[OFP] Guerilla by Gambla

Review by Cheetah

Overview

Picture fits the atmosphere of the mission, although I don't like the time of the day in the picture. The overview text is clear, doesn't tell you much about the mission. No author advertising, would be good to include at least a version number and possibly the name of the author.

Intro

The intro isn't perfect as I see the player before the cutscene really begins. The camera movement is a bit sloppy and not timed well. There are a few scenes which are now a bit slow, you hear action, but you don't see any. This is really something the author could've improved. Moreover because it isn't clear for me what the author is showing, some lines of text at the start of the intro would've been great. There is a particular scene where the camera follows a truck you can't even see because of a hill in the way, this should really be avoided by any cutscene maker. But this is all probably caused by the use of a waypoint camera, as you can't get the effects you want to have. As a result it makes the intro a long watch, too long.

Briefing

The briefing contains enough information to keep you busy for a while. Technically it's okay, except for the group selection not showing bug which is not the authors fault. One thing I definitely see as a bug though is the gear selection not optimal for this mission. Also some slight technical issues, like AI units with binoculars and pistols. Most players know that it can be frustrating to have your number two watching through the binoculars during a skirmish. The weapon selection is pretty extensive, although the default layout isn't perfect. I would've prefered seeing a silenced team as default layout. These weapons are present, but you'll have to equip them manually during game play. The plan and note sections are not readable enough, their layout could've been improved. The content of the plan should've been shortened, paragraphs introduced in the notes section. There are some typos in the briefing, for example some missing capitals. The insertion objective could've been removed, and the final objective added later during the mission.

Mission

After choosing your gear you find yourself in a boat close to Kolgujev. As soon as you disembark and walk a few metres you get your first savegame and objective completed. Within the next 50 metres there are two more retry points added, they are a bit pointless, something the author should've fixed. You'll have to move through a heavily patrolled part of Kolgujev to reach the base. There are enough (armoured) patrols to keep you busy for a while. And I thank the author for a well-placed and filled supply crate. After a while you want to strike the main base, doing it in a hit and run manner or rambo-style is up to you. While sneaking towards the base with my squad and silently taking out guards you have to stay alert. Suddenly hearing tanks behind you accompanied by an enemy squad isn't going to make your day easier. Whereas you and your teammates aren't going to live for long after failing to do a quick rambo-style attack either. What struck my eye was that there are a lot of well / and some poorly placed soldiers on the roofs. In my opinion some of them are well placed, I didn't see them or saw them until too late. Others were buggy, one soldier saw me and tried going prone, instead he fell 5m because of buggy emplacement (or OFP physics). The mission could've done with more polishing: the hints are confusing, radio names too long and objective numbers are being mixed up. One objective is done even before you actually complete that objective and another objective could use rewriting. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the mission. I like the action, I like the amount of action and I like it that you aren't forced to play it stealthy. I do think that this mission would've been better if there were some AI enhancing features to make it harder towards the end. This doesn't mean that the mission is short, on the contrary, it's pretty long and you will be happy when they put the pedal to the metal.

Special

Helicopter_dust script made by Vektorboson, although I haven't noticed it in the mission. What really is special is the difficulty of this mission, it's really not a walk in the park. I estimate the effective playtime, which includes retries, about 1.5 hours. On top of this there is the possibility of using different styles to complete this mission, you may even be forced to use a specific style sometimes. The first few tries I took the stealthy approach with silenced weapons, later I just took the M249 SAW to speed things up.

Overall

Do you have enough time? Do you like action and being overwhelmed? Can handle bugs? Yes bugs, as always in a long mission they are there, but won't stop you from enjoying this mission. Technically though, it could've been improved, both in scripting and camera scripting, which in turn would have improved the atmosphere and gameplay.