Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Rent it first"

This game is hard to describe. It does many things so well, but the faults at times override the good points. Case in point: in the Trieste level, at the bottom of the first staircase that you come to, many times there will be a tango standing behind some crates. He just goes up and down continuously until you take him out. The sound effects are one of the best parts of the game. There is nothing quite so satisfying as lifting your sniper rifle, drawing a bead, and dropping your tango from two blocks down, while all the while your ears are ringing from the explosions echoing off the "walls" of the houses lining the street. I say "walls" because they look more like painted cardboard; the graphics could be a little better. You also need to play it with lots of lights on because once your squad members are all down, it can get pretty creepy being alone in the dark with enemies flinging themselves at you from behind every corner. Back to graphics: this is not the strong point of the game. Even during firefights, the characters' expressions never change. However, the guns are very detailed and the explosions are suitably bomb-like. Environments are intelligible, but fighting in a warehouse isn't terribly different than fighting in a factory due to the awful lighting effects. For AI: I'll give it to you straight. The AI is a flop. Your men will save your hide countless times in brutal firefights, but will then proceed to kill you (and themselves!) by firing a grenade off in an enclosed space. Even more maddening is the fact that the enemies never seem to make a mistake. Loading times: Brutal! You wait as much as five minutes between cut scenes and actual playing time, and you can't even escape it in the menus! There are horrible loading waits just between "Press Start" and "Make your Selection". After ranting on and on about its faults, let me at least say this: I have not yet found a game where you can have as many "Wow, I just did something awesome!" moments as in this one. Because of the high difficulty level, finishing just about any level makes you feel like a bad boy. I will summarize: There are unquestionably better games in the graphics and AI departments. However, the actual game play never gets old, even if the storyline is a bit cliched. Saving the world from terrorists has never been so much fun. Move out, team!