[OFP] USSR: Supplies Shortage by David Le Vengeur

Review by Intar

Overview

The Overview is average; short and sweet and to the point. The only real drawback to the Overview was the several typos I found. A little more proofing in this department would really pay off and up the overall score.

Intro

Although the cinematics are on par with most, what really struck me was the addition of custom music scripted into the scenes, as well as during the actual mission. The movies flowed smoothly, but the framerate was a little slow (Even with my P3 1GHZ, 512MB Ram and 128MB ATI Radeon 8500), so low end computer users beware. Otherwise the movies executed perfectly without any glitches, which is really rare.

Briefing

However the Briefing contains a very unique twist. Like most briefings, the objectives are clearly laid out with working links and markers, but as you click on the objective, the briefing opens into a more specific mode, completely changing from the normal briefing page into a specific briefing page. In other words a briefing within a briefing. This really adds realism to the mission and gives a broad overall object and a detailed plan of attack. Just reading the Briefing made me feel like I really was in the military.

Mission

Relatively rare does a mission of high caliber come along that really shows a bright star among the masses of missions out there. USSR: Supplies Shortage is a definite diamond in the ruff. One word describes this mission perfectly: smooth. The movies are well done, the mission has few, if any error (I noticed no problems during game-play) and although the difficulty is high, it is refreshingly realistic. As with all great missions, balance is a must. This mission balances strategy and realism together with skilled scripting, cinematics, and even custom sound!

Outro(s)

The lack of an end sequence kind of disappointed me. I felt after all that work a cinematic of the fleeing USSR would have been more rewarding than the typical debriefing.

Special

What can I say? This mission has quite a bit of careful scripting that plays the most important role in any mission. The AI here is fair: Troops run and hide behind cover, slowly creep into hot zones, snipe at you, and everything else real soldiers do in combat. I found the Russian AI to be particularly feeble though. The Soviets ran into M2 fire blindly, and on several attempts of the mission, I completed it as the lone soldier holding his own against overwhelming odds. At least there was ample vehicle placement to aid against US barrages of troops. I love machinguns! Oh, and look out for US special weapons, you will need them here to survive. If the Russian AI was a little fine tuned, the difficulty would be a little more palatable and the overall enjoyment would be noticably better.

Overall

(Review Date: May 2002) This is a well done achievement that deserves recognition. Although it is not CHQ approved, with a little more attention to detail it certainly could be. A definate worthy download. Kudos to david_le_vengeur to this overall outstanding mission.