Conflict: Denied Ops
Preview
A shooter where co-operation is imperative
by William Thompson
previewed on PC
AI Inadequacies
The enemy AI isn’t all good though. Sometimes enemy fighters will just try and rush you. If the gamer is in control of Lang, then this is almost a suicide mission, as Lang with fill them full of lead in quick time. Also, there are times, when using Graves with a sniper rifle with noise suppressing attachment, that you can shoot a soldier guarding his post. Guards in the vicinity, although not hearing a shot, should notice him fall and investigate. This does not seem to be the case, and then the second guard becomes a sitting (or should that be, standing) duck.
The visuals are fairly good. Not in the Crysis class, but nice nonetheless. The locations are varied (missions in Africa, Russia and South America) and have each been beautifully rendered. There is an over-use of corridors prevalent in many FPS, but this is used to help guide the gamer to their mission objectives. Having said that, there are a number of open areas that can be explored, and as mentioned previously, this can be done with the use of commandeered motorised vehicles at certain periods in the game.
Destruction
The locations are destructible too, although this appears to be in varying degrees. At some points, a foe hiding behind a crate can be killed by destroying the crates with Lang’s automatic weapon and then killing the poor, now exposed guy. But at another section of the game, some crates blocked the path (would have been a short cut) to the mission objective. Shooting these crates merely put bullet holes, rather than rip them to shreds.
Other targets such as fuel cans can also be shot at to create explosions, killing anyone close enough to the blast. The good thing is that bodies will continue to litter the environment throughout the game. If the gamer has to pass through a section a number of times, the motionless bodies of deceased opponents will still be seen where they fell.
The Sounds of War
Audio in the game is quite respectable. The music used sets the scene well and suits the atmosphere at particular points in the game. The sound effects are standard fare for shooters, with the usual explosion and weapon discharge sounds. The voice acting for the two main characters is well done, and helps to set their background as you find out more about the two men as you progress. The enemy voices are hilarious though, the Russian accents in particular. I always find it funny that characters in games from non-English speaking nations, will speak to each other in English, albeit with an accent. Just so you can understand what they are saying. Bonus.
With titles such as as Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Halo 3 and even Bioshock (yes, it’s a shooter) 2007 was ‘The year of the shooter’. Whether the 2008 generation can outdo these contributions to the FPS genre remains to be seen. Conflict: Denied Ops will be one of the many that will attempt to continue the high quality of the aforementioned titles this year. We look forward to seeing this product finished.
