my own "Sniper: Ghost Warrior" Review

[GoldenRivet]

Ok, on Dowly's post...

Originally Posted by Dowly

- Cover system is total BS, enemies can see you prone THROUGH foliage.

Apparently, City interactive has released a patch. problem with the patch is that the game updates through steam, and based on my research many updated games will still show "version 1.0.0" even though it is updated to the latest version. I purchased the game on Sunday... it came "off the shelf" patched to the latest version, so many of Dowly's complaints, while probably legitimate, were very likely based on the initial release version.

Originally Posted by Dowly

- No speed control like in SE

Speed control is still an issue. You basically have three speeds... Crawl which is the slowest speed. Crouched which is slightly faster than crawling, and "walk" which is really more of a slow jog and Run which is a sprint. so when you are sneaking past someone you have to pick a stance carefully

Originally Posted by Dowly

- Spelling mistakes

I did not notice this... what spelling errors specifically?

Originally Posted by Dowly

- Enemy animations are bugged quite often (not unheard off to see someone shoot 90degrees to the wrong direction and you still get hit), cutscene animations are pretty stupid too

It would appear that all animations have been fixed. the only animations that were not "great" were the death animations... every kill just goes "rag doll" and it is very unrealistic.

though a few of the cutscenes do little to advance the story, most of them do... and i dont see any reason to say that they are bad - not the best cutscenes i have ever seen, but far from the worst.

Just take a look at the first 5 minutes of gameplay here

keep in mind, none of the cutscenes are forced... so you can skip any of them.

Originally Posted by Dowly

- No head-splits-open gore like in SE

I was disappointed in this myself. The most your going to get is a puff of red mist.

Originally Posted by Dowly

- Did I mention the enemy AI yet? Example: You and your spotter are in prone position, wearing ghillie suits and using silenced rifles yet every enemy in the whole complex knows where you are.

This has been addressed in the patch. In the original release, if someone got eyes on you it was very hard to "re-hide". In the patched release, it only takes 4 or 5 seconds to vanish.

keep in mind that there are one or two levels where your spotter will draw fire but you will not be noticed as you pick off muzzle flashes. It took me several times playing this mission before i realized though that NONE of those guys were shooting at me... my spotter had run off and engaged them and they were all shooting at HIM while i picked them off one by one while prone in the underbrush.

Originally Posted by Dowly

- Tunnel map(s)

Not sure what a tunnel map is... i can only assume that this is a map where the player's approach to target is tightly controlled by obstacles etc. its about 50/50 though i think... there are several maps where i didnt even follow the waypoints and "explored" a bit probing a camp for weakness etc... on one mission for example, i found at least 5 different approaches to the target. In other missions that are more heavily scripted like "link up with team bravo and give them support" the maps are very "tunnel" like. but this is not applied to ALL maps.

Originally Posted by Dowly

PS. Ow and this was all on 'easy' difficulty.

play it on hard

nothing like having to aim 3 feet over a guys head and about 1.5 feet to the right of his head to correct for windage and bullet drop.

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On McBee's Post

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

The real question is; can you chase each other around in circles while shooting like crazy and bunnyhop to avoid being hit?

That is how wars are actually fought.

No bunny hopping here.

bunny hopping would no doubt get you killed within 10 seconds. Think "If it moves in stalingrad, it dies" its the same concept here... if it moves in multiplayer, its dead. The big let down in multiplayer is that many of the things that make the game great in single player are GONE in MP.

no prone stance, no bullet cam etc. Everyone is sniping - there is no choice for anything else other than sniping. Its very annoying and difficult to play MP and take it seriously.

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@ Platapus

Originally Posted by Platapus

I don't mind this too much, although I prefer to play solo type games. I can enjoy playing as a member of a team with AI members, as long as I can set the pace of the game.

What I really hate are games where I either have to escort an AI or be a member of an AI team and I have to rush through areas of the game. I am a slow cautious FPS player. I like to conduct disciplined recon and take my time.

In Ghost Warrior, when you are teamed up with an AI, does the AI member react to you, or do you have to react to the AI member?

In Ghost warrior, there are a couple of action missions where you are teamed up with a fast moving squad to take over an oil rig etc. In those missions, you set the pace, they wait on you etc.

as a sniper, you rarely have a team mate - physically present anyhow - you will have a spotter on some missions, or a commander watching over you (though it is not made clear whether this is via satellite or UAV etc) if you do have a spotter, he will warn you of upcoming patrols etc but you only have a spotter on a couple of missions IIRC