Reviews / previews
It doesn't always pay to be first. Sometimes it just
sets the stage for a rival. For instance, while last
year's Spec Ops fired the opening shot in a new
generation of 3D squad games, it was Red Storm's
Rainbow Six that was feted with a ticker-tape parade.
That wasn't much of a surprise. Spec Ops was a
stylish, moody, if not quite electrifying, single-player
game, but it shipped without a multiplayer mode.
Rainbow Six had what Spec Ops didn't:
multiplayer--splendid multiplayer, in fact--multiple
teams and indoor/outdoor environments.
Spec Ops Pro Pack, which has been out a few
months, isn't going to turn up the heat on Rainbow,
but it should earn some respect for this
under-appreciated game. It collects under one cover
the original game (Rangers Lead the Way) and the
multiplayer add-on
(Ranger Team
Bravo) with
encouraging results.
Playing against or
alongside another
person over the
Internet (using the
game's multiplayer
lobby) is a distinctly
more fluid and varied
experience than the
single-player game's
relatively static challenges, and the extra multi-stage
scenarios from the Bravo give Spec Ops a sense of
girth.
Now, the "buddy"AI can be a little dippy. While it's still one of a scant handful
of games to offer Voodoo2 support, the graphics are no longer state of the art.
And the Zombie server isn't exactly swimming in games (though it didn't take
long to find one). But generally, this is the stylish, complete--if now slightly
dated--game that Spec Ops always promised to be.
Moreover, Ripcord has thrown in a gift without heralding it on the cover as a
selling point: a free, full copy of Armor Command--the first of the 3D real-time
strategy games and, despite some interface issues, one that stands up
surprisingly well.
Now, how about that: style and class.-- Peter Olafson / GamePro
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