-
Developer: Pivotal Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre: Shooter
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 30 Sep 05
User Rating
8.5 (4 votes) -
- This squad-based shooter badly needed something extra to set it apart from the others, as it falls off the mark due to complicated controls and terrible AI.
More Screens (12 total)
Overview
Gamers out there have a tough time finding great games that don't involve guns, in one form or another, as they are pretty much everywhere. Whether it be in war, on the streets, in the ocean, no matter where we are, these video games seem to have guns involved. Today we are checking out the latest game that involves guns from Pivotal Games - Conflict: Global Terror for the Playstation 2. So is this the game to bring a new engaging shooter to the PS2? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
It can be argued that one of the most well developed genres out on the market is the tactical shooter genre, which just has a plethora of amazing games. With games like Ghost Recon, or Brothers in Arms, or even the SOCOM series continuing impress, there are more that may not have caught your attention. One such franchise is the Conflict series from Pivotal Games, who to say the least has never really had all the pieces aligned correctly and therefore has never had a "stellar" title. So can Global Terror do the trick?
So let's start with discussing the single player campaign, which for a squad based shooter can be the decisive factor. In Conflict: Global Terror, the single player campaign starts out good, with a decent story that has been done before, but interesting nonetheless. The game continues on with an interesting cut scene, but as things really start to unravel, you will see there are a lot of faults with this squad-based shooter.
So you are thrown into action all over the globe, but some underlying factors really hamper the gameplay. First off, the control scheme is much too difficult, and this in turn really makes things much too complicated, which may turn off a few gamers right away. I found the controls to just be plain frustrating, making it difficult to switch weapons and just difficult to get from place to place. The controls are not completely broken, but in the same token they just feel clumsy.
The other big issue the game has is the computer AI, both as enemies and as team mates. First off, these sorts of games really need good quality AI, as they are based solely on the cooperation of your team. If your team is incapable of completing simple tasks, then you have a big problem, and this is exactly where the game struggles. Once again the game isn't broken; it just struggles in this area as both your teammates and the enemies you are trying to take out are not all that well equipped upstairs. They never seem to make very good offensive and defensive decisions, and a lot of time you will find that the enemies don't do an overly good job of attacking you.
Sure I have been dogging on the game quite a bit, and there are those two areas of controls and AI that really bog down an otherwise good feeling experience. The game has a good idea of keeping the objectives nice and creative, and the save mechanic is interesting. The game allows you a certain amount of saves per mission, and you have to decide when to use them, which is a nice feature. Global Terror doesn't have much in terms of multiplayer, and in the end just comes out as a average game that has some interesting ideas, but has way too many problems that plague the overall experience.
Graphics
Visually the presentation is in the same sort of boat as we saw the gameplay. On the outset it is actually a very pretty game, but in the end the presentation to be filled with some underlying issues. First off, the game's environments are well designed and offer up a good amount of detail and color. The games character models don't fair as well, as the models are extremely bland are really lack any sort of interesting qualities. What really sets this game back in the presentation aspect is the animation, which is not as smooth as many of the squad-based shooters already on the market.
Fun Factor
I am a pretty big fan of shooters in general, and particularly enjoy these squad-based shooters. I like the ability to have strategy on the fly. At first I thought Conflict: Global Terror was a game that had some nice ideas, but then lacked the ability to take this game anywhere the genre hasn't been in the past. I look at Global Terror and I see the control issues and how they hamper the experience. I also see the lack of a true multiplayer aspect to this game, and it just seems like the developers really needed to put more time and effort into this game. In the end, I had a fair amount of fun with this game, but I can't say much more than that.
Overall
Conflict: Global Terror has some nice ideas and some of them actually work. But in the end, this is just another squad-based shooter that needed a lot more tweaking to get a great final product. The ideas were there in the game, but sadly not the execution. For those that enjoy squad-based shooter, this game is worth a rental; just don't think you are getting the highest quality game around when you do.
- Gameplay
6.0 - Graphics
6.0 - Fun Factor
5.0 - Overall
6.0
