Mike Bantick
Thursday, 17 April 2008 18:35
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
Salem and Rios also have access to a GPS view, turning the real world into a computerised view that gives hints within missions and shows spots where the duo can pick up special equipment, such as a riot shield to waddle into the hottest battle moments behind. There are also areas to boost your buddy up to a higher level and points where Salem and Rios go back-to-back in John Woo inspired slo-mo panoramic shoot-outs.
But the duo's main arsenal is Aggro. Aggro is an indication of how hot a target you have become and depending on who is doing the most shooting or is toting the biggest gun, the Aggro meter can swing from one mercenary to the next. This is where the inherent AoT strategy lies, when one member is taking the heat from the enemy, the other becomes almost invisible, enabling out-flanking manoeuvres.
Without flanking, it is almost impossible to get through sections of the game as gun turrets and heavily armoured opponents block the narrow paths. It works well and is an absolute hoot when you pull it off.
Add to this a few other gimmicks such as parachute drop ins, hovercraft's, some trap laden levels and the rather cool 'drag me to safety for healing' move and you have a rich, fun, albeit short blast-em-up.
On the downside, loading screens are very frequent, including the rather odd decision to include mid-mission shopping options. Here new weapons can be purchased or upgraded as well as cosmetic touches such as additional (all scary) face masks.
The loading and shopping breaks tend to destroy the atmosphere of a level, but one thing is for sure, between these breaks the action is unrelenting. Enemies vary from relatively easy to the aforementioned walking tanks all loaded up with a variety of equipment from pistols to rocket launches.
There are also an abundance of side missions to complete within each level and by enlarge, despite the directional arrows during GPS mode, most battle zones are quite open providing plenty of out flanking opportunity – unfortunately this opportunity extends to the enemy.
