Project IGI: I'm Going In

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.