Opposites

Background

I’m not a patient man, particularly when it comes to playing First Person Shooters (FPS). I like my FPS to be fast and furious. After being raised on the original Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Heretic, I have learned to appreciate games like Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament for their hectic nature. As I get older, I have found that I just don’t want to spend a whole lot of time getting “into” a game. Riven, Baldurs Gate II, and Tropico seem to drag on forever. I’d much rather jump right in and start shooting. However, I had been getting hammered by emails telling me about this new game that was guaranteed to change my mind. I was doubtful, but in the end, I did an about face so fast it made my eyes do circles.

Metal Of Honor Allied Assault

I downloaded the huge 183 megabyte single player demo (thank someone up there for DSL) and begrudgingly fired the game up on my system. I set the system to 1024x768x32 so I could have playable frame rates (I had been warned) and started the mission. At first glance, I was already not happy because the opening sequence looked similar to that of Return To Castle Wolfenstein. I didn’t like the new Wolf because I had expected it to be like the old game, not some half-hearted demonic technical shooter. But thankfully, once I got into Medal Of Honor Allied Assault (MOHAA), there were no zombies, no babes in tight leather, no out of place items. I was instead dropped into one of the most engrossing, most compelling single player shooters that I had ever seen. After hours of playing the demo and learning that common sense and stealth was the name of the game, I started to get really, really into it. I was horrible at first. I had no concept of recoil, no idea that you actually needed to use the sniper rifle intelligently to get past your enemy and move forward. Instead of running head-first into the fray, I learned how to hide behind buildings and peek around the corner. I learned that protecting your AI teammates was essential to your own survival. I learned that luring the enemy out instead of going in after them was the best way to get things done. I played this demo for days before I even got the hang of it, and it took me days more just to finish it. I was unexpectedly blown away by just how immersive the game ended up being and how incredibly detailed every aspect of the environment was. MOHAA is simply a work of art that was lovingly crafted by artisans who obviously cared about their product. Thanks to all of you who goaded me into taking a look at this title. It has ended up being one of my all time favorites in spite of my FPS biases.

Serious Sam The Second Encounter

On the other side of the coin is the fun and exciting sequel to the original called Serious Sam The Second Encounter (SSTSE). This game is simply more of the things I loved about the first one. It has more guns, more enemies, more environments and more humor. The graphics engine is clearly not one that will be confused with real-world environments, but for a “by the seat of your pants” shooter, it looks pretty impressive. The plants, trees and grass add a surprising flavor to the levels, and the detailed but not too perfect textures are rich and colorful in their depth. The only bad things are all of the jump/run/dodge puzzles. I had enough of that in Alice.

Perhaps my favorite thing about SSTSE is the Co-Op multi-player mode. Not since Heretic have I had such a riot, and it is easier to set up and use than ever. I like the new server-browsing interface, since the text is smaller and easier to read and more servers fit on the screen at one time. I am still a huge fan of Tourist mode. In Tourist mode, your heath keeps increasing if you can find a place to hide, which makes it a lot more fun on the first go-round. I’ve also discovered something else, thanks to yet another nice email from a FiringSquad reader. You can choose Single Player, go into Game Options and set the blood to “Hippie” mode. Instead of plastering the scene with sprays of blood, when your enemies take a hit, they release “Flower Power” into the air. It went over well with my wife, who, thanks to her Microsoft Optical Trackball (thumb version) is able to kick some impressive enemy tail. All in all, it is a refreshing game, and for a mere $20, it is a complete steal.