Project IGI: I'm Going In

The Good
Project IGI has admirable elements, but sadly falls apart as a whole. In its favour, it's the closest PC equivalent to the N64 classic 'Goldeneye', and has a very Bondian atmosphere, helped by the excellent music. It's also similar to the ancient classic 'Impossible Mission', in that you spend a lot of time interrogating computer terminals whilst under constant pain of death. You run around a set of expansive, outdoorsy locations rendered with a modified flight simulation engine, whilst the simulation of gunfire and the damage model strike a superb balance between realism and entertainment. You aren't quite killed with one shot, and your weapons are realistically inaccurate and cumbersome. Any game which has even the most tenuous link with Iggy Pop, even if this is unintentional, deserves some kind of praise.

The Bad
As expressed elsewhere, there are several big problems. Firstly, the game is thoroughly scripted. Walk over an invisible line, and a truck full of soldiers appears from nowhere; fail to move to a certain spot, and the level will never end. The missions are linear, with no hidden secrets at all, and absolutely no replay value, because they're essentially tests of memory rather than skill. The impression I get is that the designers were rushed for time, and included only the barest minimum; furthermore, that they are tyrannical control freaks, annoyed at the possibility that the player might mess up their creation.

As mentioned elsewhere, your ammunition and weapons cache is not carried over from level to level, even in cases where one flows directly from another; one suspects this decision was taken in order to avoid the possibility that the player could 'break' the scripting. If there seems to be more than one way to infiltrate an enemy base, you are wrong; you go in through the front door every time.

Each level is large, but bland; bases are constructed with a small collection of identical rooms and buildings, something which only varies with the final level, which takes place in a large underground silo. This level, and several others, are annoying structured so that, after fifteen minutes of wild firing, you meet a particularly tough enemy and die, necessitating that the level is replayed from the beginning. Out in the open there are no trees, no cover, simply bare textured ground.

One of the significant gameplay elements is the alarm system, whereby if an alarm is triggered, endless ranks of enemy soldiers emerge from clearly empty rooms. This jars with the otherwise realistic tone, and further constrains your wanderings.

The between-level voice acting is terrible, with our hero sounding uncannily like a primary school teacher. There is no multiplayer support, and no reason to return to the game after finishing it. The plot, in which an ex-Russian general hijacks a nuclear bomb, is such an overused modern cliché that it makes me want to cut myself again.

The Bottom Line
Oh, it's entertaining enough for a short while, and the snowbound levels are very attractive. There's still an opening for a level-headed Bond-style shoot-em-up on the PC, though.

The Good
There are many things to like about Project: IGI. For starters, the graphics at the time were quite nice. The models for the enemies are relatively low poly but the outdoor areas and architecture are very well done. With a good 3D accelerator the graphics held up nicely to the competition. It is quite a sight to look down on a base and be able to plan your way through it, although most of tthe time the missions were linear.

The gun models were my favorite part of the game. The guns feel heavy and sound powerful. Not quite reality, but close enough that it really gives the guns weight and makes combat all the more intense. Speaking of combat, IGI handles it very well. The enemies take only a few shots to take down, so you won't be pumping whole clips into bad guys like some other FPS games. The player can take a bit more damage. Different weapons suit different styles of play. There are smaller guns like Uzis and pistols that work perfectly while indoors, while the sniper rifle and AK-47 work well when dealing with distance and outdoors.

The large number of different weapons is also a plus. You can take any enemy's gun and use it, something you almost have to do because of the ammunition problem in the game.

I found the AI to be pretty smart for a game like this. They would pursue you around corners and through doors and throw grenades when appropriate.

The Bad
LACK OF IN MISSION SAVES! That says it all, its what all the other reviewers complain about as well. The game just isn't suited for this type of save system. Its a very difficult game and it doesn't take many shots to kill you in the game. Many missions involve you slowly making your way through a base, just hoping there is no one around the next corner. Many times, you'll come across a bunch of guards and before you know it, you're dead. Then it's back to the beginning! A game as difficult and slow paced as this should allow to save anywhere you like, or at least give you a large number of predetermined save points.

Another bothersome aspect of the game is the lack of ammunition. I repeatedly found myself running low on good ammunition, which forces you to any other weapon you can find. Not sure if this was intentional or not, but it doesn't really fit well with the rest of the game.

Another problem is the lack of mission variety. Too many times the player is tasked with infiltrating an enemy base. It can get repetitive, especially because there are so many military buildings you can see before they all start to look the same.

