Review: Operation Shadow
Score:
63%
Version Reviewed: 1.00
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After surviving the N-Gage game drought of 2004 my first purchase was Torus Games' Ashen and I had a grand old time. For me it was exactly what I needed at just the right time. When I finished it I was so pleased with Torus that I bought their second N-Gage title, Operation Shadow as well. While I did have fun with it, I have to say I no longer have any special faith in Torus.
The first thing one must get over with Operation Shadow is that there is no espionage in this title whatsoever. It is a classic run and gun like the arcade games of old, despite its Clancy-esque title... it's actually a pretty fun one. You're equipped with your machine gun, grenades, and a bazooka and are sent on a connected series of missions, blasting insurgent forces and destroying their command centers, bunkers, and barracks. This is all well and good but the interesting twist that makes the title a little more unique is that it also contains a horde of usable vehicles. There are hovercraft, helicopters, tanks, armored personal carriers, Hummers, and even goofy looking pointless little war equipped dune buggies like in Chuck Norris' Delta Force. This plentiful supply of vehicles really helps fill out the gameplay experience and adds a nice variety to the game. Also, it's not just one per level; you will often be presented with more than one and will have to choose the right vehicle for completing the mission.
Beyond these niceties the graphics are pretty solid too. The mountains don't suddenly appear from nowhere and the deformation used on 3D objects while certainly extreme does its job fairly well and keeps frame rates pretty high. The camera is never an issue and the animation of your character, the vehicles and your enemies all work pretty well.
All in all the game flows pretty nicely and is only really marred by the occasionally sluggish controls, very high difficulty ("Snow Wolves Mission 4" tripped me up for days and I'm no gaming weenie), and a lack of bosses. To me the really big thing here is the lack of bosses. I've been gaming since the Pong era and I have to say that bosses are an integral part of a good action game. They give dramatic climax to the levels and really give a feeling of success when they are defeated. Sadly, Operation Shadow all but completely lacks them. No big cigar smoking baddie hosing you from within his tank or massive robot spider marching across the terrain firing missiles in this title. Perhaps these things spoil realism, but Operation Shadow isn't trying for realism and the lack of them is a real blow to the games fun value. If they had just had four or five big destructable bosses/vehicles like in Ikari Warriors or the 1940's series it could have been a big winner and maybe a must have, but they just aren't there. Instead the game feels a little stale by the end when you're just facing soldiers and tanks of different colors instead of new interesting enemies and challenges. To be fair the objectives of the levels and the use of vehicles to complete objectives does change up the experience enough to keep it interesting but I think the end bosses could have made it great.
In the end Operation Shadow honestly looks and plays like a modern day tribute to the Capcom arcade classic Commando. It's good but not great. It will likely entertain most players, as long as you don't get frustrated too quickly with its difficulty. Unfortunatly Operation Shadow isn't going to be terribly memorable even for those who enjoy it.
Reviewed by Chris Rydberg at