Recent reviews by Splash Friday

Perhaps the greatest comeback story in the history of video games.

* 5 Trooper Classes plus Sniper (Mission Dependent)
* 70+ Weapons and Gear Items
* Six Campaigns (Perma-death)
* 80 Independent Missions
* Viewable Replays
* Global and Individual Stat Tracking
* Cross Platform Import/Export Saves
* Mission Generator
* Level Editor
* Steam Workshop
* 43 Achievements
* 8 Different Trading Cards
* No Sympathy

Door Kickers harks back to a time when gamers were thought to be intelligent. A little bit of information is given to the player about gameplay mechanics and the rest is left up to them to figure out through trial and error. This, in part, is why there's no "do it this way to win" approach to informing the player. Inspired by the planning stages of Rainbow Six, with a SWAT aesthetic, and turned into a feature length game, it all makes sense. A player must learn to play the game much like they must learn to understand how to deal with the situation in which their troopers find themselves. Or be left to suffer the consequences.

Although it's possible to make arrests and to subdue assailants with a taser, that's not where the emphasis lies. The opponents you're dealing with are all presumed to be heavily armed and willing to kill you on site based on the knowledge that they most likely already have. Once you understand that, the gear and equipment options available in-game will make a lot more sense. That is why this game is more comparable to Rainbow Six than Swat 3 or 4. It's not about getting a conviction but dishing out the punishment because the verdict has already been made.

I highly recommend this game. But that recommendation entirely depends on the type of gamer you are. This game is for the thinker. Sometimes you'll make a plan that will take a few seconds and so will the mission. Other times, you'll spend a few hours only for the mission to fail. It's not the game's fault, nor is it yours. That's just a harsh reality and simply a matter of learning from such mistakes. If you want mindless satisfaction, are looking for a game that plays itself, or were born yesterday, this is not the game for you. This game is a challenge, your enjoyment will entirely depend on whether or not you'll accept it as such and rise to the occasion. So the question is: do you accept the challenge?

OVERVIEW: Rainbow Recon - Lite

+ CQC sized maps
+ Ghost Recon ('01) engine
+ One shot kills (unless your hitting appendages, vests)
+ Mission Editor (located in the game's folder)
+ Mod friendly

+- No Planning
+- Limited gear selection

- Partially derped TeamAI
- Occasional model glitches (ex: hand through weapon)
- Less popular = less available mods

VERDICT: A great way to introduce others to the world of tactical shooters from yesteryear before throwing them into the more hardcore establishments. Also great for getting your fix when short on time.


REVIEW:

This game is what could be considered a streamlined, slightly more user-friendly approach to the classic tactical shooters. It's not as in-depth as the Rainbow Six or Ghost Recon games of the past but has just enough to make it enjoyable.

Because of this, when you don't have the time to go all-in with the other games you can still get your fix when you're waiting to leave for that VA appointment, or some such. And THAT is exactly why people should get this game. It's not Rainbow Six, nor is it Ghost Recon. But it takes a bit from both and it's still a hell of a lot better than most games being made today that toss around the words tactical shooter like a grain of salt. Besides, you could take the assets from this game and port them over to Ghost Recon for more variety.

Based on the events of the movie with the same name, in singleplayer you play as an operator within the FBI under units like HRT and Spec Ops throughout the eleven mission campaign. Mission types consists of a number of objectives like clearing multiple floors, rescuing hostages, disabling alarms and the like. Although I prefer the hardest difficulty level, there are two others that players can choose from. I don't use them so I can't go into too much detail but they most likely involve less opposition and what not.

Even though there is a single plan, by default, that's based on speed and objective completion, don't expect to be drawing up your own. There's no pre-mission planning involved. Of course, you can always stray from the path anyways. Still, if you were to use the provided mission editor in the game's folder, you could modify it all you want along with everything else by creating your own mod. However, given the date of when this game was released, creating total conversions could pose a challenge.

Your gear selection is based on pre-selected weapon loadouts (HRT Stealth, Spec Ops Recon, Open Assault, etc) that contain variations of kits based on how you want to approach the mission. However, some don't appear until later missions due to their not being entirely necessary until then. Personally, there wasn't a single time that I needed a weapon that wasn't already included in the game to accomplish the missions.

Team members' actions can slightly be controlled by basic commands like choosing whether they should hold fire, stay put, or telling them to open a door. Very basic but for the most part they serve more as a mobile spawn point should you go down. Support units have their own plan and clear out other areas of the map.

Multiplayer and Coop is there although I haven't attempted these yet. I'll update this review then. But the possibility of running the campaign with friends is present. As for replayability, you can try different difficulty modes, mods, create your own missions, play FireFight which has you clearing levels of enemies, or you can LoneWolf various missions.

Ultimately, this could be viewed as an expansion of sorts but released as it's own game. Nevertheless, one shouldn't over look it because they're comparing it to the classics. Instead, compare it to Call of Duty and then you'll see what I mean.