Review by Bert
Overview
Decently written, gives you a rough idea of what you have to do. Picture isn't bad, but is slightly blurred.
Intro
The intro is fairly short and simple, but by no means bad. Things start with a diary entry which is a nice touch. Background sound makes a good atmosphere. Video from a UAV shows your objectives, but doesn't give away too much.
There are a couple of minor issues with the intro. The first is that you momentarily get a shot of the player character at the beginning. No.2 is that a section of text disappears a bit quickly.
Briefing
The briefing goes in to a fair amount of detail without going over the top. All of the objectives are shown on the first page whilst more detailed information is held on separate pages.
A few pages of detailed instructions on how to use Wolfrug's Squad Control System (SCS) are included. Make sure you read this section before playing.
I didn't spot any spelling or grammar errors. All in all, it's a very good briefing.
Mission
Once the mission loads, you are presented with a dialogue prompting you to select a difficulty level. There are 3 different levels which really adds some replay value. The number of available saves, enemy force levels and enemy artillery are affected by the different levels. There is also a time limit that varies depending on the difficulty level. You can even cheat from here, although you will need to finish the mission to get the codes.
The mission begins just after making an unopposed beach landing, with you being the bravo platoon commander. To complete the mission you have to issue orders to the two other fire teams that make up your platoon. This is achieved with the Squad Control System (SCS). The SCS allows you to assign and alter waypoints for your fire teams (More on this later). You can also move waypoints by dragging them around in the map view.
The first objective is to capture a large Communications tower. You also have the option of destroying a second small tower.
Following the first objectives, you need to assist alpha platoon to capture Estrella. After capturing Estrella you gain access to a laser designator, allowing you to call artillery strikes. Air support should also turn up and your platoon will get reinforced for the main objective. These first objectives should be relatively straight forward to complete and give you a chance to get used to the SCS.
By the time you get to the main objective, you should have both naval gunfire and a cobra available, both are pretty indispensable as taking out the enemy guns is no mean feat due to them being well dispersed and defended by numerous patrols. Once you have destroyed the artillery, a nearby base provides you with an additional target.
Artillery is called through a combination of the radio menu and use of the laser designator. You have to have a line of sight on targets to call fire missions which racks up the tension if the enemy are close.
Tension is high throughout most of the mission as the SLA can call in accurate artillery barrages up until the last gun is destroyed. If the main communications from the first objective stays intact you will get a warning when the enemy are calling in artillery.
This is a very ambitious mission that has been brilliantly executed. The multiple difficulty levels plus the flexibility the SCS provides the player greatly improves the replay value.
Outro(s)
The outro focusses on a grisly discovery that is made during the course of the mission. Over the top of this you get the speech that the commander makes to the reinforcements part way through the original ArmA campaign. Camera work and music is all to a high standard.
Special
All radio messages have accompanying voice acting which bumps up the overall immersion.
The scripting in this mission is top notch but it is the SCS that really stands out. Basically the SCS allows you to add waypoints by shift clicking on the map and gives you most of the editor options for waypoints through a dialogue. This allows you to control multiple squads and units from the map view. Despite the amount of options you are given, it isn't difficult to use once you have the hang of things.
There are one or two script related bugs in the mission, but they are fairly minor and shouldn't affect the overall mission. The most obvious is that the SCS menu option will clone itself a few times. I also had a few errors pop up in the top left corner although I wouldn't have noticed anything was wrong if they hadn't shown up.
The use of Kronzky's Urban patrol script adds an element of randomness to the mission in addition to reducing the ai's predictability. Spooner's Status is also incorporated to allow you to get a snapshot of the status of your platoon elements and objectives.
Overall
It is evident that a ton of work went in to making this mission. The SCS really shines and adds an original touch to the mission. The mission is pretty re-playable on all difficulty levels thanks to good unit placement and scripting. It's definitely one of those missions that you can come back to multiple times.
One small word of warning. If managing multiple fire teams is not your thing, then this probably isn't the mission for you. If you like more command orientated missions or haven't played such a mission and want to try something a bit different, you'd be hard pressed to find a better example for ArmA.
