Whatever you might think about 10 dollar games from Take 2 Interactive, it's hard not to like Spec Ops Ranger Elite for trying. Sure, it's no Syphon Filter or Metal Gear, but it really, really wants to be. What's more, it doesn't try to be just another lone-gunman or secret agent game, but works along lines more akin to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six and other tactical assault games. The result is unquestionably flawed in places, but more than satisfying enough for my 10 dollar investment. Doubters, read on...

Ranger Elite moves from the more pure stealth focus of the first game to a mix of stealth, run-&-gun and combined tactics. With more variety in gameplay, we see a better mix of characters and weapons, but environments are about the same. Graphical glitches make for some frustrating moments where you run up to a tree, can't see through it, but are apparently exposed to the enemy. Getting shot down this way really sucks, and is just a glitch in the engine. Sniping is always satisfying, and almost too easy, since you seem to be able to snipe from ridiculous distances. The fun part comes with more raw weapons like machine guns, shotguns and grenades. These really spice up the missions, and if you're into experimentation, Ranger Elite offers more ways to take out the enemy than before.

Along with glitchy graphics, the other cue that you're playing a 10 dollar game is the weak sound and music. Music is okay, and if it comes up short on variety, it still manages to be appropriate. In fact, Ranger Elite gets as far as the contextual music settings we're all used to from these type of games. When the enemy starts shooting, the music gears up, and if you duck for cover and lose pursuers, the music quiets down again. This is cool, but what's really lacking are the sounds that help identify enemy threats on the battlefield. Until you start taking enemy fire, it's almost impossible to catch wind of soldiers by sounds. Things like conversation, footsteps or anything would have been nice, but luckily you get binoculars to scout areas beforehand. In close quarters, though, not being able to hear enemies, even when they're alerted to your presence, is a bad thing.

Ranger Elite taps into the terrorist or soldier in all of us, feeding the kind of romantic notions we probably picked up from watching one too many WWII movies. Unlike the one-man-army feeling you got playing Syphon Filter or MGS, Ranger Elite is a teamwork game. Even with one person playing, you're required to use at least 2 Rangers, and may have NPCs tagging along in some missions. This is a little strange to adjust to, but ultimately works well. Unlike the simple gameplay of something like PS2's X-Squad, where you control one character and give directions, Ranger Elite lets you toggle between the two Rangers quickly. One place this really rocks is if you choose a Ranger with strong close-combat skills and another with sniping or rifle skills. The close-combat guy can run point, and when he sights a soldier, the sniper picks the enemy off from afar. And, if the point man runs into trouble, he's got the right stuff to meet the challenge. Other times, you may choose to circle the enemy with 2 snipers and pick them off slowly, or run right down the middle throwing grenades and mowing bogies down with machine gun fire.

Since Ranger Elite is a mission-based game, the requirements of a mission may dictate that you choose one ranger over another, and because Rangers get fatigued after missions and need time to recover, you can't just pick favorites and play the same 2 guys all the way through. I definitely found my favorite pair early on, and used them as much as possible, but tactics decree that you'll need to mix and match for special objectives or environments. The arsenal these guys have is awesome, running from light artillery to heavy mortars, satchel charges and hand grenades. Some weapons can be picked up from enemies, and taking soldiers out in creative ways seems to increase the chance they'll drop something. Before the start of a mission, you get the chance to choose your men, and also to pick what they're packing. Each Ranger has a weight limit, and can only carry a certain amount of stuff, limited further by the type of stuff he's packing. The presets are almost always fine, but you can outfit the rifleman with nothing but grenades or give the Grenadier a sniper-scope, if you wish. Each man has his speciality, so it's probably a bad idea to work against the game too much.

