snug up next to and peek around? I’ll try the one on the right. Nope! Dead. I’ll try the left next time. It would have been nice if you could issue both teams simultaneous commands in this instance, or perhaps even queue up a bunch of commands and execute them at once. Maybe we’ll get this in the sequel. It can also get quite frustrating when your team runs out of ammunition and you have to run all the freakin’ way back to the beginning of the level where the medic is to refill, switching from team to team issuing short movement commands until they get there, and then all the way back again (zzz). Here’s a tip to avoid frustration: before saving, check your team’s ammo. If it’s low, or getting low, refill it before you save. There’s nothing worse than having to run back and refill every time you reload your latest save point, believe me. My next gripe has to do with your player A.I. Sometimes your characters won’t properly get behind cover, or will step too far out of cover to engage an enemy and get shot. This is really frustrating, and will hopefully be fixed in future installments. Also there are frequent times when an enemy will be standing out in the open shooting at you and all of your soldiers will be firing all around him but not actually hitting him. It’s times like these that I wish I could manually aim the gun and pull the trigger, and times when I’m glad my apartment has well insulated walls ("He’s right freakin’ there! Shoot him you dumb sonofa...").
As if the game wasn’t the total package in itself, there are many codes you can enter for various hidden goodies (big head mode, that kind of stuff). But one magical code actually unlocks the U.S. Army version of the game. What does that mean? Even more missions, a slightly different control scheme and HUD, and a much more difficult and realistic urban combat experience (i.e. bullets can ricochet off obstacles and kill you, even if you are properly following procedure). To try it out, enter the code “ha2p1py9tur5tle” at the code entry screen. Oh and before you get your hopes up, no, you can’t play the Army version online. That might have actually been cool and we don’t want that here, no sir.
So there you have it. FSW is definitely unique amongst the crowded war game library. It’s intense, authentic, immersive, sometimes comical and most importantly just a fun game to try out. It’s a little too linear though to leave you with a whole lot of reasons to go back and revisit the game (Army version aside), but with a few tweaks here and there future releases in the franchise could be quite awesome. It’s certainly a good start.
And as a side not I’d like to add that given the origins of the game I’m suprised that I’m not left with some sudden sense of urgency to join the U.S. Army. Actually, after playing this game I’m more glad than ever that I didn’t join. Thank you Pandemic.
- The GamersMark Network reviewed Full Spectrum Warrior with a copy of the title purchased from retail.
