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Molotov Cocktail
Imagine a joining of two great games, Eidos’ Commando’s – Behind Enemy
Lines and Redstorm Entertainment’s Rainbow Six series and you’ll have a picture of Illusion Softworks’ latest title, Hidden and Dangerous. It’s a nice change from the past tactical shooter games in that it’s set
not in modern day hot zones, but in historic WWII. You control a team of
SAS troopers in WWII Europe, wreaking havoc and mayhem behind German lines.
A couple of weeks ago I was in the mall for the first time since returning
from my honeymoon. Now that ‘Operation Tie the Knot’ was successfully completed
I was on a one man recon mission to acquire a new game.
I had Hidden and
Dangerous and Jagged Alliance 2 in my hands and was trying to decide which
one to go with when I remembered all the hype about H&D
amongst our readers. So I grabbed it. I love first person shooters and the WWII setting was too much to pass up. Besides it’s been awhile since I’ve written a
review. So off I went with the new game in hand, ready to put it through
its paces.
Digging In
I had taken a very brief look at the demo when it first became available,
so I was a little familiar with the games premise and I really was interested
in seeing it in action in the final product. H&D to me looked like
what Spec Ops 2 should be; first and third person perspectives, tactical
map, 4 team members you can control and a series of challenging tactical
missions. I also liked the fact that for once we weren’t dealing with American
Special Forces.
Don’t get me wrong, I did
my four in the Corps and love the good ol’ US of A. But, just about every
game out there is either dealing with US special forces or some fantastical
units of mercenaries. For a change we can be one of the elite of
another country’s forces, the British SAS. I’m sure our readers in the
UK are plenty pleased with that.
Perusing the 58 page manual while the game installed I found a nice smattering
of background info on the SAS as well as game play instructions. The
other nice thing about the manual is the final 22 pages, titled
‘The Combat Manual.’ This section describes in good detail basic and advanced infantry tactical doctrine. Through a series of diagrams, screen shots and text
you are walked through the things that will help keep you alive in the
game.
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Once the game was done installing I was off and playing. Just as in Rainbow
Six you’ll choose your operatives from a pool of around 40 SAS troopers,
using up to 8 in a given mission. Each has his own bio, revealing strengths and weaknesses and general abilities. Choosing your team can take time or you could opt to let the computer pick for you. The computer does a good job of giving you
the right balance of troops to complete each mission, so to speed things
along you can allow the computer to pick your team and even outfit them
with weapons.
The game models 20 different infantry weapons ranging from mines to pistols,
machine guns, sniper rifles and grenades. Of course you have the standard
knife for the up close ‘wet work’ and an assortment of other interesting
items to round out your kit.
Items such as binoculars and coding equipment are also included (for coding and decoding enemy code papers) and a camera for taking those momento snapshots of the scenic German countryside. After picking your
team and outfitting them its off to the battlefields of WWII Europe to
save the free world.
He Who Dares, Wins!
After
being first captivated by the secretive British SAS in 1980’s storming
of the Iranian Embassy at Princes Gate which was the basis for the movie
‘The Final Option’, I was truly excited at the chance to be a ‘virtual’
SAS trooper. And here I could do it all without the prospect of
dealing with the Brecon Beacons or the worry of being dropped, or as the
Brits so eloquently put it, getting ‘binned’ from their notoriously rigorous
training program.
Basing the missions around similar ones carried out by SAS troops in WWII,
Illusion Softworks has put together a series of 23 missions ranging from
tough to near impossible; but all missions can be completed.
The first mission has you crossing a heavily patrolled railway bridge to link up with
resistance fighters. You’re crossing this bridge at night during the rain
so you’ll have some advantage on your side. Just watch out for the trains,
because this is an active railway bridge!
The first thing I noticed were the excellent graphics. The countryside,
bridge and trains were nicely done. But the true standouts were the friendly
and enemy soldiers and their movement animations. My soldiers moved with
me in true lifelike fashion, fanning out to cover sectors of fire when
I paused and mirroring my posture as they followed behind me. Enemy soldiers
as well were impressive to watch and wounds and death animations were done
believably well. The animations breathe life into the characters, making
you feel like you truly are there.
Go to Part Two:
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