Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers

When I came across Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers, I was not all too impressed. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much of a quality game from Pandemic and THQ. To be totally honest, I was expecting to review a flop of a game. However, after I got moving, I was pleasantly surprised. FSW is a smart, original, and intuitive game that dabbles in several different genres.

The game puts you in charge of one or more squads, each with four soldiers, in a near-futuristic middle eastern conflict. You must strategically maneuver these soldiers across the urban battlefields, using cover and flanking to remove enemies. You issue commands to your squad using only the mouse. The controls are well done, and simple, leaving the emphasis on game play. While there is a slight learning curve to get used to the controls and array of things you can do with your squad, this does not prevent anyone from easily picking up the game and getting started.

While playing FSW, I was reminded of chess. FSW has you making tactical decisions to take on objectives more efficiently, such as killing enemies or capturing outposts. The game takes place in real time, but, you are given plenty of time to think about decisions. The enemy AI will avoid the "blind charge" maneuver, and will instead fire from cover. The AI in the game is somewhat simple, and a bit reserved, but, this makes for a more realistic experience. The game is surprisingly challenging, and I found myself playing some parts over and over in hopes of finding a better strategy. My only critique would be that parts of the game are outrageously frustrating. You must maneuver ever so carefully from cover to cover to avoid being shot. The slightest miscalculation, leads to failure.

In the game, your squad must stay in cover until the area that they desire to move to is clear. Moving into the open with assessing your surroundings will result in your squad being shot, and like in war, one shot often proves fatal. This is the most frustrating part of the game. When a soldier is hit by enemy fire, the remaining members of your squad must pick up that soldier and carry him back to the home base. There your other soldiers can restock on supplies as well. This definitely adds to the realism of the game. However, it is frustrating because you must backtrack through the entire map after a one of your soldiers gets wounded.

The game's graphics are mediocre compared to the more modern games. But, the game runs very smoothly, and has no bugs that I’ve seen as of yet. The sound is somewhat muggy, with voices having far too much of an echo, and sound effects (explosions, bullets, etc) sounding as though they are being played through water. While this does not prevent the playing of the game, and becomes unnoticeable after a little bit of playtime, it can be a bit frustrating to some sound gurus.

Full Spectrum Warriors: Ten Hammers is a refreshing change from the norm. It is a new, innovative tactical game that shines in originality, and is a shockingly good game. It has a its flaws, but overall, it's well worth the buy for those who seek a game that’s unique.