Sniper: Ghost Warrior

[JRD]

You see... that "W" word is always a bearer of trouble... the world would be better off without any of it.  >:(

I'm sorry for you PZ... I know how it feels to be away from OWG and some gaming time!  :-(

[Art Blade]

Unfortunately not - critical issues at w@&k has even prevented me from fully enjoying OWG  :'(

now that's critical.

[PZ]

Truly - it's funny though - these days with a limited amount of time, I'd rather be visiting OWG than gaming  ;)

[Art Blade]

I know that.. sometimes OWG keeps me from gaming, but it's ok in a nice way :)

[eor123]

I just picked up a used copy and went through the tutorial. Granted, it is awfully early to be making a judgement but from what I have seen so far, it looks like one I am going to enjoy. 

The weapons are realistic and the graphics are good.

[Art Blade]

 :) Enjoy  :-X

[mmosu]

Missed this one the first time through . . .
Too bad, looks like no PS3 version  :'(

[eor123]

I just completed it on Normal Difficulty on the Xbox360. The game clock says 12 hours plus but I know I had several more hours than that invested...there were a couple of spots in the game where I kept dying and it took several tries to make it to the next checkpoint.

I'll be brief. I liked it. Thought it was a good game...not a great game. The jungle graphics remind me of Just Cause 2 and Far Cry 2. Very nice looking game. Weapons are good in it -- very realistic.

It is a classic corridor shooter with clearly defined missions [ ie. Chapters ] and that is its greatest weakness, IMO.

Seems a waste of such a beautiful map and this game is without a doubt the most "heavy-handed" I've ever played with respect to keeping you in the corridor and on mission.  Heavy reliance on annoying invisible barriers in many spots. Obstacles that should be easily crossed are impassible and you have no idea until you get there. Flanking enemies is virtually impossible -- somewhat ironic given that it is a sniper game. In one segment, if you get too far off the designated path, you start taking silent sniper hits from an invisible shooter -- no sound and no cover possible. I was crouched in a deep ditch with rock walls watching my health decline. There is no way I could be receiving hits from the direction my  HUD said they were coming from. The next time I ran to where the game wanted me to go ASAP and only took a couple of hits -- across an open field.

At times in mid mission, the game will deposit you in a different location and with a completely different weapon set...whether you wanted it or not. Some times you get the suppressed M 16. At times you get what I assume is the model 700 sniper rifle  or the Barret .50 cal. And sometimes you can grab a Dragunov. Some missions you get grenades...others you don't. There really aren't alot of opportunities to get different weapons in the game. You can swap your sniper rifle for a fallen enemy's assault rifle but since it is a sniper game, you are reluctant to pick one up, concerned that long range shots are required in the near future. You only get the weapons the game thinks you need for a particular mission.

There is a surprising [ to me at least] amount of close quarters battle in the game. Your options are a long gun or a silenced pistol. The typical ranges are a little far for the pistol and the quick aiming of the long guns is a bit wonky. No aim-assisted snap aiming is available and 70% of the time or more, the rifle scope doesn't go where you think it should when you snap aim.  Not good in a intermediate range firefight.

The bullet cam that shows a slow motion headshot and splatter is cool but gets old pretty quickly and you will probably turn it off.

At times you have to be stealthy and avoid engaging the enemy. You are warned in advance at times. Other times after dying half a dozen times when being spotted by the usually blind and distracted enemy -- and killed with only a short burst of rifle fire, you figure out that the game demands a stealthy approach. If you don't you die, regardless of what you do. And the enemy goes into a hyper vigilant, almost ESP mode, become crack shots, and will flank you in force.

The AI is pretty predictable. They do the same things from the same locations each time. If you are having trouble with a particular area and die a few times, you'll have the AI's locations committed to memory. However, when they get a bead on you they are surprisingly good shots ...and from a distance.

In a few missions you are accompanied by a couple of of guys who seem determined to pressure you into charging headlong into a meat grinder or are whining about needing support and taking heavy fire when they charge in. I got to where I pretty much ignored them and continued at my pace. You can get away with that on Normal Difficulty as they seem immune to gunfire. Not sure about the Hard Level. I don't think I'll try it. Frankly, I thought it was plenty difficult on Normal and often wished I had started on Easy.

Not a lot of humor in the game...some of the Spanish conversations between enemy soldiers  or on cell phones is a little funny -- references to women they've slept with, dumb Yankees, etc. I did hear one break into laughter after his buddy farted.

I didn't figure out until 2/3 of the way through that the laptops scattered throughout contain "secrets" that you can collect. I think I ended up with 6 of 30. I just didn't care that much about collecting them.

Voice acting is okay. Didn't recognize any familiar ones. Can't say about the music, I turned it off...kind of like to hear the enemy's footsteps when I'm sneaking around. Story line a bit cliche'--evil military ruler running a brutal regime and tying to acquire WMD's, etc, etc.

The game was bug free...no crashes nor freezes. Th frame rate dropped a couple of times when there was a huge
firefight involving many enemies.

In spite of the criticisms, this is a good game and well worth the used price I paid for it. If it had been more of an open world type game, it would have been awesome but as you might have picked up, I think it is a poster child for anti-open world gaming.

[PZ]

Excellent review, eor123 - I'd agree with everything you said.  A good game, but not great, and I've not yet completed the game because I can't get into the corridor nature of the title.  I'm finding that I'd rather play through AC2 or JC2 yet another time because of the open nature of those titles, among other factors. 

