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Graphics:
Beautiful. This is easily the nicest looking R6 game yet. While
it isn't quite as lovely as UT 2003 that is perfectly fine since the
pretty colors have been replaced by the gritty, realistic feel we've
come to expect from Tom Clancy games. Character models are fully formed
and detailed with their equipment, and the environments are rich and
decked out with sharp textures. Of course, pushing all those extra
polygons and high-quality textures will require a lot of work from
your system.
There are some flaws, of course. Some weapon models look warped
(and notably, the P90 textures are modeled after the Airsoft replica,
not the real steel), the arm patch is a touch too large and too
low on the arm, and noticeably lacking are fog/lighting/gamma controls.
It's only a demo, but those of us with poor monitors still need
to be able to do some fine-tuning. Regardless, the graphics are
easily the strongest suit for demo release, there's very little
wrong and whole lot of loving to see. If you can, max out the settings,
you're in for a real treat.
Sound:
The sound is probably the hardest thing to judge here-it's just
so, bland. On the good side of things, there is enough directionality
to tell where the firefight is coming from, and weapons are faded
and muffled by distance rather well. Unfortunately, while clear
sounding, the weapons lack real appreciable distinction. The music
is likewise disappointing; a sort of a three-beat drum loop prevails
in all the menus and there is absolutely no fanfare for the map
loading. Given the rather impressive soundtrack turned out by R6
and RS, I was hoping for a little taste here. As for the environmentals,
background noise seems to be some generic effects loop, nothing
so special as the high winds and rain in Island Thunder. We will
probably have to wait for an SP demo or retail release to see this
in more detail, and to see if EAX effects such as tango voice positioning
and dialogue are as cool as they were in Rogue Spear.
The Multiplayer experience:
This is where all the lost hours come from. Multiplayer is incredibly
fun on a full server, though with the large maps and the slow move
speeds, anything less than 4 on 4 may feel tedious. The two maps
included are a revised City Street Large and a French Prison. Kudos
to the new changes such as how the side buildings in CSL are interconnected
with stairs and crawlspaces, but I have a bone to pick here too.
Boxes to break your fall and sandbags in the middle of City Street,
a prison with two small rooms of cells and miles of passageways
and ambush locations? It's supposed to be a simulated, normal city
street and a real prison, not multiplayer arenas dressed up like
real locations.
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