by Maurice Fitzgerald

Molotov Cocktail

Imagine a joining of two great games, Eidos’ Commando’s – Behind Enemy Lines and Redstorm Entertainment’s Rainbow Six series and you’ll have a picture of Illusion Softworks’ latest title, Hidden and Dangerous. It’s a nice change from the past tactical shooter games in that it’s set not in modern day hot zones, but in historic WWII. You control a team of SAS troopers in WWII Europe, wreaking havoc and mayhem behind German lines.

A couple of weeks ago I was in the mall for the first time since returning from my honeymoon. Now that ‘Operation Tie the Knot’ was successfully completed I was on a one man recon mission to acquire a new game.

I had Hidden and Dangerous and Jagged Alliance 2 in my hands and was trying to decide which one to go with when I remembered all the hype about H&D amongst our readers. So I grabbed it. I love first person shooters and the WWII setting was too much to pass up. Besides it’s been awhile since I’ve written a review. So off I went with the new game in hand, ready to put it through its paces.

Digging In

I had taken a very brief look at the demo when it first became available, so I was a little familiar with the games premise and I really was interested in seeing it in action in the final product. H&D to me looked like what Spec Ops 2 should be; first and third person perspectives, tactical map, 4 team members you can control and a series of challenging tactical missions. I also liked the fact that for once we weren’t dealing with American Special Forces.

Don’t get me wrong, I did my four in the Corps and love the good ol’ US of A. But, just about every game out there is either dealing with US special forces or some fantastical units of mercenaries. For a change we can be one of the elite of another country’s forces, the British SAS. I’m sure our readers in the UK are plenty pleased with that.

Perusing the 58 page manual while the game installed I found a nice smattering of background info on the SAS as well as game play instructions. The other nice thing about the manual is the final 22 pages, titled ‘The Combat Manual.’ This section describes in good detail basic and advanced infantry tactical doctrine. Through a series of diagrams, screen shots and text you are walked through the things that will help keep you alive in the game.

Click to continue

Once the game was done installing I was off and playing. Just as in Rainbow Six you’ll choose your operatives from a pool of around 40 SAS troopers, using up to 8 in a given mission. Each has his own bio, revealing strengths and weaknesses and general abilities. Choosing your team can take time or you could opt to let the computer pick for you. The computer does a good job of giving you the right balance of troops to complete each mission, so to speed things along you can allow the computer to pick your team and even outfit them with weapons.

The game models 20 different infantry weapons ranging from mines to pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles and grenades. Of course you have the standard knife for the up close ‘wet work’ and an assortment of other interesting items to round out your kit.

Items such as binoculars and coding equipment are also included (for coding and decoding enemy code papers) and a camera for taking those momento snapshots of the scenic German countryside. After picking your team and outfitting them its off to the battlefields of WWII Europe to save the free world.

He Who Dares, Wins!

After being first captivated by the secretive British SAS in 1980’s storming of the Iranian Embassy at Princes Gate which was the basis for the movie ‘The Final Option’, I was truly excited at the chance to be a ‘virtual’ SAS trooper. And here I could do it all without the prospect of dealing with the Brecon Beacons or the worry of being dropped, or as the Brits so eloquently put it, getting ‘binned’ from their notoriously rigorous training program.

  Basing the missions around similar ones carried out by SAS troops in WWII, Illusion Softworks has put together a series of 23 missions ranging from tough to near impossible; but all missions can be completed.

The first mission has you crossing a heavily patrolled railway bridge to link up with resistance fighters. You’re crossing this bridge at night during the rain so you’ll have some advantage on your side. Just watch out for the trains, because this is an active railway bridge!

  The first thing I noticed were the excellent graphics. The countryside, bridge and trains were nicely done. But the true standouts were the friendly and enemy soldiers and their movement animations. My soldiers moved with me in true lifelike fashion, fanning out to cover sectors of fire when I paused and mirroring my posture as they followed behind me. Enemy soldiers as well were impressive to watch and wounds and death animations were done believably well. The animations breathe life into the characters, making you feel like you truly are there.

Go to Part Two: