Review by The Phantom Reviewer
Overview
A good picture with a little background on the mission. There was a second page, it contained a little disclaimer that gave me a chuckle.
Intro
Love it! The camera angles were good and the acting was also good. The voices were a little light, and I had to turn up my sound, but it was worth it! The author does a nice job of setting up the mission to follow. This is how an intro should be done!
Briefing
Oh, my, GOD! This has to be one of the most detailed briefings I've ever seen. The mission has several parts, and the list of objectives and an overview of the mission is contained in the Plan. The notes provides a bit of background story, but the real meat and potatoes of the briefing is in an extended section the player links to from the Plan section.
Once the player goes for the extended mission briefing he is in for a real treat. I would like to hold this up as shining example of how a briefing should be executed. As a matter of fact, I'm going to adopt some of it myself, and start using it in my own missions! The author has sections on the overall situation, specific mission objectives, and various objective elements. In several sections there are links provided to *Intel* photos that have been gathered from various sources. Each brings you back to the area you were reading. There is even a section that provides bios on your team members, including photos! As a matter of fact the whole briefing is littered with photos and links. When I finished reading the briefing I felt like I really was a Special Op getting ready to go on a mission. It was truly amazing, the amount of detail provided.
The weapons selection is extensive, but as I'm shipboard, I would expect an arsenal to be at my disposal.
Mission
Start off in the water and it's a LONG swim to shore. Nice for the Author to give a little way to skip it. Hit the beach with my squad and start searching for the ammo cache. Stock up and move out. There are multiple objectives that need to be completed in sequence. The first, take out the troops guarding a radio tower, is not too difficult to complete. Didn't even loose a guy. Start heading for the main town, where the remaining objectives are.
Once I get to the outskirts of town, I call Bravo team and have them take out the power station. In a few minutes I hear the rumble of a distant battle. I must say, this was a nice touch. The effect wasn't immediate, no, instead it was much more realistic. A few minutes pause, after I radioed Bravo, gave the impression that they were moving into position. Then contact! An eruption of automatic gunfire from the distance announces succinctly that the power station is being attacked. Like I said, very realistic. I spent the next several lives trying to take the second and third objectives. The town is defended rather well. Eventually though, my perseverance paid off (and my excellent use of the Savegame cheat) and I was able to secure the hostage.
I was unsuccessful in one of the earlier sub-objectives, I didn't prevent a runner from making it out of town. Consequently, at this juncture in the mission, I was greeted with enemy reinforcements. I quickly call in Bravo to support my egress, as well as air support and the evac. I *store* the mission objective - my charge - in some bushes by the beach while I wait for the Cavalry to arrive. While I wait, I take out a few soldiers who stray into my line of fire. Fortunately they didn't see me before I saw them. Just about the time I got armour rolling on my concealed position, my air support arrives. Talk about fortuitous timing! The closest tank is just rotating his turret in my direction when BANG! BOOM! He explodes in a ball of fire as a Hellfire tears into him. Phew! The rest of the armour roaming the town is quickly eliminated, and moments later the evac chopper arrives. I order my squad to hop on and I wait until they're all situated. This is where I encountered the only bug I saw, and I suspect that it was the game engine. After all my men, and the hostage, had boarded the chopper, I got on. At one point during the boarding process, the chopper lifted off about 50 feet, then landed again to allow the remainder of my squad to board. Then, when I got on, the chopper just sat on the beach and never left. I had to instruct my squad to disembark, and then re-board the chopper, only, this time I got on first. Once the last guy was on board, the chopper dutifully departed. A minute or two later the mission ended.
Outro(s)
Like the Intro, this was very well done. I was particularly impressed with the cinematography, as well as the apparent segue into a future mission. It's a bit of a cliffhanger and I don't want to give too much away. Needless to say, I was very pleased.
Special
Unlimited saves by radio call (though I found this out almost at the end of the mission).
Exceptional use of plot element: you must keep your radio handy, if the guy holding it is killed, you've got to pick it up or you can't call for support, or even an evac. Thus you can't complete the mission (just like you wouldn't in reality).
Overall
(Review Date: Sep 2005) This was a black ops mission with impeccable implementation. I was very impressed with the authors execution of the radio requirement, as well as the introduction of several sub-plot elements, which increased realism and gave the distinct feeling that this was a real mission. The level of detail given to the mission speaks loudly of the time and care given, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Also, based upon the number of egression plans mentioned in the briefing, I suspect your experience may differ significantly from mine.
