Gamer Carljoe Javier
The first Full Spectrum Warrior was awesome. It's a war game of strategy, of smarts, of using intelligent movement, cover, and maneuvering to accomplish objectives. It gave you control over two fire teams, which you would command and employ squad tactics with, assigning one squad to provide cover fire while another would flank to another position and take out the target from there.
And the most shocking thing it did was that it never allowed you to aim a gun; all you could do was assign a fire sector, which the team would concentrate their fire on.
This is where the biggest, most noticeable change lies in the game's superb sequel, FSW: Ten Hammers. Now you can aim. Well, sort of. You can target opponents that are behind cover and use precision fire, but you still can't pull the trigger. Also, there's a window of opportunity for precision fire; take too long to aim and your guy will get hit since, as he's aiming, he's also exposed to enemy fire. Another new thing is that you can split your four-man team.
Now one would think that with these changes, things have gotten easier. Think again. If anything, one of the things gamers will notice immediately is how difficult FSW:TH is. Not to say that the first FSW was a walk in the park, but with FSW:TH, even its easiest setting (Sergeant) is already a challenge. One misstep, one wrong command, and your team is exposed and mowed down with a quick spray of fire. It doesn't help that the AI has gotten a heck of a lot smarter too: the enemies will use cover, flank, and maneuver against you just like you do to them.
FSW:TH also has better graphics than the first game, but it's still not eye-poppingly excellent. The sound is as pleasant as ever with a sweeping score that's good enough to be the music for an epic war film. The voice acting is likewise still entertaining.
Where FSW excels, and where it remains excellent, is in its gameplay. And unlike other games of great difficulty that make you want to throw your controller at the game, this one challenges you to keep trying. Another improvement that's likely to keep players going is the quick-save system, which saves the game after a few firefights.
FSW:TH is an excellent game that fans of the first will instantly enjoy. However, newbies to the series may find the gameplay very different from anything they've played before. It'll take them a while to get into the game, and its harsh difficulty level may discourage them from getting to that point.
GRINS
? great gameplay
? new features make the game more challenging
GRIMACES
? might be too hard for some gamers
? campaign is a bit short. There are only a few missions, but with the difficulty level, it'll still take a lot of hours to finish.
THE LOWDOWN
FSW: Ten Hammers is the game to play if you want military tactics action.
