Operation Thunderstorm

The Good
The starts with a straightforward narrative and the player dives into a not-so-elaborate plot with the objective of killing three senior Nazi officers. There's no explanation how you get to the enemies' vicinity or how you escape them from inbound reinforcements, and there doesn't need to be. The stage for the game is set with decent presentation and clear narration.

For it's time the game meets the graphical features you can expect such as dynamic shadows, dim and bright lighting, solid textures, water effects, and plenty of decor and props. As a bonus you can see your left foot and leg if you look downwards. The music can be a bit repetitive, but otherwise fits the mood of the current mission. Ambient sounds like ticking clocks, bring some life into the atmosphere.

The mouse interface works exactly the way it should with icons showing the doors you can interactive with. You have the option to either open the door carefully or just burst it open, depending on your preference. And there's a decent selection of guns you can use against enemies. The Karabiner 98k is ridiculously overpowered, you can eliminate your opponents with a single arm or leg shot. What's even cooler is that when hugging a corner, you can blindly shoot around it with the arrow indicator icon to guide you. You also have a generous number of checkpoints.

The Bad
While the graphical abundance is praiseworthy, there is very little you can interactive with. At best you can smash bottles with your weapons. There aren't even any secrets in the game, just the occasional weapons cache. Not all-round exciting, as the game is rather combat-heavy, seeing as you can't retain your stealthy presence for very long. It also feels like the one-time features such as NPC prisoners were wasted on being there just to carry the plot.

Controls are all but perfect. Jumping can be a little stingy, so don't count on it to get you over gaps and up high places. The only way you can go prone is to orient the camera downwards while crouching, which is confusing and stops you from effectively aiming in that position. And why would you ever want to use the bayonet knife as a weapon, when you already have the ability to do a melee attack with the selected gun?

The Bottom Line
A quick look at this game might put off most fans of Call of Duty and Wolfenstein, but it does make for a good break from well-known franchises. Nobody ever said that a World War 2 game ever had to follow historical events. Some might disappointed that there wasn't a final showdown against the Fuhrer, but I guess you can't win em' all. This might be Empire Interactive's best World War 2 FPS with some particular qualities not seen in most low budget FPS games. Not an overly disappointing title and worth a try.