Game Reviews and Thoughts

_PC_

Been quite awhile since I've offered any non-FFC news here, sooooo here are a couple reviews on single-player modes of games I tried out:

"Brothers In Arms: Road To Hill 30"
Lots of reviews out there on this older (2005) game which was the first in it's series. I finally got around to trying it out recently, so here is my input. The game does have some interesting aspects, if you are into squad-based control military shooters (similar to "Full Spectrum Warrior"). But I found it very frustrating for four reasons. First, you can't skip thru many of the cinematic sequences and that gets tedious. Second, there isn't a manual "Save" option...you have to play to a specific auto-save point then start over at your last such when you die. Not unusual in yet another console port-to-PC game, but still sucks. Third, some of the missions are really boring to complete. In one you have to eliminate the enemy (of course) but then blowup several "field poles" to clear a landing field. Repetitiously overdone. And after the last one, if you don't quickly get out of the way the $#@!ing glider lands on your head and you have to start all over...again. Lastly, the weapons are inaccurate to the point of stupidity (excepting the sniper rifle). You can literally stand 5 feet from an enemy and repeatedly miss them with any shouldered weapon. I often found it more effective to just bash them with it, tho' that too is so slow in action as to be idiotic.
For all the reasons above, I found it necessary to go find "God" cheats just to finish the game without putting my fist thru the monitor from frustration. Yes the game had some great play aspects for it's day, but I can NOT recommend wasting your money on this one.

"Rainbow Six: Vegas"
After hearing back from Hammer'n Hank that he regularly plays this game (on Xbox 360's network) I decided to check it out. Again many reviews on it, and here is some video on the multiplayer features. In similar manner to earlier R6 releases, it has it's squad-based aspects, but unlike those releases you only have 2 team members to control. I found this (along with the simpler control functions) to be much more playable if you like the "run & gun" style better than tactical. IMO, this is a lot of fun and a nice addition to solo play. You can (and often must) use your team to provide cover fire, do room clears and so forth. The con is that if either of them dies, you have to start over....yes, as this is another port-to-PC there are no manual "Saves". Expect to spend a LOT of time starting over in this game too. Again, very stoooopid IMO, since many of the missions are extremely hard to survive without a lot of experimentation to find the right tactical solution....there are several "Trainer" hacks out there, so obviously not my opinion alone. But it is still a very fun game and I'm enjoying it a lot. As it's a newer game (late 2006), the graphics are much better if still a little "cartoony" compared to the realism in the likes of CoD2 or F.E.A.R.. The baddies aren't real creative and varied, but the AI is decent if overwhelming in numbers at times. They remind me of newer versions from the BHD SP play. Still not as good as the AI in the afore-mentioned games (will any AI ever rival F.E.A.R.'s?) , but decent. And at least the weapons are fairly realistic in use and ballistics...too much so at times since it can be difficult to see past the muzzle-flash with certain models. And if you like silencers, plenty of those in the game.
In summary I do like this game and can recommend it, and would be interested in trying out the multiplayer if any other FFC'ers think it's worthy.