Conflict: Denied Ops
Gung-ho gameplayConflict: Denied Ops is certainly a bit of blast-a-thon at times (or it was in the level demonstrated) but don't think of it as being like Doom; one can just run around and fire away at anything that moves (or doesn't move, but more of that in a moment), but there's sufficient room in the gameplay to permit a more calm and reflective approach. Each character's primary weapon has unlimited ammo but special stuff, such as grenades or rockets, is limited - and you're soon called upon to use them.
Grenade targeting has been streamlined, replicating the squad commands, in that projectiles land precisely where one aims them to - it's apparently been a bit of sore issue for the developers that in games with the very best weapon experts known in the military, all that training and ability vanished into thin air the moment it comes to lobbing a grenade somewhere. If you can see your target, you'll hit it, spot on - if not, then there's always the chance you could bounce it off a wall or something.
Speaking of seeing things, there are lots of nice touches abound in the game: the squad member being controlled by the PC will perform sensible moves when being ordered around, and not just blindly obeying your orders. He'll take cover, return fire, and check prone bodies with his foot to ensure that they're really dead. NPCs will act in a similar manner: better soldiers will hide behind pillars or crates, whereas numpties will charge in. Me make booooom!A key feature of the title is the level of destruction the environment can take: it's not 100% everything but, for the most part, you can make an unholy mess out of the play area. And not just for the sheer sake of it: sniping is rather fun when you pop a small hole in a wall first, then shoot through it to take out an unsuspecting commander. With only the one level demonstrated, it's too hard to tell what aspects of the gameplay are substantially aided by this feature - for example, many buildings can be blown to pieces but it's not clear whether falling debris injures enemy troops or not. There's more to the game than just hoofing around on foot too: towards the end of the shown level, our two heroes jump into a tank and set off causing total mayhem. Note that they don't both have to be in the vehicle but a solitary character is only able to drive or shoot.
Graphically, Denied Ops isn't cutting edge but it's decent enough: the screenshots in this preview are from the Xbox 360 version and the PC/PS3 are expected to be the same. Animations and explosions are done well, and even the ubiquitous bloom isn't too bad. It's not clear if the PC version will sport higher resolution textures than the console versions, but the level of detail should on par. Conflict: Denied Ops isn't a completely new direction for the series - the underlying core that made the previous titles so successful is still there, but the fiddly parts of squad management and storyline take a firm second place to gameplay. At the very least, it looks like fun, especially in co-op mode, and while it's more likely to be a bigger hit on the consoles, PC gamers could certainly do a lot worse. Currently pegged for release in "Spring 2008", the demo level was extremely polished, with good AI and clean graphics; all of which bodes well for the full release.
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