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| Minimum Req.:
P3 600, 256MB RAM, 32MB VRam Video Card, 600mg hd Reviewed On: P4 2.5ghz, 256MB, GeForce 4ti, SB, Win XP Pro |
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Intro It goes without saying that the Vietnam War is a touchy subject, made even more so by the fact that it's still fresh in the mind of the public. Unlike past wars, Vietnam faced harsh scrutiny at home and abroad. Indeed, valiant efforts were made on both sides of the war, and it would take a skillful title to weight such acts for everyone involved, luckily, since Platoon is based on the movie it takes its name from, the scope of the game is limited to that of the United States. However, not only does it fails to be accurate with the movie, but it also presents a faceless enemy and ends up being a title that isn't much fun to play. Gameplay: 4/10 While I'm more of a Full Metal Jacket man, Platoon was a decent movie in its own right. We saw Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen take on the role of soldiers, and Tom Berenger shoot up to the rank of international superstar; a title that he still holds today. The movie wasn't so much taking sides as to who was right or wrong, as it was showing the decent of a normal soldier during the war; I'd say that Apocalypse Now did that better, but let's stay on track. Why a game based on a movie that came out in 1986 is being released in 2003 is beyond me, but I'm always up for a good squad-based action title. Soldiers of Anarchy teased me with a sumptuous game that suffered from a horrid camera angle, fussy pathfinding, and awkward controls, so seeing the streamlined interface Platoon left me a bit antsy in anticipation - not to mention the movie had just ended a few minutes prior to starting it up. From the outset, it's evident that something isn't really right here. Upon selecting a black machine gunner, I saw a portrait of a white male in the interface; now, I'm not anal about every detail, but come on. That didn't set me back though, the smooth graphics and grouchy-yet-funny commander did what it could to go inline with a displayed letter that was presumably written by the player to his family back home, so those nods to the movie were appreciated and helped even things out. It didn't take long before disappointment set in as I made my way through the first level and my men were ambushed by a giant red arrow. Noticing that my men weren't even turning to face the arrow, much less fire back, I had to order them to go towards it until I saw a few soldiers shooting at my guys in the middle of some trees. After ordering them to fire, I saw a few soldiers stop shooting. Well, odd things can happen, so I commanded them again, and then I noticed that not only where the infantry only selectable as a mass group - which negates any sort of cool ambush tactics, with the guys spread out for a nice range of fire - the soldiers were also not continuing to fire after they had killed their target. Now, this didn't happen all the time, but it happened more often than they taking any sort of initiative and continuing the fight themselves. Hope still prevails, as there's an inkling left within me that I was just adjusting to the game's pace and design. After barely completing the first mission, with no other soldiers left, I continued about and finally realized that, no, I wasn't enjoying myself. There were some cool aspects that could really have made the game a breath of fresh air: troop action was very easy to order by utilizing a single icon to switch between running, laying down, or walk by left or right by simply right and left clicking; and the environments also provided defense and sight limitations, which came up in a nice pop-up menu, accompanied by an outline of the area the info related to. Nice features couldn't save the rest, though. The next few missions solidified my worries. Each mission was nothing more than trial-and-error, with the player replaying missions trying to find the path of least resistance. While the enemy isn't particularly bright - they basically stand and shoot, though some do lay down - they do have the advantage in accuracy and they also tend to see the player first; which I can understand, but their extended line of sight isn't an inherent advantage to knowing the environment. Limiting the lifespan of the player's troops is the fact that the soldiers can't peek around corners, automatically lay down suppressive fire, or be set to retreat at a certain point; basically, the troops have only minimal movement, and some movements are restricted as some, like grenadiers, can't even lay down for cover. There were also pathfinding problems, with a big problem being that units walk at different paces from each other, which caused some crucial soldiers, like machine gunners, to get left behind. Soldiers also use stamina and need to rest every so often, but this isn't regulated as well as it should've been with crawling taking up about twice as much as running. After a few minutes of all this, the soldiers come across as little kids needing a babysitter, rather than grown men trained for combat. As the game progresses, newer units and vehicles will be able to be used. Similarly to the infantry, these have the same pathfinding issues and can make doing time-sensitive objectives a real pain. While it's fun to command a tank and use mortar fire to hold back an invading force, the lack of commands and simple-minded A.I. really hamper the game's enjoyment. Also, one of the game's biggest faults is the lack of a save feature, and this omission is made more painful than normal due to the severe lack of resources that the player is presented with. The whole dilemma of levels taking multiple attempts to find the best path would've been greatly reduced if I could have saved after a minute and continued on, rather than from the very beginning. Saving would've also been appreciated when a level had worn thin on me with nonstop ambushes and raids and all I wanted was a break for an hour or two. Some objectives can also be complicated by either being too vague or a victim of the game's poor grammar; however, for the most part, they are understandable - just not reasonable. Simplifying a genre is tricky business,
but Close Combat, the 5-Star SSI series (Panzer General, People's
General, etc.) and even Virtua Tennis are prime examples of genres
that were either established with complex standards, or would seem
to be so, but were made accessible to those not familiar with the
topic, and also thorough enough for longtime fans to enjoy them.
Soldiers of Anarchy is a prime example of a recent title that was
solid, but not able to capture that form of ingenuity. However,
Platoon definitely had that potential. The displayed layout
was clean, response times were relatively short, and menus were
extremely brief. Unfortunately, things were made too simple as there
just wasn't enough to do with the characters given, and they weren't
smart enough to make up for this lack of control. There's definitely
potential here, but the entire design is too flawed and the initial
fun and excitement tends to be a mere afterthought after the 4th
attempt on the same level. Graphics: 8/10 Sound: 8/10 Overall: 4.5/10 [ top ] |
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