Find them first – IG12, an interesting mix of stealth and action.

How to win

The Gamesmen has a copy of the PC release of IGI2: Covert Strike to give away. Entries should be e-mailed to ADFgamesmen@telstra.com with the name of the game you in the subject line. Please only one entry per person, subsequent entries will be discarded. Please include your full name and mailing address in the e-mail or your entry won’t be accepted. Congratulations to our recent winners J. Beesley, Sydney and H. Stuart, Brisbane Raven Shield; L. Cartwright, Townsville, CMBB; P. Hoffman, Freemantle, Mech Assault.

Their Army will hunt you down

I.G.I-2 Covert Strike
http://www.igi2-game.com/
http://www.codemasters.com

Military authors are rapidly finding themselves a new outlet for their creative talents. Tom Clancy may have started it with his techno-thriller gaming company Red Storm Entertainment but more recently, large and well-known developers are turning to high-profile military talent in order to enhance realism.

In much the same way the movie industry snapped up Andy McNab as a technical expert, Ravensoft created the Soldier of Fortune series around gun-for-hire John Mullins and Sci Games used Cameron Spence of Victor Two fame for Conflict: Desert Storm. Now added to the list of virtual characters is Chris Ryan, author of The One Who Got Away and several other SAS titles, who has become David Jones in IGI2: Covert Strike.

As the name suggests, this Codemasters’ title follows from a previous game, Project IGI: I’m Going In. For some reason the ‘I’m Going In’ moniker has now been replaced with the acronym for Institute for Geotactical Intelligence but most fans are still calling it by its old name.

Like its precursor, IGI2: Covert Strike is an interesting mix of stealth and action.

David Jones has all of the kit (although his lack of a night aiming device/NVG’s is very ‘90s – he has to use image intensifying binoculars or a thermal scope instead). For those keen on the destructive aspect of the game it is possible to complete missions with shoot-first rule but it does become difficult to survive as a whole army hunts you down. In many games that’s not a real problem as corridors only lend themselves to certain amount of people shooting at you … In IGI2: Covert Strike there are enough open areas that you can quite unwillingly start a full-scale war.

The single-player storyline is well-structured and enough to keep a gamer fighting through the 19-mission campaign. Unfortunately, the game has pretty steep learning curve and the first mission is in the dark (which does nothing to show the game’s graphical beauty) making it quite a frustrating experience for those new to the series.

The AI seems reasonably competent but I still gag at enemy guards who decide there is nothing wrong and return to their barracks a couple of minutes after finding the results of some well-placed silenced pistol shots. They will work together however, and this becomes apparent on the open maps as you watch patrol patterns and the way the split and hunt for your virtual gunman.

My only other real complaint is the lack of a useable lean command to help you observe and fire from behind cover.
All up another shooter with highs and lows – it will appeal to the more cerebral first-person fans but Counter Strikers may find it a bit demanding on their run, jump, gun playing styles.

Codemasters recommend a system with a 1.2Ghz processor, 512MB RAM, and a 64MB 3D graphics card, with 1.9 MB of free hard-drive space running Windows 98 or higher to fully enjoy IGI2: Covert Strike.

All-round badarse, BJ Blazkowicz goes blasting.

Beautiful but deadly, Helga, the elite guard every man wants.

Wolfenstein’s back

Console Corner: PS2 & XBox

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

This month Activision are releasing one of their highest selling PC games onto the console format – no make that two console formats.

Revamped for the specialised features of each machine, Return To Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War for XBox and Return To Castle Wolfenstein: Operation Resurrection for PS2 will have gamers taking over the role of US Army Ranger and all-round bad-arse BJ Blazkowicz in the fight against Himmler’s henchmen.

It isn’t just a straight port to the consoles either. Id Software has created an expanded storyline that puts a player in BJ’s shoes hunting Nazi scientists in Egypt with a new partner.

This new scenario results in BJ running from a downed aircraft to be eventually incarcerated (the starting point of the PC game).

The XBox version also offers expanded multi-play options with system link and XBox Live options.

From what we’ve seen the game looks great in console guise but you’ll have to wait until the next couple of columns to see how it plays.

It should be interesting because although the PC version was a great run-and-gun shooter in multi-play, the single-player game required a bit of stealth and precise control to make it through relatively unscathed – something I find a lot easier with the standard mouse/keyboard control of a PC game.

Both versions are due for release this month.

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