Bargain Bin Games Revue - Round One
by Eddie Turner on September 1, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Let's go ahead and knock out our next FPS. Enter Terror Strike: Close Quarters Combat. Terror Strike is a tactical shooter of sorts, and a very limited one at that. For a game that models itself after the Rainbow Six series, it only makes a passable attempt to attract its fans. Even so, the game manages to put forth a functional gaming experience closer to that of Lockdown than Vegas.
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Terror Strike borrows its simplistic graphical style from early shooters like No One Lives Forever. In fact, those who don't know any better might guess that the game is part of that very series due to its uncanny similarity. Still, for a game released in 2007, this can be a big turn off. Instead of the usual story mode, the game consists of a number of stand-alone missions with fairly straightforward objectives. Enter an establishment, kill the terrorists, and spare the hostages. While this seems easy enough, there often isn't a whole lot that sets the captors apart from their captives as far as appearance is concerned. Instead of each member of the terrorist regime being dressed in similar garb, players will be taking out gang bangers, pimps, bank robbers, and the occasional foreigner that actually resembles a terrorist, all within the same compound. Basically, you look for whoever has a gun and shoot them. (Ed: That might seem more realistic, as I doubt actual terrorists try to draw attention to themselves by wearing some official uniform… but realism doesn't always make for a better game.)
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Before beginning each section of the game, players must sit though an actual video featuring a Scotsman with bad teeth who sets the stage by telling you a quick story that surrounds the upcoming mission. After the video, players will be shown a map of the compound and briefed on what tactics should be used to insure success. The tactical aspect of Terror Strike is very simple. Instead of being able to order your team members to specific locations, your commands are limited to breaching doors and clearing rooms. Much like the more recent Rainbow Six games, there are often multiple entry points to a room. However, since the order to hold a position does not exist, players must order their team to enter one door whilst sprinting to the next door, hoping to enter before all the enemies are taken out. And since there are rarely more than two enemies in any given room, you're better off just following the team inside or taking point yourself.
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Terror Strike offers a very shallow gaming experience with its mundane objectives and overly simplified tactical combat. Though I don't know if it was released with a $4.99 price tag originally, I'm hesitant to tell you that the game is worth much more. One thing I did like about the game was its vibrantly colorful indoor and outdoor environments. While a welcome change from the dark corridors and rusty catwalks shooter fans have been plagued with, it wasn't nearly enough to save this graphically challenged combat sim. Sure, I had a bit of fun with it, but only for a little while. In the end, Terror Strike simply provides too little enjoyment to hold players' interest beyond the first mission. For those of you interested in the game's multiplayer component, rest assured that there is one. However, as you might expect, no one was playing.
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kilkennycat - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
Penumbra:Black Plague is the second game in a trilogy. The first is Penumbra: Overture, still available retail from Gamestop and on-line sources for $19.99. The game mechanics in Black Plague are a lot less awkward than in Overture. The third in the series Penumbra:Requiem has just been released in the past few days and is available as an add-on EXPANSION to Black Plague. Afaik, there will never be a retail version of the Requiem expansion, however it is available for download purchase for $9.99, currently from www.gamersgate.com. The download version will run with either a retail copy or download copy of Black Plague. Gamersgate has all parts of the trilogy separately available for download purchase and also offers Black Plague Gold Edition for $19.99, which contains both Black Plague and Requiem. This combo may also be released retail, but I have not come across any (US) sources so far. See:-http://www.gamersgate.com/index.php?page=shop&...">http://www.gamersgate.com/index.php?pag...what=bro...
Not affiliated in any way with Gamersgate. I have not (yet) purchased any games from them. I have retail copies of both Overture and Black Plague, knew that Requiem had just been released for download only, so came across Gamersgate yesterday in my hunt.
duderockin - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
this could also be a useful article series for those who want the more zen perspective of 20/20 hindsight.also good for those who hate spending more time on video card catch-up than actual gaming.
GTForce - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
Check out Falcon:http://home.novint.com/">http://home.novint.com/
and how Penumbra series benefits from it:
http://home.novint.com/games/games_list.php?c=0&am...">http://home.novint.com/games/games_list.php?c=0&am...
http://home.novint.com/games/games_list.php?c=0&am...">http://home.novint.com/games/games_list.php?c=0&am...
cosmotic - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
I don't really see any need to do (Ed: blah blah) notes. I presume there is an editorial process that is two way? Maybe these 'issues' should be resolved and the text of the article changed. This makes for an easier read and would help the professionalism of the articles. Thanks.JarredWalton - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
I felt most were somewhat humorous. Sorry they didn't please, since I added them. Without having Crazy Machines 2 I couldn't verify whether PhysX drivers were sufficient or not.Pottervilla - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
I agree with the humorous part.However, you guys are one of the premier hardware review sites on the web--I would expect you to know about things like drivers. Also, I would expect that if you were reviewing a game, you would have a copy of it somewhere, and maybe a couple PhysX capable graphics cards.
Overall, it was still a good thing to mention (the possibility that PhysX drivers might open up the extra levels), but I have come to expect a little more than maybes from this site--and a little communication between editor and reviewer would be nice too. :)
I hope this is constructive criticism--keep up the good work.
Nihility - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
...suck.The whole point of the titles is to make it easier to navigate a 7 page article. Sure it's fun to be random at times and be witty, but seriously give us readers a break please.
StormEffect - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
I thought they were clever. Enjoy the creativity, if you want numbers and easily searchable reviews go to google or use meta-critic.Anandtech readers can be so dry and boring sometimes. Waa waa waa.
JarredWalton - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
And here I thought the readers might enjoy some literary quotes as a change of pace. I mean, isn't the point that you actually read about the games rather than just look at a page heading and decide whether or not that's worth reading? Or you can treat it like a magazine and click through the pages; if you see the pictures and don't feel like reading, click to the next page. It takes all of 5 seconds. Besides, more page views are good for the articles - the popular stuff is more likely to get similar articles in the future, since after all we are a business the depends on advertising.Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
Honestly I think it's got to be a balance between something creative and something functional, I try to blend the two as much as I can whenever I write - sometimes I get it right, other times I don't.I've never been a fan of forcing pageviews on an article, my thinking is always that if an article is good enough it'll attract its own traffic, regardless of how it's structured.
Thanks for the feedback, while I can't always guarantee that we'll be perfect - we'll definitely try :)
Take care,
Anand