Reviewed: May 19, 2005
Reviewed by: Blake Kenny
Publisher
2K Games
Developer
Destineer
Released: April 5, 2005
Genre: Action
Players: 1-8
ESRB: Teen
7
7
7
7
7.2
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Being a buff of military shooters, I have to admit I had my eye on Close Combat: First to Fight pretty much since the first day I heard about it. After beating and simply oozing over Full Spectrum Warrior; another game based on a military training aid was just what I wanted. Even more enticing was that unlike Full Spectrum, this game had with it the promise of a little indoor action (FSW was a 100% outdoor shooter) and you would have the ability to actually fire your own weapon – rather than give the command to do so.
In all honesty, I pretty much knew what to expect from this game before I threw it into my Xbox. Another, tactical, squad based shooter where not only did I have to be concerned with my own well being, but I had to pay attention to the needs of my team-mates as well.
So here it is, sitting on my doorstep and it’s time to rip into it. I’m finding myself having to keep my expectation somewhat subdued. With games like Full Spectrum Warrior, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon out there, you have to be realistic. Those games were aces and toppling them from the top spot is no easy task for anyone. Still, I’m not without hope, a gem can come along when you least expect it. The question is… Is Close Combat: First to Fight a diamond in the rough, or just another lump of coal to be thrown on a heap of second-rate shooters?
“Military Training Aid”. Sounds serious doesn’t it? Like you’re about to step into a world of complicated gameplay and tactics that are so genuine - that fun simply gets left behind. While the game was created with the help of over 40 actual Marines fresh from having their nose to the grindstone; Close Combat seems to have all the credit and credentials it could ever need - even though the product claims to have no official endorsement from the United States Marine Corp or the Department of Defense.
What that all means, I have no idea. For all intent and purpose, if I talk to my buddy down at the Chevron and have him advise me, I could program a simulation game too. I could make an unofficial Xbox title on how to pump fuel and wash windows at a full serve gas station, with all the realism you could ever imagine? Complete with hair-raising moments when the occupant of the car asks you to unexpectedly check their oil and coolant levels. I dunno, but I’m taking this at face value.
To get the story out of the way, you’re a solider stationed to deal with growing civil unrest in Beirut. Regardless of all that, the basics of the game are simple. You’re one guy in a 4-man squad. Each man is assigned to a specific task; meaning they cover a specific fire sector. 4 men, all aiming in different directions in an attempt to deal with the possibility of enemy fire from any angle.
Of course all of this is fine in theory, if not for the fact that your team-mates occasionally have the combined intellect of cold slice of buttered toast. Somehow I don’t see how being up against a wall while I cover forward, another main covers the rear, another the side, that my 4th man thinks he is being helpful by pointing his rifle directly at the brick wall next to us. That’s a grievance I had with this game right from the get go. In fact, as the game gets progressively more difficult, little problems like only managed to increase my frustration. It’s really not that uncommon for your men to aim at pretty much nothing, leaving you to scratch you head and wonder if maybe they’ve been smoking too much of that Lebanese tai-stick.
Still, if that gets my only significant complaint out of the way with ample description, we’ll move on to some of the things this title does manage to get right. As hard as it might be to believe, there are times that your men move and react to the situation with all the precision and realism you can expect. Bounding past one another in a leapfrog fashion, moving from cover to cover, they show excellent military precision. Often busting into rooms with their guns blazing or laying down suppression fire so you can move through the environment under safer conditions.
Similar to Rainbow Six, a command menu can be brought up and your troops can be issued a variety of orders depending on the situation. Suppression, securing prisoners, storming rooms, all things we’re familiar with. Adding a little originality to the game is the ability to call in extra support. When the target reticule turns red you can call in help from headquarters to deal with a seemingly undefeatable situation. This help consists of things like mortar strikes, sniper support, and the all-impressive gunships. All great tactics for dealing with persistent enemies that may be too dug in to attack directly. This option is also great for dealing with far off enemies that are hard to shoot accurately from a distance. Support calls can also be used to help dispatch enemy vehicles.
Speaking of the enemy, lets move on to AI. Well, the enemy A.I. is hit or miss. They behave well enough most of the time, but occasionally, severe stupidity can ensue. For example, on about the 5th or 6th level there is a mounted gun emplacement on the 2nd floor of a bombed out building. From the right angle it was possible for me to kill the man using it, without getting fired upon, a few moments later, another guy took control of the gun and I popped him too. Then another man came along. No less than 7 or 8 men took over manning the gun and each of them died in succession. You would figure the huge pile of bodies lying on top of one another would be a good clue that this isn’t a great place to hang your hat. Alas, they didn’t clue in, and I got myself some easy kills.
While the game plays out fairly well most of the time, it occasionally drove me nuts. Mainly due to the AI of not only the enemy, but my squad. Things that can easily be overlooked by some, but for hardcore gamers, these problems may be unforgivable.
As for the online component via Xbox Live, Close Combat: First to Fight has several modes of play available. Primarily, and easily the best aspect of the game is the cooperative mode. Playing through the campaign with 3 other people is a real blast, and surprisingly had me hooked for a good 3 hours the first time I tried it.
