Whenever people talk about military-based video games, the usual titles that come to mind are Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Ghost Recon, Battlefield, Splinter Cell, SOCOM, Spec-Ops, and Metal Gear Solid. Some would even consider Counerstrike as a military game. Some hardcore PC gamers will offer the name ARMA (which, in my opinion, is one of the most realistic military games available), and arm-chair generals will swear by Command and Conquer, Real War, and Hearts of Iron.
But if we are to narrow the experience to first and third person shooters, there is one title that in my opinion, deserves some serious consideration as well as an obvious candidate for a come-back. That game is Full Spectrum Warrior.
Full Spectrum Warrior was released in 2004 for the PS2 and the Xbox. It was developed by the Intitute for Creatve Technologies in association with Pandemic Studios and published by THQ. It is a squad-based real time tactics video game that gives you command of two fire-teams – Alpha and Bravo – through the streets of the fictional middle-eastern country of Zekistan. The gameplay revolved around the concept of fire-and-movement where one team lays suppressing fire while the other moves.
Most games of this nature would have you control a single soldier, shooting everything that moves. Some games, like Metal Gear Solid V and Splinter Cell Blacklist, force you to be more creative, but that’s because they’re supposed to be sneaking games. Phantom Pain’s gun-battles are a bit better, but then, Snake is a lone operative, and unless you bring back Quiet, there’s not much by way of covering fire. But soldiers on deployment do not patrol alone, and they’re not really super-soldiers or plot-armored. Full Spectrum Warrior’s game-play forces the player to think tactically, and because your men do die from well-placed shots, prevent you from rushing head on and let fire-superiority win the day.
Why is that relevant now, more than ten years after its release? Well, if you look at the games coming out now, you’ll see the cinematic advancements, the innovation, the ability of the AI to do more because of the sheer power of the consoles and PC (most especially the PC). But the games have also become “dumber” (like some Call of Duty entries) or encumbered by unnecessary gameplay quirks and plot twists (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain). Full Spectrum Warrior ran on PS2 and Xbox – consoles deemed ancient by today’s standards, but for some reason, has superior gameplay mechanics.
With “superior”, I don’t mean like the complex programming that is almost expected in today’s games but in the ways that it challenges gamers within the limitations of the technology it was made with.
Tactical depth is rarely an issue for modern military video games because they are mostly story-driven. Full Spectrum Warrior’s plot is what you might expect from a B-movie trying to cash in on the War on Terror and in some cases, it’s even a lot worse. But none of that mattered when you’re on the ground, trying to keep your men alive as that tank comes lumbering after you. Full Spectrum Warrior’ gameplay is its best asset. Call of Duty may have the best graphics as well as fist-pumping moments, but what are you doing besides shooting everything that moves? Nothing. No flanking, and your NPC team-mates can’t seem to hit anything.
But for every cinematic Call of Duty game, you have a more tactical approach in SOCOM (or at least, the first two games of SOCOM). The first two games were also released on the PS2, and although you don’t control the fire-team as a unit, but you do take control of he commander and are able to give orders to your team. Given the technology at that time, the AI was already considered cutting-edge. Still shit compared by today’s standards but at least their bullets are hitting the enemy, your team-mates more or less follow your commands, and the AI do respond properly most of the time.
But you know what? The flash and the bangs are what sells in these types of games. No one but the hardcore will really point these deficiencies out. I doubt that many people remember Full Spectrum Warrior at all. But the game has a lot of lessons to teach modern military games and in this age of flash over substance, developer would be well served to learn them.
5 Comments
I love that game, I have one on ps2, its quite remarkable game because as you play as team leader and its up to you to use your tactical strategy, I thumbs up for that game (y).
It also forces you to think in terms of “team” instead of “blast through in the most cinematic way possible”. Its lack of mainstream success is due to the fact that it forces you to think.
Hehe, I missed those days, played it on PC. Yung GeForce 6600 GT pa yung GPU ko lol.
I played on the PS2, but the game isn’t as demanding to PCs even during its time. Mas demanding pa ata yung Jedi Academy.
I envy people that had those 6600GT cards, those were the start of the really GPU wars