WinBack: Covert Operations reviews

When I had first heard about Winback arriving on the Playstation 2, I was a bit excited in part because the N64 version was extremely exciting, as well as I had grown in love with the Third Person shooters out there... i.e. Syphon Filter series. Upon loading up Winback, I was greeted with an exciting intro of the weapons satellite being hi-jacked by terrorists, showing off the impressive visuals in an real-time cinema, courtesty of the folks whom brought us faithful PS2 owners the beat 'em up fragfest that is Dynasty Warriors 2. The presentation of the game really had me pumped and ready to get into the action. I highly suggest to run through the tutorial mode before beginning in order to get a grip of the control scheme as well as all of the different moves Jean Luc can perform. My first impression of the gameplay as I began was a feeling of intensity, as you immediately begin in the heat of battle. It was a bit difficult to get a hold of the control in the beginning, but I soon found myself shooting and rolling with the best of them. Jean-Luc can fire his gun by holding R1, then pressing square. He will automatically lock on to and enemy upon holding R1. However, sometimes during the gameplay he is unable to get a lock on to an enemy, thus messing up an intense gun fight, forcing the player to have to manually aim with the left analog stick, which is no easy chore. Suffice to say, this happens very rarely. Jean-Luc can hide up against the wall by pressing square, and pop out to shoot at enemies. This makes for a very exciting game, as one feels like a real SWAT Team member foiling the plans of terrorists. The enemies lack somewhat in A.I., in instances they sometimes just stand there like goons as your shooting at them, however, if they were as smart as say Metal Gear Solid 2, one would be in trouble with the somewhat difficult control. The graphics in Winback are standard fare, pretty mauch the same as the N64 version, but with higher poly-count in player models, as well as textures run in high resolution mode. It is in some cases a very pretty game, especially with the vast (jaggie-free) enviroments, makes for a very clean game. However, it is nothing to rave about, especially with games such as GT3 out and Twisted Meatal Black, whcih pose beautiful graphics. My final opinion is of an exciting game filled with hours of gameplay a huge multi-player mode which would make great fun with a bunch of friends, as well as a feelling of heroism as you blow away the terrorists. It is a great game to curve your appetites until Metal Gear Solid 2 graces us with its presence. I advise you to go and get this game if you enjoy quality, exciting third-person shooters. The only thing I find missing is the lack of 40 or 50 enemies on screen at once like Dynasty Warriors 2. Now, wouldn't that be neat to be shooting at over a hundred enemies at once? I don't know maybe it's just me.

COMMENTS