The Bottom Line
Project: IGI is a combination of many different styles of first person shooter games. It combines huge, outdoor levels with normal run and gun action, and then adds a lot of steal into the fray. There isn't too much a story, it is reminiscent of a Tom Clancy story, with terrorists and other bad guys threatening the world.

The game plays like many FPS games, with a large amount of weapons ranging from uzis to rocket launchers. Most of the weapons are based on their real world counterparts, as the game takes place in modern day. Your missions involve differing objectives, but many times consist of infiltrating an enemy base. This allows the game to use both outdoor and indoor gameplay modes, as you have to first approach the base, then move throughout it before finishing the mission.

It's a fun game. The engine is based off the Joint Strike Fighter flight engine, so outdoors especially look fantastic. Going in and out of buildings is seamless, something other FPS games still struggled with at the time of this game's release.

The big show stopper for Project:IGI is the lack of any sort of in mission save system. Why oh why do developers decide to leave this simple feature out? Is it to add artificial length to a game? To make it more difficult? Whatever the reason, once you start a mission in Project: IGI you have to finish it. This can make for some very frustrating gameplay experiences, which is a shame because behind this annoying feature is a pretty intense game.

Bottom line: Project: IGI is an above average first person shooter game.

The Good
Stealthy action? Check. You could 'goose' the enemies by firing a burst, and people would come running. Visuals were extremely good for its time, and you played it even closer than Solid Snake - usually 3 good hits on your character would kill you. You never knew where the enemy was going to come from, so you usually ran into the small buildings hoping and praying there weren't too many openings or windows for soldiers to peer into and take potshots.

The Bad
Two HUGE flaws: Your ammo that you carefully scavenged off the dead, and their assorted weapons, NEVER carried over....HELLO! You're in hostile territory, you need every clip you can get! You could not 'goose' the enemy and flush them out if you didn't have the ammo - and since there was always some recoil to throw off your aim, ammo was always needed. You could NEVER save in mission - whose mad idea was that? It's an acceptable idea in Metal Gear for MSX, NES and Gameboy(in the sense of you got sent back to stage start when you died and decided to continue), but then again in that game you never died with three hits(except on HIGHEST difficulty), and rations were often found, and enemies can't call in huge numbers of reinforcements. Bad news - here they can - and they shoot MUCH more accurately than StormTroopers.

The Bottom Line
Another example of cool idea, bad execution.

The Good
After seeing certain screenshots in a magazine for this game i wasn't impressed. But when the demo was released i saw a whole new perspective on this game. Firstly the in game graphics were perfect, everything looked good, including the landscapes which looked the best, way better than DF/2/3.

The levels were challenging, but after mastering the satellite map and using the correct weapons at the correct time you progress through the game skillfully.

The Bad
The only disadvantage in the game was the no in-game save feature. Although it would be nice to have, i only remember restarting about 4 levels, and one of them was 3 times (nasty tank and people). Its best to look at the game from an Arcade style point of view.

The Bottom Line
An arcade style 'stealth like' first person shooter with excellent graphics and music (which suits the game exactly)

The Good
The game is great. It contains a realistic recoil and weapons. Characters (including you) can be killed very easily with head or body shots (just like in real life). Contains a lot of realistic weapons. This includes a sniper rifle and the AK47. Weapons can be picked up from other enemies. The game also contains tanks, security systems, heavy duty weapons, and alarms.

The Bad
The game has some glitches. For example, in some levels, you can go through walls (first level), and you can also fall through the ground on some areas. The key thing that really spoils the game is that it lacks a save game feature. You can really get annoyed when you get killed in one shot at the end of the game.

The Bottom Line
Very good game. Not for people who don't like replaying levels, though.

The Good
I think, above all else what I liked about this game was the AI and the way the damage worked. It brought on a sense of realism to a game, but not so much so that you'd have to spend your every moment crawling inch by inch through the levels so that you don't get shot, like realistic shooters like Rogue Spear or, eh, slightly less realistic Delta Force. You don't die in one hit; you die in three or four. But so do your enemies, and they're not just braindead zombies who can't shoot for shit. No, they're accurate, and you'll have to often outwit them rather than going in shooting.

All but a few missions require you to actually be stealthy, and even then it's just to avoid the cameras as to not alert the soldiers. But it was the moments in which stealth came in handy that I had the most fun. I'll admit, I usually can't stand "stealth" missions. They're usually too hard, too slow, and I die too often. But in this case, I loved them. I loved running by a soldier unnoticed, and then making a break for the hills after, say, I blow the compound. Watching bullet holes appear on the ground with a "pew!" as I'm running adds to the thrill.

