ten hammers

Pandemic returns to the fictional country of Zekistan with Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers. Sequel to last year's Full Spectrum Warrior, the game visits the region of Tien Hamir, where rebel soldiers have taken up position around a bridge, a key strategic point for the surrounding city. While I have subjected myself to some poorly written previews, the consensus appears to be that Ten Hammers is shaping up to be an excellent sequel, with every shortcoming of its predecessor ostensibly addressed.

I considered Full Spectrum Warrior an experiment to see how gamers would adjust to a new playing style that implemented real combat tactics in an unconventional format. Though there was something almost clinical about the gameplay that may have been too hands-off for those typically interested in the war-themed shooter that puts the player in the boots of the lone gun-toting hero. Furthermore, the formulaic approach to every encounter - move Alpha team, provide covering fire, move Bravo team, provide covering fire - also contributed to the game's lukewarm reception. I enjoyed my time with the game, but there were too many gaps in the experience that made me reluctant to pay it full tribute. However I think the wargame genre is fortunate that Full Spectrum Warrior was made available at all. Once separated from the inadequate story, it successfully adapted real-world tactics that may not be exciting, but are essential for survival in modern urban warfare. I'd also like to think it established an audience for more games of its type.

In Ten Hammers, you are now able to control up to four squads made up of U.S. and "coalition" forces, including a team of snipers. Similar to Brothers in Arms, a tank will also be at your disposal, providing moving cover where necessary. A two-man sniper team was only made available at the end of Full Spectrum Warrior, but they could have easily been used for the entire game. Complementing this addition, Ten Hammers will allow you to control a single squad member - a feature that was sorely lacking in the original - to take out a particular target. The trade-off will be a momentary complete loss of cover, putting the soldier at risk. This would be indispensable in situations where an enemy has taken root behind some cover that is not easily flankable, and in Full Spectrum Warrior required a massive expenditure of bullets before launching an M203 grenade into the general area.

Once two squad members were killed in Full Spectrum Warrior, the mission ended in failure. A roster of 50 soldiers is available in Ten Hammers, insinuating that most of your squads can be killed in a mission and still be able to continue. I'd like to see the game follow the same formula as Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon, though, by providing several specialized soldiers that are worth keeping alive.

Full Spectrum Warrior's multiplayer component consisted of a co-operative replay of the game's levels. The difficulty was the same, and if you've already played the game provides little in the way of a challenge. Ten Hammers now offers adversarial multiplayer combat, with some interesting balances put into place. For example, the U.S. and coalition team will possess greater firepower, but only the insurgent forces will be allowed to respawn. Though I'm not sure if this is an attempt at "added realism", or a commentary on the nature of the adversaries faced by troops in the Middle East.

The battlefield itself has also been vastly improved. Adding some stairs or the ability to scale a roof seemed like such a simple request for the original game; now you will be tasked with securing multi-level buildings. The tactical advantage is clear, but I am anxious to see this new implementation of urban combat. The enemy AI has also been improved, including random spawn points for each map. Like SWAT 4, easily one of my selections for Game of the Year, this makes each attempt of a mission challenging instead of an exercise in memorizing enemy positions.

Of note is the sequel's official trailer, which oddly uses live action recreation of a patrol in a generic looking middle-eastern town for the first two minutes, only to drift into actual game content for the last 30 seconds. It could have easily passed as a commercial for Over There, and I am once again drawn to the comparison with ongoing events in the Middle East. As someone who actively pursues the genre, I often find myself detaching the underlying commentary or weight of historical events from what is actually being offered by the game. It may sound like desensitization, but the truth of the matter is I believe the act of war is indefensible. That these games are still being made is a reflection of what our society deems as entertainment, and for now I am content to observe the evolution of the genre as it embeds itself in the gaming oeuvre.