After an in-depth (complete with maps and diagrams) briefing on the transport, you pick Rangers and head for your objective. Missions are broken up into several stages, with checkpoints that tell you when a part of the mission is complete and instruct you on where to go next. Multiple missions are set in a consistent location, which is a nice design touch. You don't just hop from locale to locale, but go in and complete several multi-stage missions before airlifting to the next spot. If you fail the mission by running out of time, blowing an objective or killing both your Rangers, you have to start over or abort. The game doesn't do a good job of structuring this, so instead of being able to simply start the mission over, you either have to try again with 2 less men (!), or go back to the title screen and reload from your memory card. Why Take 2 didn't make room for a Restart Mission option I'll never know, but it makes failure all the less appealing. Along with the standard game mode, you can also try 2-Player split-screen action, which makes perfect sense in the 'buddy' spirit of Ranger Elite. As much fun as you could have with 2 players, using both Rangers in the 1-Player mode is a nice challenge, and makes for good replay value.

Quite a few funky things in Ranger Elite make it tough to stick with, even if you love it on first sight. I mentioned the graphical glitches, but you'll find plenty of other strange things. Enemies far away will be alerted to you, but will just stand still and let you snipe them or even stand there in a blaze of machine gun fire. Or, the best is when they do a token roll and then just sit there like a deer in headlights. Other times, enemy soldiers seem super aware, and will be waiting for you patiently behind a wall or around a corner. So, the AI is all wrong, but that shouldn't be a huge deterrent to fun if you approach Ranger Elite as a campy cousin to games like Rainbow Six or Syphon Filter. The 'big picture' is well fleshed out and true to form, so it's hard to be too critical for 10 bucks.

Learning the controls of Ranger Elite is an essential part of getting the most out of the game, and I spent a few minutes puzzling over the controller before giving up and hitting the books. Since there actually was a military consultant working with the game developers, many real-life Habits of Highly Effective Killers are included in the game, realized in quite some detail. And, with detail comes complexity, usually for the gamer. Ranger Elite toggles Rangers easily enough, but also lets you give directions to your other Ranger. These can range from 'Follow Me' to 'Hold Up,' and you can order your buddy to fire on the enemy, if appropriate. The real problem with giving commands is that when you end up in a minefield full of booby traps and have to tread carefully, letting the CPU control your trailing Ranger is sure disaster! I lost a few men this way before taking the tactic of forcing the second Ranger to 'Hold Up,' and then taking over control of him to catch up. Once commands are given, it seems like the Rangers will perform that duty until told otherwise. So, just because you switch men doesn't mean you have to reissue orders unless something really has changed. Using weapons and items can be equally complex. Mines, satchel charges and grenades are all handled differently, and there are many type of grenades. When you launch a grenade, a small meter pops up for how hard you'll throw. Depending on the Ranger's skill with grenades, you're more or less likely to strike your target. Rifles, shotguns and other weapons are easy to control, and get reloaded automatically. For a little extra, you can add a scope to rifles, and if your Ranger has some skill, pressing a button brings up the sniper view. Analog controls make all the weapon and item management easy. Beyond weapons, your Ranger can assume 3 different positions. Standing you make a better target, but can move quickly. Crouching helps hide you, and sacrifices some speed in exchange for stealth. The final position is flat on the ground, crawling along. This makes you almost completely invisible, but doesn't do much for speed. So, you adjust as needed, and find something that works for you. Much of the in-game action lets you do things as you see fit, and if you get plastered, there's always the second time.

My idea of the perfect 10 dollar game is one that has all the main features of big, expensive games, but comes as more of a 'use your imagination' package, rather than being incredibly slick or polished. Ranger Elite comes close, in that it does a great job being a solid military tactics game, doesn't turn on too much of the frills, and makes for a good, fun time. If you're not into this kind of game, so be it, but fans of action, stealth or strategic games will enjoy the amount of work that went into making Ranger Elite a realistic take on real-life combat. Little touches in the interface like mission briefings, in-game maps and cool items like binoculars or sniper rifles show that Take 2 wasn't thinking of a generic follow-up to the first Spec Ops game. They were going for a solid alternative to the big, expensive blockbusters and I think they made it work. Sure, this isn't the kind of game you'll 'ooh' and 'ah' over, but it still pulls you in, and makes you want to complete that one last objective before bed... C'mon, we're Rangers, and we've got a job to do!!