[ArmA] Saviour by shark attack

Review by Cheetah

Overview

Overview lacks the author's name, other than that it includes the most important objects. A decent picture capable of grabbing one's attention, short introduction text and a version number.

Intro

The first part of the intro is odd as it doesn't have camera view. Instead, it relies on the game's 1st and 3rd person view of showing a damaged Thunderbolt airplane. There is even a hint in the cutscene, telling the author that he can switch to 1st person. This results in a lack of atmosphere, or it was me unused to this setup of an intro. I didn't like it, simply due to the lack of a cutscene feeling.

After the first part, the camera was turned on and showed the crash. Good music would've been welcome for this setting, the custom voices used are hard to hear, but nonetheless add to the mission. Sadly the accompanying text contains typos.

The final shot lacked large amounts of rebels storming the crash site, exiting music and multiple camera angles. It did however, feature a decent Arabic voice that improved the atmosphere.

Briefing

You do not need to worry about the objectives being unclear, they have a prominent position in the plan section. Marker links work and help the player navigate on the map. Additional information, although limited, is available to those addicted to details.

A few markers without links and text are present on the map, although one only has to do a bit of guessing to figure out what they indicate. Sadly, they decrease the difficulty, but in turn they ensure that you can find the downed pilot.

The notes section is full of guides for various scripted elements in this mission. For example a tracker used to find the downed pilot. Gear selection is present and a broad array of weapons is waiting for you. Finally, the team consists of four medics, due to the medic class having a limited carrying capacity I couldn't carry my normal equipment. Trying to imitate PJ's medical skills is fine, but it feels overdone. I would've preferred a mix of expert medics (few) and SF (many). This also means that the team should've consisted of more members for a rescue operation of this degree if realism is to be considered.

Mission

Let's start off with the scripting in this mission as it is one of the most important aspects in Saviour. There are multiple scripts running to improve the atmosphere of the mission. First, there is the HALO script - good looking and easy to use making the mission start one that you will remember. Luckily the teammates are capable of doing the HALO job ensuring that they don't get injured or killed in the jump.

Then there is the tracker script that is easy to use. The random emplacement of the pilot ensures that you can play this mission multiple times. Tracking the pilot may seem an easy job at first, but one you get closer I found it harder and harder to reach him. Only problem is that a few markers on the map spoil most of the fun. Next to these scripts, there are two support scripts, the artillery script does its job and seems free of bugs.

The helicopter extraction is not always easy to use and the option 'immediate extraction' is the one I favor as it doesn't have the hassle with depart vectors and such. The waypoints placed on the map by this script are non-descriptive so don't overclick or bugs may arise.

Now the gameplay element of this mission, while the idea is decent and challenging this mission is not so. I don't like the rebel AI, they aren't capable of half decent moves to bring you down. It is even more difficult for them, due to your whole team consisting of medics - injuries are no problem thus bringing down the difficulty by a lot. It is not only the enemy civilian AI that is limited, due to urban movement your teammates and sometimes the enemy has trouble finding their way through the city. I even noticed an enemy soldier stuck in a wall of concrete, one glitch of the game that has an impact on this mission.

Enjoying yourself with this mission is not really much of a problem. The main problem is that this mission does not shine due to lack of polishing. I'm not sure why some of the addons have been added. Queens Gambit is used for 'technicals' and the AA trucks are a welcome addition but you won't see much of them - not as much as on flying missions.

The atmosphere of the mission is one of the better elements, shark attack offers multiple voice actors with various languages. Some of the voices are more convincing than others, but all contribute to the atmosphere. The scripts used and dynamic patrols of the enemy add to the atmosphere as well. Reality could have been improved by adding more allies, for example another team or close air support - most rescue operations won't be done by 4-men teams. In the end, the most important thing is saving the pilot, and that gives you a load of fun.

Outro(s)

None. Surely would've added to this mission.

Special

The various scripted elements make up the special portion of this mission. Kronzky's Urban Patrol Script is used, although not in full potential, the tracker makes the mission more enjoyable and long lasting. Artillery and dynamic helicopter pickup are present and are a welcome addition to the mission's SF feeling.

Normally, custom voices would be considered special too. Sadly, I found the quality of some of the voices not above average or their volume too low to add much to the atmosphere.

Overall

This is a decent mission, but a little rough around the edges. It is not polished, multiple bugs and typos are present and deduct from the overall playing experience. While one can enjoy the mission, the gameplay bugs - especially AI movement related ones - not making me want to replay the mission often. Play this one if you are into SF missions and don't mind going in by yourself - possibly meeting little resistance on your way in and out.