 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | nFusion |
| Publisher: | Midway | |
| Genre: | FPS | |
| ESRB: | Teen | |
| # Of Players: | 1 (2-12 online/system link) | |
| Online Play: | Yes | |
| Accessories: | Xbox Live (online play), system link, HDTV 720p/1080i/1080p | |
| Buy Now: |   |
With Activision now hearing its call of duty in more modern times, and EA’s latest Medal of Honor still months away, the time to strike for publishers looking to muscle their way into the crowded World War II-based FPS market is now. Midway’s stab at it is Hour of Victory, a somewhat more arcade-like take on the Second World War powered by the ubiquitous Unreal Engine 3. Unfortunately, this is one trip to the battlefield that went horribly wrong, resulting in a solid candidate for worst game of the year honors.
For a developer to compete in an already crowded genre, it has to bring something new to the table. In the case of Hour of Victory, the multiple leading characters are supposed to be the primary draw. The playable characters here include Sgt. Calvin “Bull” Blackbull, Sgt. William Ross, and Lt. Ambrose Taggert. Each of these three has different characteristics, with Bull the sniper, Ross the gung-ho commando, and Taggert the stealthy covert op. In reality though, the three characters don’t play all that differently. Ross can take a little more damage in a shootout, and push heavy objects out of the way to advance in the level. Bull can climb up on roofs, jump from roof to roof, and of course use a sniper rifle. Finally, Taggert can pick locks and cut through fences, as well as go through pre-determined “stealth zones” to get around troublesome areas.
Unfortunately none of the three characters’ abilities are dynamic, and don’t come into play that often in any meaningful way. With Ross and Taggert, objects to push or ropes to climb up to sniping points are clearly marked and glowing. To activate one you simply press the A button, at which point a short cutscene takes over showing the character performing the action. It’s the same with Taggert’s fences and locked doors, although they aren’t always as obvious. Some interactivity here would’ve been nice, in particular a lockpicking mini-game. They also rarely make a lot of difference; although I did put Taggert’s alternate routes to good use a couple of times, in general replaying missions with different characters brings little new variety.
The single-player campaign is disappointingly short, likely clocking in at 5-6 hours for most gamers. It’s longevity isn’t helped by the fact that Hour of Victory features some of the most brain dead A.I. I’ve ever seen in a FPS. It’s a comedy of errors, from enemies that stand out in the open until they’re shot to others that don’t even notice that someone standing beside them has just been killed. Numerous times (literally throughout the entire campaign) I saw enemies run right past me, shoot into walls repeatedly, and run behind “cover” (thinking themselves safe) when I was standing right beside, or even past, that cover.
There are other signs that this game is nothing more than a rushed, mail-in effort looking to cash in on the WWII shooter craze. The entire campaign in general feels generic, with missions ripped right out of other games, and a feeling that nFusion simply made a checklist of everything a WWII shooter should include and then worked through it. Rescue mission? Check. Manning turrets? Check. Drivable tanks? Check. Those tanks play into the game’s other big selling point, that any vehicle found is drivable. “If you can see it, you can drive it” isn’t a very hard goal to accomplish when you only have a few tanks scattered throughout the entire game.
Posted: 2007-08-04 17:25:04 PST