Iron Storm

I have to disagree with the first two reviewers, even though everyone is entitled to their own opinion. My experience of the game was made more difficult by the fact I had the Polish language version, I was working over there at the time. I don't speak Polish so in game info was useless but I stil managed to progress and complete this title. As to the game itself. If you prefer FSP's where you load up and keep every new weapon as you find it (HL and Quake/Doom) and it is just a case of generally blasting through then this title is not for you. If I remember correctly you are limited to two main weapons. There are a variety of weapons throughout the game and not every section has each main weapon or ammo for it. So you have to think about what you use and carry through. The snipers are annoying but that is the point. They are not positioned haphazard but realistically covering a specific point and as in real life are deadly. This presents a challenge, which again is the point. There is quite a variety in the areas/sections giving you different challenges to overcome with some set pieces to add to the mix. There is a good story to the game with a twist or two at the end. This adds to the overall fun factor and as I said early if you only want a blaster then forget this. Overall a good game which is fun and challenging.

The concept, art, and story are terrific, but the difficulty is insane. I used to think i was good at shooters, then I played Iron Storm. This game schooled me so often and so effectively, I now routinely flinch from even the hint of a sniper in any other game. I still enjoyed it, mostly for the concept, art, and story.

The atmosphere in the game is very good. The story is original. You find yourself constantly looking around expecting new enemies to pop up or snipers to shoot you. The AI is good, enemies are sometimes waiting for you, take cover and sometimes come out of it together to attack you. At times they attack you from various sides simultaneously. They try to get away from grenades you throw. As a result you move around carefully and slowly move forward, looking around at times. Fortunately you can lean around corners. The variety in maps and gameplay is great. You start in base and once you leave it, you're in a WWI trench. For some reason you automatically start crouching through it. Later on you get into the enemy's base, an enemy facility, go underground, etc. I loved the train level where you start on a train, go in it, get on it, etc. It really felt confined. At times you have to be a sniper, play stealthy with a handgun with silencer, or simply use heavy fire power. The mix of weapons is great. Every situation has a weapon suitable for it. All in all a very good game with an original story, a nice variety of weapons, nice maps and a good AI. As for the snipers, 1 shot is enough to get killed, but that goes both ways. Nevertheless they are at positions where you can expect them, such as guard towers or behind you. Saving regularly is highly adviced! Beware of suicide bomber dogs!

Iron storm was one of those games that had a great concept and a decent story which sucked you in with it's bleak outlook on war. That being said the game is a kin to if Half-Life and the original Tomb Raider married and had a bastard kid that carried all their defects. The game itself was tactical and allowed you to only carry certain weapons that fit into the overall scheme. A sniper rifle took the place of an assault rifle and so on so you constantly have to balance your weaponry in an attempt to be ready for the enemies rushing at you. The most fustrating part is the insta-death that happened in the game which was a kin to the same as Half-Life. So much as catching a bit of blast back from a grenade could kill you and it had a nasty habit of saving right before you entered a location that kept killing you over and over just like Tomb Raider. Your best bet is multiple games saves in different slots so you can back track. This game asks no quarter when it comes to death and combat you will die an incredibly large amount of times from proxy mines. Grenades, rocket launchers all which have shot fuses and in the case of the rocket launcher a fast load time so they will keep pummeling you with them unless you reload and use a different save. I feel the price is worth it though as it had a few gem moments like sneaking into an enemy base to pretend your a prisoner or engaging one of the heavily armored Siberian brothers. If you can tolorate the grind then I recommend it as a bargain purchase.