Game of the Month:
June 2004: Full Spectrum Warrior
By John Benyamine, Editor-in-Chief
When I get home people'll ask me, "Hey Hoot, why do ya do it man? Why? Just some war junkie?" Ya know what I'll say? I won't say a g------ word. Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it. They won't understand that it's about the men next to you, and that's it. That's all it is.
- Hoot, Black Hawk Down
Oftentimes, war games are all about the action. With bullets flying and explosions peppering the skies, it's simple for developers to miss the camaraderie that takes place between soldiers of the same unit. It's a hard task to translate brotherhood into a game, but that's something Full Spectrum Warrior™ does extraordinarily well. And it does it without long, drawn-out cinemas and awkward dialogue. It does it in the midst of the action, with those bullets flying and explosions booming.
Full Spectrum Warrior puts you in charge of two teams of four soldiers each: team Alpha, and team Bravo. Both teams are placed in the middle of an urban area in a fictitious Middle Eastern country with specific objectives to accomplish. But instead of going in there Rambo style, it's up to you to coordinate both teams in such a way that they work like one unit. It's also up to you to remember the almost-universal war credo of "leave no man behind."
And that's where Full Spectrum Warrior really distinguishes itself from the rest of the pack. Each life in your squad is valuable. When a bullet rips through one of your people, the game shifts into a zoomed-in, slow-motion scene to show you who got hit and how they fall to the ground. It's now up to you to deal with the enemy while making sure you bring your fallen soldier to the medic for attention. The game will not let you continue your mission without them.
Nor would you want to. While there aren't lengthy examinations of each soldier's character, there are enough chances for you to get to know each member of your two teams. After several missions with the same eight soldiers, you’ll start to know their voices, faces, and attitudes, and that makes you want to work extra hard to keep your entire team safe.
As for gameplay, Full Spectrum Warrior does extremely well. The controls are intuitive, and after a short training course (that can't be skipped), everything should come naturally to you. Controlling two teams isn't as hard as it may sound, and switching between them is as easy as pressing a button. You control their movements and, to a large extent, how and who they attack.
Urban warfare at its best.
Let’s make our way through an example scenario. Suppose you have team Alpha positioned against a wall, peering out to spot a couple of enemies. Those enemies (known in the game as Zekes) start firing on you, but an icon above your team shows you have safe cover. Unfortunately, they're behind a concrete barrier and have the same luxury. So now it's up to you to take this enemy out some other way.
You pop open your GPS and examine the alleyways and streets of your area. You spot an alley where team Bravo could go around and hit the enemy, but they’ll have to cross the street through enemy fire. So you give the order to Alpha to use suppression fire, and bullets go flying at the enemy at such a fierce rate they can't even get up to fire back.
Keep your team together and, most importantly, alive.
Using the time Alpha has bought for them, Bravo runs into the alley and flanks the enemy, shooting them at your command and thus securing the area. Situations that employ this kind of teamwork are common throughout the game, and they make Full Spectrum Warrior very addictive, especially on XboxLive™.
The online, multiplayer version of Full Spectrum Warriorworks just like the single player game, and it's one of the best cooperative games out there. You and another player each take control of one team, and you work through each level of the game, coordinating your moves through the Xbox Communicator. If you like teaming up for urban warfare, this game is for you, even without a competitive aspect to the game … unless, of course, you start fragging each other, but why would you want to do that?
The realism in this game is amazing, whether online or playing by yourself. For example, this isn't a John Woo movie, so ammunition is limited and should be used wisely (though there are a few places where you can recharge your supply). Also, don't expect any futuristic guns; your arsenal is limited to your rifles and grenades (frag, propelled, and smoke). While some gamers may complain about the lack of variety, it really adds to the strategy and lifelike feel of the game.
You’ll be firing often, but do watch your ammo.
The graphics and sound don't disappoint, either. The game is presented in a very realistic way, with each soldier bearing minute details like sunglasses and animated in a way that puts you in the thick of things. The environments contain things like placards with the enemy dictator's face and Arabic writing, and just wait until sandstorms kick in. The visual engine is definitely one of the best on the Xbox®, and serves to bring you deep into the battles.
But nothing compares to how the sound grabs hold of you and never lets go. From the minimalist soundtrack complete with Persian strings to the individual voices of each soldier, the sound is the hidden star of the gaming experience. Hearing the enemies scream out to each other and listening to the crackle of your radio as the other team is taking hits adds layer upon layer of immersion, so much so that when you're deep into a mission, you’ll get spooked by the eerie silence that often signals an approaching round of gunfire.
And that's when you'll realize the true beauty of Full Spectrum Warrior. It’s a couple of dead enemies and the echo of the last minute's gunfire taken over by the deafening silence of the long street ahead of you. All you hear is the wind, and all you can think of is what your colonel told you early on in the game. Just keep moving. And so you do.
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