GameCube

Conflict: Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad

Conflict: Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad is the much-anticipated sequel to the 2002 inaugural release from Gotham Games, and probably one of the most engrossing and exciting military action games of 2003. The game has cleverly undergone a name change and has been released to coincide with certain current events to increase interest public awareness, but even without these clever marketing ploys Back to Baghdad stands up quite well on its own as a worthy successor. The extra three months of development time for the GameCube version has been well spent, and this is easily the best version of the game on any system.

A much improved sequel to a pretty good game. When the game was re-released for Gamecube, I thought of it highly enough to give it an 8.5. Granted, the Gamecube didn’t have a SOCOM to judge it against and Ghost Recon wasn’t all that great. In hindsight, the score was a bit too high. Conflict II improves on the original, making it even better.

Schon der erste Teil konnte mich begeistern, aber der zweite Teil macht alles das richtig, was im Vorgänger versäumt wurde. Der Koop-Modus zu viert spielt sich genauso gut wie die Einspieler-Variante. Nur der stellenweise zu harte Schwierigkeitsgrad sorgt in manchen Situationen für Frust.

There have been many different games based on War’s since games have been in development. The reason for this is that gamers have always been fascinated by history and what it might feel like to be in the midst of war; without actually doing it. Most games out there take place during War World I and II era, so Gotham Games decided to make a game that is based on a different era. Last year they released Conflict: Desert Storm, which took place a little over ten years ago during the Gulf War. The game released with mild success so they decided to create another game, and it takes place in the same era. Read on to find out more.

Originally released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC, Conflict: Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad has finally made its way to GameCube. Though it may not be as timely as it once was, the sequel to last year's squad-based shooter helps fill an important niche on GameCube. With games like SOCOM II and Rainbow Six 3 occupying gamers on PS2 and Xbox both on- and offline, the lack of cooperative multiplayer shooters on GameCube made Desert Storm II a belated, but welcome addition to the lineup.

All right, soldier; are you ready for some butt-kicking, rocket-launching, team leading action? Sir, yes sir! Desert Storm II: Conflict in Baghdad is a squad based shooter full of 10 action packed missions ranging from reconnaissance missions to daring escapes that although have their perks, just don’t seem to have the polish of other squad based shooters. Although not a bad game by any means, unless you’re into squad shooters or military games, this may not be your kind of game. Overall, I think that this game is pretty good, and would be excellent if it had more time in the oven. I recommend it to die hard enthusiasts or people who like squad based action games, but otherwise make sure you rent this game first. Now drop and give me 20!

Au final, Conflict Desert Storm, à défaut de nous surprendre et d'innover, se rend assez plaisant en dépit de quelques aléas de gameplay et de technique. L'aspect tactique s'efface un peu plus sans disparaître (on évite la comparaison avec certains autres softs comme ça) au profit d'une action plus soutenue qu'on prend plaisir à appréhender avec différents personnages. Un bon choix pour les amateurs de shoot arcade pas très nombreux sur la machine de Nintendo.

Conflict: Desert Storm II - Back to Baghdad is a third person action game that emphasizes squad level tactics between four operatives of the U.S. or British armies. Back to Baghdad is a follow-up that uses the same graphics engine as its predecessor. It manages to eliminate some but not all of the inconsistencies and annoyances from the former title.

2002's Conflict: Desert Storm gave players squad-based tactical action with a tie-in to modern military history. As you'd gather from the name, the game was set in the Middle East during the early 1990s' Operation: Desert Storm--the famed military action against Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Its current-events context notwithstanding, the first Conflict just wasn't very good. Just a year and a half later, we've received a direct sequel titled Conflict: Desert Storm II. The hasty release of a follow-up was no doubt spurred by the political and military events of the last year. However, the new Conflict is quite an improvement over the extremely shaky first game.

Truthfully, unless you’re starved for “tactical” action, there is little reason to buy Conflict: Desert Storm 2. While it is an improvement over the first one, the two games are largely identical and suffer from the same identity problem. The formula offers gamers a taste of both action and tactics, but neither tastes good enough for a second helping.

All in all, Conflict is a fun game, especially in the co-op mode. Nonetheless it is very violent. The gameplay is at times a little cumbersome, and the graphics won't really wow you. Bottom line, morality sways the overall score... so in the end, Conflict: Desert Storm II gets a 6/10.

Gamers looking for a more forgiving alternative to the Tom Clancy series of games might want to check this out. Significantly less focused on realism, Conflict Desert Storm II instead looks toward providing more of a survey of various military missions and capabilities. Still, it's hard to offer an unequivocal recommendation as a Tom Clancy-lite type of game, because while it's more focused on action than simulation, it doesn't quite go far enough and fails to strike a balance, leaving the game as a whole lacking from either perspective.