Many people bitch about the lack of a savegame feature. I can see how some people would find it annoying, but I didn't mind it at all. The game is so much fun that I don't mind replaying the same level over and over. And after you've played the same level a few times, you know it by heart and you can annihilate your enemies because you'll know exactly where they're hiding and where they'll be going. There was one particular level that took me probably thirteen tries before I beat it. But after that, I went back and played through it again to see if I could do it quicker. Maybe I'm a fanatic, but I loved it!

One of the few games that have a realistic "health pack" health regeneration thing. You don't just pick up a box with a cross on it and regain health. You get a needle and have to inject it into your arm and wait for your health to slowly regenerate. This adds so much to the game - every game should adopt this.

Are those voxels? No way, they're polygons! The sheer size of the areas you fight in are gigantic, with no signs of slowdowns thanks to the engine's polygon removal thingamajig. Some levels require you to travel many miles to complete the mission.

Lots of seamless transitions from above-ground massively large scenic areas to buildings and underground enemy bases.

Many surfaces you can shoot through! Know there's an enemy behind that wooden door? Blow it apart with a shotgun and hear the "thump" behind the door. But beware - enemies can and will shoot through surfaces to get you. It is pretty hilarious to see the massive amounts of bullet holes on the wall after a skrimish.

While most of the levels are pretty straightforward "kill everyone" missions, some have some really nice twists to them. Like one where on your way to a destination, a gunship appears from behind the mountains and you must seek cover...but you can't turn back because suddenly there are tanks coming around the corner! Or another where you're helping someone escape from enemy territory and you fight your way to the roof of a building. Suddenly, swarms of enemies are climbing the stairs coming to kill you, while a helicopter is coming to pick you up. Swarms of enemies are coming at you, and you must hold them off until the helicopter gets you. The excitement of these levels - with the fact that you know if you die, you're dead, and one or two hits could do the trick - makes the game one of the most entertaining FPS games I've ever played.

The Bad
One particular thing that annoyed me about the game was the way the vehicles moved. It was not perfect, that was for sure, but that's not what I'm complaining about. If you watch the vehicles move, you can see that a lot of work went into programming their movement. They're not just objects moving around on the screen - they're actually driving. They have shocks, you see them bounce over hills and rocks, they are actually driving on the road. So why can't YOU ever drive them?! It LOOKS like it was going to be a feature that just never made its way into the game.

Like most FPS games, this one suffers from some fairly unobservant soldiers. Often times you can shoot a soldier dead and the guy next to him won't even notice.

I loved the fact that you could shoot through surfaces...but it seems EVERY surface is penetrable. You could be sitting through a ten inch steel door and a simple MP5 can blow right through it with no resistance.

The first level is awesome, because it allowed for so many possibilities of finishing the level. So many different routes through the enemy's base. You could slide down a rope from tower to tower, go through the front gate, climb over a gate in the middle, make your way through the hangar...there were many different routes to take, and you COULD finish this level in a stealth strategy, or you could go in with guns blazing. It was great. But the next five or six levels are just...dull. Kill everyone, no questions! I think out of all the levels in the game, the very first was the funnest. It's also the demo level.

Around the third-to-last level, the difficulty skyrockets. Suddenly, enemies are freakishly accurate and aware. I'm not saying this is that bad of a thing - it is almost the end, afterall - but there was no gradual transition to this...I thought the third-to-last level WAS the last level because of the difficulty...as well as the next...and of course, the next.

The Bottom Line
No save game option? Quit your whining. This game is so much fun you might just replay the level anyway!

Project: IGI is a game with enough realism to make you actually feel triumphant after taking down a number of enemies, yet unrealistic enough that you CAN survive the odds. It's the perfect blend, in my opinion.

The Good
Graphics and atmosphere are excellent. The huge areas of landscape you can explore. Sounds are realistic as is the physics model.

You have to be very precise with your actions. Very much a stealth game rather than a shoot em up. This helps build a tense atmosphere.

The Bad
The key flaw in this game is the lack of any save game feature within each mission. As the game is pretty difficult, it rapidly becomes a very tedious, repetitive effort to complete the missions.

The missions are often long and after 30 minutes of carefully avoiding being killed by a single shot, to be killed and start over again eventually drives you nuts.

A patch for a in-game save has never been released although pleaded for by the various Project IGI fan-sites.

No multiplayer option.

The Bottom Line
Cannot recommend this game until there is an in-game save patch released.