Korea: Forgotten Conflict
- January 06, 2004 17:35 PM PST
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Clunky gameplay prevents Forgotten Conflict from becoming a memorable experience.
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As in Commandos, you take control of a five elite soldiers, each with their own specialty - a Korean linguist, a sniper, a demolitions expert, a fighting grunt and a medic. The game assigns characters for each level, and follows a linear path of clearing stages to unlock others. As a small, clandestine group, stealth is emphasized, rewarding the player for keeping the killing to a minimum.
Good gameplay mechanics make or break stealth games, as a wrong move can screw up your whole plan. Korea: Forgotten Conflict has a critical shortcoming in this area, with clunky and buggy controls that bog gameplay down.
First off, the AI is so flawed that going the stealthy route becomes more risky than simply using brute force. One of the features allows the player to view the selected enemies' line of sight. Logically, an enemy?fs line of sight should only extend until a wall or object blocks his view. However, sometimes an enemy will spot you behind a wall, with the line of sight suddenly extending just as you walk past. Strangely, being spotted by guards or guards finding a dead body is no big deal, as they seem to ignore it after a minute or so. If detected, you can just hide, and pick off soldiers as they naively return to their posts.
The controls also leave a lot to be desired, as they sometimes either are slow to react or don't react at all - troublesome when a soldier is firing at you at point blank range. Shooting targets presents many complications, as the game will occasionally insist your aim is blocked when there's nothing in the way but a low bridge rail. Other times you can pick off enemies high and far with remarkable accuracy. You can never really tell when you have a clear shot.
The high point of the game is the visual design, which is packed with a lot of little details that set the atmosphere. Voice acting is either intentionally campy or just bad, with your Native American commando recalling experiences with his friends like "Big Bear," and talks of spirits and nature in a way so stereotypical that it is difficult to tell whether or not the game is meant to be serious.
Korea: Hidden Conflict runs pretty decent on a mid-range machine, but expect to encounter very occasional crashes and bouts of your commandos seizing up. Although gameplay quirks never severely annoy or frustrate, they provide mediocre gameplay that leaves you bored after a couple of levels.
There are flashes of genius to be found in Korea: Hidden Conflict, but a lack of polish results in a strategy game that leaves much to be desired.
