Played with 1.60 RC on regular.
VISITORS IN SAHKE-----------------------------
Intro
Timing, voice volumes and the nephews sudden breathing worked against this one. It is certainly much better than some of the cinema I have seen out there but once the rest of the campaign cinema is viewed, the Intro fails to match those standards.
Mission
The tasks were great for an opener and the amount of AI help proved very welcome.
TAKIBAN VALLEY--------------------------------
Intro
was great. Timing, voices, angles...everything.
Mission
Crash site task never completed
The player also has 7 in his group after dropping the wounded off at the nearby factory but the Humvee only holds 6 so getting to Anar efficiently, was a challenge.
At the end of the mission, the British team arrived just as command was saying they'll take a while. There was also some exchanges of gunfire during the cut-scene of the player and British officer walking up the hill discussing the pilot pickup.
Examination of Bastam---------------------------
As I am walking up the road, you initiate a cut-scene which setposes me on the hill overlooking the town and the player says "Well, what do we have here?" That was not needed and it removes me from the immersion that was building with my approach to the town. After that, my team had a hard time climbing the hill and getting down to catch up to me. I was on the road. before the scene started.
The SUV was on the western intersection of town while the waypoint to protect it was on the eastern intersection.
THE BATTLE OF RASMAN-------------------------
The minefield task was confusing at first and I don't think I was given enough time to properly get it figured out. It didn't matter though because enemy armor never made it to that area. I did happen to have a guy lay out a few mines before being ordered off of the line but the task displayed as though it was ignored.
I like the variation of tasks in this one. But I just didn't seem to have enough time to complete each one before you threw another at me. I was running from one spot to the other without enjoying the ambiance much. Perhaps you should increase time between tasks just a bit?
The "Take down the helo if I can" task, never showed up as a task. Not sure if you meant it like that.
The sniper task was great since the sniper kept shooting to confirm that he was where he was suppose to be in my thermals.
The destroy AA task was good too, since it got me out from behind our lines and placed me and my men face to face with incoming enemy. The Abrams and Stryker moving slowly down the road as support was awesome and added tremendously to immersion and to my confidence as well as to the reality of sending armor against possible armor threats and not just infantry against the armor. I realized when I was on my way back that I should have grabbed a vehicle of some sort to get out there but I didn't mind walking so much when I had that thermal to scan the crests. Perhaps you should hint that the player can take a vehicle?
After clearing the AA and being ordered back, I was not even half before I was given another task to guard an area. Perhaps you should consider adding a condition to that task assignment of having the player back near the defensive lines before issuing the task.
When those helos appeared, sprouting all the chutes out of their bellies, lag began to slow interaction quite a bit. Is it not possible to have more units parachute from fewer helos? Once those units were on the ground, the ensuing battle was very interactive.
After the battle, I was ordered to the tower, from where I took out a small group who had not quite reached the tower yet. I thought I was going in to clear the area not get there first and defend. But it makes no matter.
The crossroad task was event less before being ordered back to the front lines. Once the cut-scene took over, I could hear my group responding with radio calls. Perhaps you could enableradio false.
OPERATION ZAVARAK---------------------------
Briefing
under briefing record..."After linking up with them, a coordinate a combined assault on the center of Zavarak" should be.."After linking up with them, coordinate a combined assault..."
The British helo landed and the pilots got out. Was that planned? the second play test and the British helo never made it to the lz.
TRENCHES OF GARMSAR------------------------
Intro was very well timed, music playing in the background was perfect, the assembly of troops from various branches gave it that combined arms feel and the camera angles showed it all off well.
1st task to laze the targets was confusing. I wasn't sure how to accomplish it at first. What I did was use Mando to call in a the fighter and after that I was able to laze the second but the AV88 was shot down by the machine gun of the remaining tank before it could get far enough away and I had to use the lost key to order a precision missile attack on the last.
2nd phase:
Loaded up in the truck and headed off to the first task. Cleared it without a problem. Drove forward to the next task. Disembarked before the junction and rounded the bend on foot. As I passed the first line of bunkers a completed task displayed on screen that said "Any". The break through defenses task completed, so I suspect it was that one.
Soon after, a T55 rolled up from behind the allied advance and simply strolled around without engaging and without being engaged. It appeared red on the map, so I engaged it.
The allied armor and infantry seemed to advance too fast toward Garmsar, leaving the flanks exposed and having my team combat the enemy on the ridges and wooded areas that were missed before.
The Outro added a little comic relief with the missiles comment.
TAKIBANS LAST STAND---------------------
The Intro was fabulous, gorgeous camera angles, music was complimentary to the scenes, loved the wide angled views of infantry engaging the helos with muzzle flashes sparking up everywhere. Well done. The music quit about 10 seconds before the cinema was through playing though.
Game play was great, Immersion did not lack at all during the battle and the AI performed well in every area. Plenty to do for the player, plenty of bad guys to take out.
Outro was comical and well voiced. Good camera angle of the group watching in awe of the Takistani celebrating his freedom from the Takiban rebels.
OVERALL
The story progressed smoothly, the game play was as usual, fantastic with plenty of AI support and player freedom to accomplish the task with changing tactics. The cinema started with a lower quality but improved immediately with mission 2 and remained high quality to the end. Music was never too overpowering, battle chatter was consistent and on cue most of the time, the amount of optional support offered to the player in each mission was not always used but it was good to know that it was there if it was needed, the campaign flow was smooth and each mission was fun to play since the player was not expected to babysit or accomplish each task alone. There is little (if any) room for improvement with this project and except for a few little problems, is solid from start to finish. It's a fantastic example of a complete campaign.
Topic: [CAMP/A2CO] Chasing Grim Reaper (Review complete) (Read 19280 times)