[OFP] Welsh Embassy by DonKnottts

Review by Sui

Overview

The Overview was well done with a good picture and border, a blurb that gave that sense of an exciting mission ahead and the author's details. It was nice and evenly spaced down the page, making it a pleasure to read. It sold the mission well, which should be the aim of a good overview.

Intro

Haunting music greets us in the opening scene of the Intro. Slow camera movements through the village set the scene superbly, the eeriness of the custom music being used to excellent effect. The camera angles are very intelligent. One or two are absolutely brilliant, and DonKnottts timed the climax of the music track to match the climax of the cutscene.

All in all, a great piece of cinema, though the changes in camera targets were sometimes jerky, which spoiled the effect a little. I also found the text a little intrusive due to being smack-bang in the middle of the screen.

Briefing

Keeping in-line with the trend so far, the Briefing was similarly well thought out. It corresponded well to the map, and the markers outlined the operation clearly and in precise detail. Though the mission description is a large block of text, it was paragraphed making it easy to read. Though just a small thing, you'd be surprised at what a huge difference this can make to whether or not the player can take all the information in!

The notes section was used nicely, and added excellent detail to the back story.

The gear selection was good, though I would have liked to see an ACOG M4 with my trusty underslung grenade launcher. However that's just because I felt like I'd been short changed without combat optics. The standard BIS M16/203 stood ok in it's place.

Mission

We appear suddenly in the woods, and start moving towards the village with the rest of the platoon. Having another squad on either side of mine gave a good feeling of security even if they weren't under my direct control. Music played in the background, which gave a bit of ambience, but in my humble opinion it was played too loud. It tends to intrude a little, and that can be bad when you're trying to concentrate on shooting bad guys.

Advancing into the village, the enemy seemed to pour out of buildings left, right and centre. The difficulty factor was just about right, and I needed a few retries to even make the objective. There was the odd bit of radio chatter amongst the other squads, though unfortunately text only. This was excellent in maintaining situational awareness of how the other guys were getting on, and whether or not my flanks were still protected.

The placement of not only enemy troops, but scenery (civilians / cars / buildings etc.) gave a good impression of a living, breathing village. At one stage I found myself telling my AT guys to hold fire as one of them accidentally blew up somebody's house... I just got caught up in the atmosphere I guess! The atmosphere was good enough to let me forget I was playing a game.

Special

DonKnottts included a savegame feature via a radio call. I'm the kind that tends to get lost in the action, so I prefer mission-specified save points but that's just personal preference. Its inclusion was very welcome, as the difficulty factor was enough to warrant its use quite a bit.

Overall

(Review Date: Nov 2004) Though not all that long, this mission gave me the satisfied feeling of having completed something worthwhile. I'd definitely recommend playing it through a few times. It was well thought out and very believable. The obvious humour in the plot was a welcome bonus. Give it a go, you won't regret it.

PS. The Welsh nuclear arsenal was a hot topic back in the days of the Soviet Republic. The scenario of this mission could have been based on historical fact, which is what makes it so chilling. Wales joining the Warsaw pact would have been a huge blow to NATO, and that lends a 'save the world' kind of feeling to the operation.