Take a look at the GameCube software library and one is likely to find very few military or war themed titles. This, despite the fact that games like SOCOM for PlayStation 2 continue to tear through the sales charts. Gotham Games, though, has at least filled part of the gap with the release of Conflict: Desert Storm, a squad-based action shooter, for Nintendo's console. Yes, it's a port of an already-released PS2 title and sure, Xbox owners got it last year too. But Cubists can at least take pride in knowing that the title arrives with a host of improvements over its predecessor and that it delivers a good amount of fun and satisfaction, even if portions of its play mechanics and visual presentation are substandard.
The Facts
Squad-based action and stealth featuring four easy-to-control soldiers
Expansive, realistic environments with smoke, heat haze, and shadows
Seamless movement between indoor and outdoor environments
Interact with humvees, tanks and other vehicles
Experience system allows soldiers to improve from mission to mission
Artificial Intelligence governs enemy actions and fellow team members
Realistic tactical action designed by former SAS officer
Dynamic, interactive music and battle sound effects
Gameplay
The Pivotal Games-developed Conflict: Desert Storm for GameCube travels players to the Middle East in 1990 just as the unofficial war between the US and Iraq is about to break out. The entire game takes place in sandy deserts and broken down, war-ridden cities of the region. Gamers control both individual soldiers and four-person squads of Special Forces operatives -- usually the latter, and sweep through the locales while completing different objectives, from rescuing prisoners and safely exporting political figures to demolishing bridges and killing enemies. It's war. It's hell. But as far as videogames go, this is pretty fun stuff.
Desert Storm seems to have it all, from a training mode where military instructors choke out commands in hoarse, growling voices like something ripped right out of Full Metal Jacket to a variety of squad-centric missions filled with destructible objects, menacing enemies and a full arsenal of explosive weapons. There's even a cooperative mode of player for up to four gamers, which is phenomenal, but we'll get to that later.
Control mechanics are solid. The primary soldier can be strafed around with the analog stick while the camera stick is used to turn and aim. It's kind of like a setup for a first-person shooter and it's very precise, a plus. Meanwhile, L button switches between third- and first-person mode, R shoots, X selects weapons and items A reloads guns and picks up items and B crouches. It's not the most inventive configuration ever created, but it makes good use of the GCN controller and for the most part feels intuitive. Arming different weapons and items with the X button can be cumbersome, especially in the middle of a big battle, but once one gets used to the process it's manageable. Different weapons, finally, are equally satisfying. Shooting the sniper rifle, for instance, is doubly tough because the wind blows the gun around and it's difficult to aim -- a level of realism that's indicative of other parts of the title.
The game itself isn't as straightforward as some might think. One can't simply run into an environment with guns blasting, no worry of ammunition running out or dying, and blow up or bloody everything in sight. The game has several layers of strategy to consider. The focal point of play is the four-person squad setup. Gamers control their own character at all times, but they must simultaneously set commands for their three supporting computer team members. Commands can be a simple as calling team members to follow behind or as precise as instructing a single operative to perform a necessary task. It's all executed via the Z-button and a combination of buttons and what it lacks in intuitiveness it makes up for in ability. Directing a small squad of soldiers is just plain fun and players will likely feel a greater sense of accomplishment having successfully navigated all four members through a battlefield.
Conflict: Desert Storm on GameCubeDesert Storm's missions are top notch, though. The title starts gamers off by themselves -- a single soldier with a formidable challenge: to rescue his kidnapped comrade, to find some C-4, to explode a bridge, and then to make off for the rendezvous site for extraction. All this while fending off groups of enemy Iraqi soldiers armed with everything from sniper rifles to small tanks. It's not easy, even on easy mode. One mustn't lose their head. A careful surveillance of each new desert cavity is helpful and so is conserving valuable commodities like medkits, which boost health, and various weapons like a rocket launcher, a gem that easily disposes of more troublesome opposition. It's fun. Additionally, there's a very lonesome, eerie feeling to running alone through the enemy-controlled locales of the Middle East, and the developer has certainly captured that in near tangible form. Meanwhile, as later missions unfold, the objectives increase in difficulty, the combat becomes more intense, and there is the added pressure of controlling one's entire group. One minor complaint is that the level of enemy AI doesn't appear to be overly difficult. Most of the Iraqi soldiers, in fact, seem fairly stupid, running carelessly straightforward into our sniper shots and rarely using objects as protection. SOCOM does it better, sure, but for GameCube owners this is so far just about as good as it gets, and frankly, it's not too shabby.
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