Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn
Score: 92% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Activision Developer: Activision Media: CD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: The graphics in Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn are quite good, with a definite Resident Evil feel to them. Pre-rendered backgrounds make for nice environments, and the character designs are good as well. Each of the major players are distinct in appearance, although the enemies look pretty much the same (except for bosses, of course) - guys in uniforms shooting at you. There was some nice variation in the different cars of the train, such as the VIP area being much more grand than say, the medical car. The soundtrack was lush and all-encompassing, drawing you into the plotline. I really enjoyed it. The sound effects were ok, sounding very much like any Japanese adventure game and the voice-overs were cheesy indeed. Not to the point of Resident Evil, thank God, but still. But they weren't unbearable by any means.
Gameplay: Think Resident Evil meets Mission Impossible meets Air Force One - only on a train. The plot is this - you are a survivor of a terrorist attack on a speeding train carrying the French Ambassador and his family. You are also a member of the train's original security team. Of course, it is your God-given duty to protect and rescue the Ambassador and his family, kill the bad guys, find the nukes and... but I get ahead of myself. You remain in communication with HQ via a radio and are given instructions this way. Along the way, you'll meet up with other survivors who join your cause and some who want to end it. The most intriguing part of the game is the fact that what you do and how quickly you accomplish goals affects how the game plays out. Choose wisely. Basically, you run around the train, killing, saving and picking stuff up. If you are a fan of the survival horror type game, you'll love it. I was hooked immediately. Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn is not without its flaws, despite the fantastic gameplay. Load times are obnoxious and you encounter the evil loading screen (which lists the city you are traveling through) it seems almost every time you pass through a door. Ugh. You'll soon be saying, alright I'm in Leipzig already! Then there is the targeting system. When a bad guy is in the area, you'll get a crosshair that will focus in on them. Red means one shot kills. Yellow takes a couple more. If you can, wait for the red. Those used to RE will be fumbling for the target button, but its automatic, so it takes a bit of getting used to. What I did love was the fact that you got a red 'warning' screen at the bottom to alert you to enemies and when you had killed them all or were safely away, it flashed a green 'clear'. Kind of had a Metal Gear Solid feel to it. Again, I can't stress enough that this game is definitely for those who love the RE style of gameplay. Plenty of weird and sometimes frustrating puzzles, lots of bad guys to kill (not zombies, but still) and hours of running around searching. This is my thing. Yes it is. I highly recommend this game, despite its minor flaws. It's good stuff.
Difficulty: Well, like I said earlier, the targeting system takes a bit of getting used to if you are an old RE die-hard like myself. The button configuration is a little bit different too, as I found myself accidentally shooting my gun when I wanted to run instead (old habits die really hard), but it's certainly not anything that you can't get used to. As far as game difficulty and such, it's not so much that the game is so hard, it's just really long and arduous. But hey, that's what makes it a survival horror type game. Run here and run there and grab this here and run back to bring it there before someone dies. I love this kinda stuff, personally. One thing to note: I was able to complete the first CD taking only 2 health packs and only using my handgun. No monsters that require acid guns here. Whee!
Game Mechanics: The controller set-up was a bit unusual as I found myself occasionally shooting my gun when I intended to run and stuff like that, but overall, it was handled nicely. Weird camera angles sometimes made things frustrating and I found myself running into a room where I couldn't see what was ahead and just hoping I could shoot first. Usually, I could. Another interesting feature was the ever present 'storage box' that is found in these types of games. Well, Nuclear Dawn took a different approach here. The recycle bin in the bathrooms (about one every few cars or so) served as your inventory storage box. How PC. :) You could also save your game at this point, so you weren't required to complete a level before saving. Nice. Overall, Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn is a really well put together game. I highly recommend this game to you if you are a fan of Resident Evil and the like. Your collection won't be complete without it.
-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Perkins
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