Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"You're part of the Deadly Dozen ...Does this mean you can control 12 guys at once? No. Does this imply multiplayer...? Nope. What it does mean, is that you can control up to four soldiers in each mission..."

---from the review

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"Reality Vs. Unreal; the big equalizer..." 

Most games strive to be real, and yet...not. It's the paradox that divides the true game designers from the realists. Among the worst of overly-real game mistakes is Trespasser, where a mere bite from the right Dinosaur could kill instantly. Why have such realism, in a game about living dinosaurs? Nobody ever could answer that question. As for this game, it is one of many that straddles the edge between "too real to be fun" and "too fake to be real." However, if this challenging game design error is the only mistake worth mentioning, that still makes for a pretty impressive game, in graphics, level design, and audio. It's all a matter of how real you want your game...

Deadly Dozen is the second in a pair of games released this year with similar sales tactics; take a now-older game style (in this case, a 3rd person action game where all you do is shoot everything that's not nailed down), price it reasonably at $19.99, and entice everyone with a $20 dollar bill to buy it. In the case of Serious Sam, the tactic worked like a charm (as it probably will again, with the early 2002 release of Serious Sam 2). Will this game release be similar? Yes and no.

For starters, the premise is good. You're part of the Deadly Dozen; a group of "untouchable" type soldiers who were sent on the toughest missions during WW2. Does this mean you can control 12 guys at once? No. Does this imply multiplayer support? Nope. What it does mean, is that you can control up to four soldiers in each mission, among the 12 choices. Better yet, you can equip each to suit your needs, so one can be your explosives carrier, one can carry first aid, one can carry sniper weapons, and one can carry heavy weaponry (like a bazooka!). This prelude to each mission --complete with mission briefing and map of the battle area-- is one of the highlights of this game.

While this game is no Return to Castle Wolfenstein, it has its perks. I liked the diversity of levels, including a narrow railroad bridge, a wintry forest, the ruins of a recently bombed village, a cathedral at night, and a barren desert. These levels are huge, and while they're a bit tiresome to traverse on foot without a "run" key, you can steal the occasional vehicle, making travel quicker (though also more vulnerable; you cannot fire weapons while in a car). Don't worry about getting lost; a terrain map, with you as a red "X," is available at all times. In addition, an on-screen compass points in the direction of the objective you choose to go to next, by pressing the "O" key. In all levels, 3D accelerator effects are admirable, including explosive fiery clouds via grenades and bazookas. Shoot a tank (shown here), and see it explode into scrap. Cool!

Of course, there are limitations to this game engine; otherwise, why would they sell it for a paltry $20 bucks? For one, the dark of night is a bit TOO dark, with no easy way to adjust this flaw (no "correct gamma" controls, for example). Stealth is also not an option, unlike nearly all the best games since Thief: The Dark Project. Even more puzzling is how, if you  steal an enemy van or truck, the enemy soldiers will notice it's you (and not just one of them) even from several yards away. This is a confusing amount of "not likely" enemy AI, in a game that is otherwise very strict with its doses of reality; more on that next...

The biggest problem here --as it has been elsewhere-- is a game design team with no knowledge of where to draw the line between "reality" and "game." To put it bluntly, merely two shots from an expert sniper can kill you if you stay still long enough to let them aim their shot. On the flip side of things, as little as a single well-aimed sniper bullet from you will defeat even the toughest of adversaries (including a tank, if your weapon of choice is the bazooka), though this is a small compromise after using the quick save feature for the 100th time, after an enemy snuck up behind you and shot you with ease. It would be different if you could be rather stealthy as well, though...nope.

To make matters worse, the "reality" in this game extends even to ammunition for your own weapons (!). In other words, you're carrying American weaponry, and the Germans carry German guns, so your guns are out of bullets almost immediately. You can, or course, grab the guns (and ammo) your opponents leave behind, though your sniper rifle --the only weapon with a scope to aim from afar-- is out of bullets almost immediately, with no way to get more. When this long-range attack tactic is the surest (and often, only) method of survival, this is a major design flaw. Add to this how the enemy has tons of snipers --with guns whose targeting scopes don't work for you-- and you're left with a fair share of unfairness in the game's chosen "realism."

Of course, many gamers might appreciate such realism, especially as a message about real warfare. Deadly Dozen is very attentive to even the tiniest detail in such battles, and when you walk through the ruins of a battle-scarred town, you really get a effective glimpse of what it may have been like for real. From the slow, cautious way you must strafe every building when looking for snipers, to how a tank can quickly appear as if out of nowhere around the corner; this is simulated war, and it's no picnic. On the other hand, this is also a game, and the entertainment value should be there as well. Let's just say fighting a Wolfenstein "witch coven" --whose females wear tight spandex-- was a bit more entertaining, as a game. If I wanted too much realism, I would have turned off my PC and watched a Discovery Channel documentary on TV.

Upon completing mission 10 --the final level-- I was actually quite pleased with this game, given how affordable it was. At such a bargain basement price, I was even able to forgive having to download a 7 Megabyte game patch just to play it at all. I was even able to forgive the mere 10 game levels. Sure, it doesn't have any of a dozen awesome features of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and yet it is still not without its fair share of impressive design. If you can get past the unfairly balanced reality vs. unreality issues, it is a nice way to spend a weekend, and a nice salute to the brave men who actually fought on D-day, with no "Quick restore" button in sight.