As I mentioned, the AI of your squad-mates during single player isn’t always what it could be, but thankfully, with online co-op, you have some actual brains behind the actions of your squad. In addition, if you get in with the really good group of guys that gel nicely, CC: FTF is a game with a lot of fun to offer.
Another mode offered is your traditional, multiplayer deathmatch, known here as FTA or Fire Team Arena. While it’s not a horrible experience, 8 players max left a lot to be desired. In the end, I found myself constantly going back to the good old co-op mode – that’s where the fun is.
Like the gameplay, the graphics are sometimes incredible, other times they can be dull, dreary, and just plain basic. While the character models for your squad are certainly respectable, with a decent level of detail, they still can’t hold a candle to some of the other military shooters on the Xbox. Enemy models are a little less elaborate than the main 4, but are still acceptable, if somewhat repetitive. You’ll see the same characters coming out time and time again.
As for the animation, well, with some nice ragdoll physics, every kill results in a totally random death and a decent level of hilarity. Still, other animations leave you wondering. At one point in the game I sent my squad ahead to clear out an area. There was a hole in the ceiling above us, and when my men walked underneath it, they pointed their guns up to cover the area. Oddly, 2 of my men performed the same cover movements side by side in perfect sync. It looked a little odd and once again confirmed to me that this game wasn’t perfect. Add to that a little bit of clipping, and the occasional floating body and you’re left with a game that could have used another couple months of fine-tuning.
Scenery throughout the game was a bit of a mixed bag. While some of the environments were simply awesome, sporting great texture work, others, especially the levels carried out in the sewers, were just plain boring. I could hardly wait to get back to the streets above to the promise of better visuals. Speaking of the sewers, the game also took on a strange appearance whenever the enemy soldiers where in a dark area. They seems to lose a lot of their visual detail and started to have an almost “cell shaded” appearance. Nothing huge, just an observation.
While the visuals in the game certainly aren’t showcase material, they’re still well above average and can’t be totally disregarded; solid stuff. The inclusion of the between level, CNN style news reports were also fairly cool.
Aside from gunfire, you don’t expect to hear a lot of aural diversity in a game like this. While the gunfire sounds great, especially if you have the volume cranked up, this part of CC: FTF wasn’t without its share of problems. Sure, there are great ambient effects, like shelling, explosions and fighting in the distance, but occasionally the audio would glitch out. I’m not even sure what the sound effect was supposed to be, a body falling, footsteps, the dropping of a weapon, I don’t know – but a good half dozens times while I played this particular sound would loop over and over again, it was somewhat of a distraction, since you were never sure what this sound was supposed to indicate.
Not only did oddities like that occur, but spatial realization wasn’t all that fantastic either. Given that I have a 5.1 surround system, I was counting on this game to give me sound information about enemy locations and what have you. The problem was, that sound didn’t always seem to be playing accurately with what I was seeing on screen. As you know, if you have 5.1 – it can be rather easy to lose that sense of realism of things aren’t synchronized properly. Much like the graphics, the audio certainly had a few hiccups, but was far better than it was bad. A little more tweaking would have made all the difference in the world – and would have added greatly to the game aural immersion.
As for the music, CC: FTF is relatively devoid of music during most of the actual gameplay. It does however fire up and fill you with adrenaline whenever you’re about to perform a takedown. A takedown is when you order your men to rush into a room by kicking the door in. When the music fires up during these segments, it brings with it intensity and a promise for what is sure to be an action packed and exciting room sweep.
One nice thing about CC: FTF is that it’s on average, about $10 bucks cheaper than most games right out of the gate. With a decent length campaign and online play, there’s not a whole lot to grovel over. Still, measuring the value of a game like this against something like say, Ghost Recon 2, well that’s easy. We all know which is superior.
While it’s a worthwhile game that’s likely to have something to offer most players, it sits squarely in the middle of the genre. Value is something that is best measured up against a players love for this style of game. If you enjoy this style of shooter, chances are it will be right up your alley and you’ll have a good time with it.
Sometimes it’s best to walk into a review with low expectations. That way you can’t claim much disappointment if a title doesn’t turn out to be all that you hoped for. Close Combat: First to First fits into this category. With a little more work, this game could have been exceptional, but unfortunately, it stops its ascent to greatness with simply average.
Still, for military buffs, the temptation to run out and buy this game with probably be pretty strong. Fortunately, buyers are likely to be pleased with the purchase. It’s of decent length, provides an enjoyable online experience and the future promise downloadable content.
As respectable as this title is, it’s unfortunate that it will probably be lost in the shuffle of other Xbox shooters. With games like Rainbow Six, and especially Ghost Recon out there, will anyone even notice Close Combat? That remains to be seen. Still, if you’re like me, and you already played those other ones to death, then it’s nice to know that there are other options out there.
Close Combat: First to Fight won’t go down in videogame history as the best shooter around, but for the most part, it’s a solid action game with only a few unfortunate flaws.