UberSoldier Preview
| Written by: Etali |
| Date: 2006-02-14 |
It seems that every FPS out these days is based around World War II, and while it is an admirable setting, and one that deserves a lot of games based around it, you could be forgiven for thinking that it would be nice if someone would try a different take on things. That is exactly what UberSoldier attempts. Brought to us by CDV, Uber Soldier places you in the shoes of a solder that has just died, and been brought back to life by a Nazi scientist. Youre slightly annoyed at finding yourself re-animated, so go on the rampage with the intention of bringing an end to the experiments. Its hardly the most inventive of plots, but it doesnt need to be, as UberSoldier has managed to take a little game most people play in any first person shooter, and turn it into a focus of the game - aiming for headshots. In Ubersoldier, you want to be aiming for headshots as much as possible, because they charge up a special temporal shield that will catch enemy bullets before they reach you. You are also rewarded for melee kills. The shield drains over time, so you feel an urge to keep moving and killing as much as possible, giving the game a very tense, exciting feel.  The attention to detail, and flexibility of the game is impressive. In a melee fight I slashed at a character, and knocked his cap off his head. After eventually defeating that bad guy, I entered a room and jumped over some crates and boxes scattered in one of the corners. My feet caught one of the boxes, and the entire pile fell over. Opening a door, I saw an enemy rolling barrels down the stairs - he shot at one of them, and the entire corridoor was filled with flames. There are lots of small features like this that make the world more realistic - be careful what you shoot at, it could leak, explode or catch fire.  Your temporal shield allows you to catch bullets and shoot them back at the enemy. I never really mastered that - I found that the AI were often intelligent and would run forward when they saw you using the shield - if they get inside it, their attacks can hit you as normal. The preview was rather short, and ended just when I was getting into the game, but it did leave me wanting more. The game play is certainly twitchy and exciting, and the graphics and sound are also solid enough. There is no multi-player mode which is a shame, but the single player feels challenging compared to most of the recent releases. UberSoldier's release is still a while away, but it is most certainly one to watch out for. |
