[Modal's Memory Card - Pt. 5]
Probably one of the first proper shooters I played back in the day, as weird as that may sound. Once again, something that didn’t interest me past the first mission due to the weird controls. I remember my dad thinking he was the coolest ever getting me this T-rated game when I was still like 9, and no matter how little I ended up playing it, he still is the coolest ever.
As far as milsim tactical shooters go, it hasn’t aged amazingly but it’s still really enjoyable. I don’t have a lot of previous experience in the genre besides stuff like the MGS series and one night of Hell Let Loose with a few friends (with me being way more accustomed to more arcade-y military stuff like COD), but it felt pretty easy to get into. It doesn’t seem too often these days that we get single player shooters that are pretty slow-paced and lean on you to check your corners Counter-Strike style. Movement can definitely feel finicky and unreliable here and there (mostly in leaning) but it’s overall good enough to not inhibit that tactical sense. Cranking up the difficulty to Elite definitely makes for a tense and rewarding experience, even with its flaws. I’ve been pretty accustomed to playing shooters with KBM for years now, but once I got used to analog sticks again, it fit like an old shoe even with the weird accelerating sensitivity. Snipers are definitely my favorite here but they desperately need a “hold-breath/steady aim” feature while scoped, especially when the M14’s pre-scope zoom-in has no sway at all. Health can also feel extremely shoddy in how there’s no healing whatsoever. It definitely aids levels feeling tense as you slowly move your way through, especially on solo missions, but at what cost? Furthermore, you can lose health for very petty reasons, like getting sniped through the fog on the lower-visibility levels or just sliding down a too-steep cliff. Either way, it certainly does emphasize the fact that this game’s combat is more about patience than non-stop aggression.
The squad mechanics are partially why I was a bit standoffish from getting into this game, and even when sometimes they can be unreliable, they were kinda fun to fool around with. They can be unbelievably dumb and stand slackjawed in front of turrets dying, as well as kill each other with their own grenades when you order them to flick grenades somewhere, but in some circumstances you’ll be depending on them heavily, especially in the last level where visibility is low and they need to be pushing ahead. Even then, I think my favorite levels were the ones where you were on your own without a squad, not only because you get what I believe to be the best gun in the game during these missions, and because all the locales/weathers in these were A+, but the lone wolf vibes are immaculate. In general, the levels and settings didn’t have a large variety of color palettes and atmosphere, with basically being restricted to rural North Korea, but they made the most with the singular settings and still had some good variety. The campaign does this crazy unheard-of thing by actually getting better as the levels go on.
The story is extremely cut-and-dry and as much USMC propaganda as the gameplay around it, but still gives way to some pretty endearing and chuckleworthy quips by squadmates here and there. The fact that the game’s levels are a lot more concretely “missions”, where you’re literally given the checklist of objectives beforehand, actually makes it all feel a lot more well paced. The soundtrack is pretty good as well; It does take some time to get used to the old MIDI keyboard string hits, but this was years before Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe would go sicko mode on the MW2 soundtrack and up the ante for military FPS soundtracks forever, so I’m appreciative of the good stuff that’s here.
A T for Teen rating is still kind of wild with the game’s last mission featuring a dude shooting himself in the head.
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Modal's Memory Card is a series where I'll be revisiting PS2 games from my childhood and seeing how they hold up.
Probably one of the first proper shooters I played back in the day, as weird as that may sound. Once again, something that didn’t interest me past the first mission due to the weird controls. I remember my dad thinking he was the coolest ever getting me this T-rated game when I was still like 9, and no matter how little I ended up playing it, he still is the coolest ever.
As far as milsim tactical shooters go, it hasn’t aged amazingly but it’s still really enjoyable. I don’t have a lot of previous experience in the genre besides stuff like the MGS series and one night of Hell Let Loose with a few friends (with me being way more accustomed to more arcade-y military stuff like COD), but it felt pretty easy to get into. It doesn’t seem too often these days that we get single player shooters that are pretty slow-paced and lean on you to check your corners Counter-Strike style. Movement can definitely feel finicky and unreliable here and there (mostly in leaning) but it’s overall good enough to not inhibit that tactical sense. Cranking up the difficulty to Elite definitely makes for a tense and rewarding experience, even with its flaws. I’ve been pretty accustomed to playing shooters with KBM for years now, but once I got used to analog sticks again, it fit like an old shoe even with the weird accelerating sensitivity. Snipers are definitely my favorite here but they desperately need a “hold-breath/steady aim” feature while scoped, especially when the M14’s pre-scope zoom-in has no sway at all. Health can also feel extremely shoddy in how there’s no healing whatsoever. It definitely aids levels feeling tense as you slowly move your way through, especially on solo missions, but at what cost? Furthermore, you can lose health for very petty reasons, like getting sniped through the fog on the lower-visibility levels or just sliding down a too-steep cliff. Either way, it certainly does emphasize the fact that this game’s combat is more about patience than non-stop aggression.
The squad mechanics are partially why I was a bit standoffish from getting into this game, and even when sometimes they can be unreliable, they were kinda fun to fool around with. They can be unbelievably dumb and stand slackjawed in front of turrets dying, as well as kill each other with their own grenades when you order them to flick grenades somewhere, but in some circumstances you’ll be depending on them heavily, especially in the last level where visibility is low and they need to be pushing ahead. Even then, I think my favorite levels were the ones where you were on your own without a squad, not only because you get what I believe to be the best gun in the game during these missions, and because all the locales/weathers in these were A+, but the lone wolf vibes are immaculate. In general, the levels and settings didn’t have a large variety of color palettes and atmosphere, with basically being restricted to rural North Korea, but they made the most with the singular settings and still had some good variety. The campaign does this crazy unheard-of thing by actually getting better as the levels go on.
The story is extremely cut-and-dry and as much USMC propaganda as the gameplay around it, but still gives way to some pretty endearing and chuckleworthy quips by squadmates here and there. The fact that the game’s levels are a lot more concretely “missions”, where you’re literally given the checklist of objectives beforehand, actually makes it all feel a lot more well paced. The soundtrack is pretty good as well; It does take some time to get used to the old MIDI keyboard string hits, but this was years before Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe would go sicko mode on the MW2 soundtrack and up the ante for military FPS soundtracks forever, so I’m appreciative of the good stuff that’s here.
A T for Teen rating is still kind of wild with the game’s last mission featuring a dude shooting himself in the head.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Modal's Memory Card is a series where I'll be revisiting PS2 games from my childhood and seeing how they hold up.