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When
Full Spectrum Warrior was released last year it proved that
military based Shooters didn’t have to follow the tried-and-tested
Third-Person Control System, and that a strategic title had a place
on home consoles. Although you never directly fired any shots,
instead simply instructing your squad,  Full
Spectrum Warrior was still strangely compelling and earned
itself respectable reviews across the board. Given the critical and
financial success of the original, the release of a sequel seems
hardly shocking. Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers boasts
improved control, vehicular combat and new Squad Management options,
but is it enough to fix the problem of occasionally
less-than-engaging gameplay that plagued the original?
As
with the original, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers’
presentation is of a good standard. Levels feature a cinematic
approach similar to that used in many modern war films. However, it
is not quite as polished as the original, specifically because of
some minor graphical issues. As you might expect, despite a few
minor changes, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers’ gameplay
is very similar to the original. Typically you take control of two
four-man infantry squads, with each member fulfilling a  different
role, such as Grenadier or Automatic Rifleman, and must battle
through several fairly realistic scenarios in a fictional location
in the
Middle East
.
Just
as in the original, players control their squad’s movement through
a context-sensitive cursor. Cover must be used to advance and
friends and enemies behind cover are considered invulnerable to
gunfire. The strategic use of cover is critical to the success of
any
Mission
as any sustained fire-fight will result in members of your squad
becoming wounded and a liability to your squad. When an enemy is
encountered in Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers, the game
does a good job of encouraging the player to take realistic action
rather than the typical gung-ho attitude that frequents most
Third-Person Action games. Typically, on encountering an enemy, your
team should be instructed to take cover behind a solid object and
you can then take a variety of different paths to attack your foes.
Your team can then be ordered to fire in the enemies direction,
forcing them into cover and setting them up to be flanked by  your
second team. You can also attempt to flush them out with a grenade,
advance under the cover of smoke or attempt a precision-shot. There
are a variety of tactics you can employ for each situation but it is
usually clear which approach would be most efficient.
Full
Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers has introduced a few other
features other than precision-shooting. On occasion players will be
asked to control a third team; an armoured vehicle or indigenous
scout. These are controlled in a similar manner to your infantry
squads and can be used to support your squads through reconnaissance
or superior armour and firepower, similar to the UAV and other
support offered in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced
Warfighter. Infantry squads
can now be split into two-man Buddy Teams allowing even more
tactical options. Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers also
induces a solid Multi-Player element on XboxLIVE! that can be
played Co-Operatively.
Despites
it’s innovations, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers
doesn’t seem as good as the original, nor does the formula as
fresh as it did last year. Although the Control System is quite good
for a strategic console game, it still seems quite sluggish
considering the amount of options available. The Levels are also not
particularly inventive with most conflicts appearing to have a quite
obvious path to take. There is also the fact that although you view
the action from the third-person, the action seems quite distant,
possibly due to the fact that the player never actually directly
fires any weapons except the Grenade Launcher.
Although
the character animation appears to have been improved since the
original, the graphics are not as polished. This has resulted in
many cases of Polygon Pop-Up and Cross Pollination, a sizable flaw
in this otherwise well presented title. However, Full Spectrum
Warrior: Ten Hammers still managed to present it’s self in a
respectable manner, just not  as
well as it could have done on a console nearing the end of it’s
life. Most of the voice-acting however, is good and mostly
believable. The gunfire and other sound effects are also of the kind
of quality you would expect from a title of this status. Music is
the usual militarily-themed orchestral Score, but is as forgettable
as other titles of this ilk.
Full
Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers earns itself some respect because
of it’s original style of play. However, with its strategic
emphasis it is definitely not a game for everybody. The added
options have unfortunately resulted in the title seeming overly
complex to play and as such gameplay can become frustrating.
However, for those who can overcome the control barrier and enjoy a
thinking man’s Military Strategy/Shooter game, Full Spectrum
Warrior: Ten Hammers is well worth a look.
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