I guess that for me, the open nature of a game is most important, followed closely by the graphics, and then the music.  I can handle a weak story as long as the other elements are satisfactory.  :-()

[JRD]

Yes, nice review eor123... now I know for sure I don`t want to play this game!  ;)

[Art Blade]

Thanks for the nice review, Eeyore  :-X

Your descriptions made me remember this and that moment when I played it and I agree. You mentioned close quarter combat (I know that's called CQC) but used abbreviations I'm not familiar with, "ESP mode" and "WMDs," please let me know what those are :)

Regarding cqc, did you try those knives? You can stab enemies with them or throw them at someone. I liked to do that occasionally.

Those "secrets," although I collected quite a few of them from start I stopped collecting them because they didn't seem to make any sense nor did they seem to be of any use.

For a sniper game I think it's strange that you have to play different roles, never mind being a spotter, but why the hell do we have to be on an assault team or fire mounted MGs from a moving vehicle.. that didn't quite add up for me.

However, like you I think it was a good game (at least on Easy) but not great. And like you and PZ I would have loved the game had it been open world (and given you free choice of weapons like in FC2).

[eor123]

ESP [extra sensory perception]  mode...that's a phrase I invented, meaning that the AI seems almost psychic in their ability to spot and target you -- like on Infamous in Far Cry 2.  ???

WMD = weapons of mass destruction, ie the real big bang stuff, ie nukes, dirty bombs, chem or biological weapons. 

Those assault team missions were strange... those guys really were trying to get me killed. "Push forward!" "Move up!" Just a personal quirk, but I like to note where the fire is coming from and take cover while advancing whenever possible. I've noted you tend to live longer that way, both in gaming and real life.  ;)

Can you imagine what an awesome game it would be if set in an open world venue where you could chose your missions or whether to be the spotter or the sniper and have more control over your weapons load out? Gee that sounds strangely like another game we all enjoy.  ;D

[Art Blade]

yeah, I'd be on it the moment it's on sale  :)

WMD oh dear, clear!  :D Didn't expect that, then.

Hehe, ESP! Yeah, I noticed that, too. Even on easy. It was particularly nasty when getting close to the end, having to enter a maze of tunnels in a rocky formation, you needed to sneak past a guard post. They massacred me, a couple of times, even almost out of visual range, raining, and crouched: They still spotted and hit (killed) me. Crazy. :)

[PZ]

ESP [extra sensory perception]  mode...that's a phrase I invented, meaning that the AI seems almost psychic in their ability to spot and target you -- like on Infamous in Far Cry 2.  ???

lol, even on casual, the mercs in FC2 have ESP  :-()

[mmosu]

Especially those RPG guys . . . I hate those RPG guys  :-[

[eor123]

I have played through this a few times and completed it on Hard Difficulty. It was a quite a challenge. I've been collecting achievements and am trying to locate the last one of 30 secrets before putting it away for a while.

I read an IGN review that  pretty hard on the game. Their criticisms were valid but I think their overall rating of 5.0 was unreasonable. I think this game rates a 6.5 or so, but I have enjoyed it. It is a shame...the potential was there for this to be a great game.

Their review also mentioned the multitude of  invisible walls that force you to stay on the scripted path and how the AI was either ridiculously inept or easily able to spot you through foliage and hit you at 200-300 yards using iron- sighted assault rifles. Parts of the game are incredibly easy and parts are insanely difficult.

The missions in which you accompany members of a squad and are armed with an assault rifle are both amusing and annoying. The two squad members do nothing but make noise with their rifles and scream at you. One allowed an enemy to flank and kill me while in cover...walking just feet in front of the squad member as he was firing away. ;D

While tracking down a secret, I ran into a funny situation in which I was able to "see" myself through the window of a building I was supposed to enter to complete an objective.  ???   

[PZ]

... the AI was either ridiculously inept or easily able to spot you through foliage and hit you at 200-300 yards using iron- sighted assault rifles. Parts of the game are incredibly easy and parts are insanely difficult.

I fired the game up last night (still working through on my first play through) and found it to be fun, but what you mentioned is exactly correct.  I recall walking up on a couple of guards that must have been smoking something they were so out of it.  On the other hand in a different location, there were guys with assault rifles shooting at me and I hadn't a clue where they were until after I'd died a couple of times and finally managed to ferret them out.

[Art Blade]

There's one word for all that. "Imbalanced"  ;D

[PZ]

Truly - I really like the sniper action though.  Loads of fun getting to a good position and then completing the slow motion head shots  >:D

[Art Blade]

After all, I liked the game :)

[PZ]

Indeed - that's why I made the purchase - I hadn't heard of it before you started posting about it.  :-X

[Art Blade]

 :)

[ninzza]

This game just got my attention because I love sniping and the lush jungle. The Chrome engine (which is also powered Call of Juarez series) is great. But I can't play this game since it's not released for PS3, my only game system, so I have to wait until March 22 when the  PS3 version comes out.  I think the sequel's graphics will look even more impressive as it's powered by CryEngine 3. 

Here are some improvements of the PS3 version:

* Fully upgraded game play and graphics;
* Exclusive single player missions for PS3™ owners;
* Bonus multiplayer maps;
* Exclusive new multiplayer modes including Capture the Flag and Hard Core difficulty mode;
* Exclusive new sniper rifles including the L96 and the M200 Intervention;
* Bonus single-player challenge: Additional mission with Hard Core mode to challenge the very best players.

If the sequel has open world like FC2, that would be perfect.  :-X

[PZ]

...If the sequel has open world like FC2, that would be perfect.  :-X

My goodness, that would be outstanding - I finished the game over Christmas, and found it to be great fun for sniper aficionados, but it's linear play has not encouraged me to return.

[ninzza]

Excerpts from an article on Internet:

The developer has incorporated feedback from the community by tweaking AI, taking out some assault missions, and adding bolt-action rifles to let you seek out the perfect headshot.

Nice  :-X