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Head over to our Conflict: Denied Ops video interview with Pivotal’s Terry Watts, where he talks about the differences between the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions and why series veterans shouldn’t be worried by the game’s changes.
Video game fans can be a vicious lot. Tinker slightly with a winning formula and you run the risk of inciting a riot. Take Conflict: Denied Ops, the upcoming near-future army FPS and fifth iteration of the multi-million selling Conflict franchise from Pivotal games, for example. Here, the developer has made a raft of gameplay changes to an established and popular series, running the risk of a riot anyway, and delivered interesting results.
The main bone of contention is that Pivotal has “dumbed down” the series, making it more accessible for casual gamers. The viewpoint has shifted from third-person to FPS, drawing accusations that Pivotal is jumping on the genre bandwagon. The squad size has dropped from four to two, simplifying gameplay, and you’ve got infinite ammo too. There is no argument here – Pivotal admits that despite impressive franchise sales, it has tried to open the Conflict game experience up to a wider audience with its latest incarnation, creating what it calls a “post-pub” shooter.
Playing the latest build of the game, that accessible post-pub feel has certainly been achieved. There’s lots of explosions, and by lots we mean tonnes. Every few seconds it seems some building or structure detonates, sometimes as a result of your fire, and sometimes, well, perhaps it just decided to do it itself just for the hell of it. Pivotal has littered every level with enough exploding barrels to nuke a small country. Shooting them results in impressive explosions, destructible environments and, when you shoot those gas cylinders, realistic swirling craziness before the obligatory BOOM! There’s little time for slow, considered combat here – the whole game feels like trudging through a Michael Bay movie.
Speaking of Michael Bay movies, Conflict: Denied Ops’ premise is about as hammy and clichéd as they come. 28-year-old heavy gunner Reggie Lang and 47-year-old sniper Lincoln Graves are the game’s central playable characters. They are well-hard CIA operatives drafted in by the US government to sort out a Venezuelan uprising. Lang, being the close quarters specialist, is cocky, Graves, the considered, older, sniper, finds him hot-headed and annoying. Cue lots of swearing, trash-talking and the killing of many, many, terrorists.
Some may baulk at the game’s set-up, but if Pivotal is going for a more gung-ho approach with Denied Ops, then it’s a perfect fit, and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. In case you were wondering, the whole Denied Ops bit is because the US government will deny all knowledge of what’s going on in the event everything goes to pot. Just thought that could do with clearing up.
The game’s hook is in its gameplay – you can switch between Lang and Graves at any time and, with a simple press of the left trigger, tell the other character where to go, what to do and, if you’re feeling particularly brutal, force him to get down and do 50 (that’s a joke, but it would be pretty cool). In practice you’ll need to constantly direct your compatriot, otherwise he’ll get left behind, seemingly oblivious to the world around him, which is a constant frustration. And he’s not too smart either, often taking an age to heal you when you’re downed then getting killed because he hasn’t cleared out the area first. Bah.
In general the gameplay won’t require any major head scratching. You’ll be switching between the two, complete with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat style whooshing camera action, employing traditional sniping and close combat techniques to deal with most of the game’s horde of enemies. And it’s here that you can see the “post-pubness” of the game most.
While you can play Denied Ops single-player, you’ll have a fairly uninspiring time doing so. The game has been designed for two-player coop and as such is much better played that way. If you have a mate sitting next to you playing on a single console, the game will split right down the middle on a vertical line. Or you can take it online or system link and have the whole screen to yourself. Either way, it’s the quality of Conflict’s coop that will define the game’s success.
And it’s not bad. It’s good, no brainer fun. It’s more of a laugh than anything. While it can feel quite difficult at first, you’ll soon get used to the pace and control set-up, and you’ll find yourself blasting through enemies like no-one ‘s business.
We got the opportunity to play through the game’s opening levels with a friend to really put the game to the test. It opens in Venezuela, the Santa Cecilia Monastery to be exact, a terrorist stronghold complete with tanks, turrets and a million armed guards. A friendly chopper gets things going with some friendly fire, showing off the game’s destructible environment and physics. Then the two of you pour in, taking out guards with the sniper rifle, if you’re Graves, or the assault rifle if you’re Lang. It’s not long before you’re in and facing more guards.
If your team mate is downed you can heal him by simply going up to him and pressing a button. It takes a bit of time of course, so you might want to clear out the area first. You have a melee attack, a reload, a quick switch between your two weapons and typical right trigger fire. Pressing the left trigger will order your team mate to go to wherever you point your targeting reticule. It’s all pretty basic stuff, and perfectly in keeping with the series’ new direction.
After infiltrating the monastery you need to steal some data then cover your tracks by blowing everything up with explosives. While you do have infinite ammo for your bog-standard weapons, you don’t have infinite grenades, so need to restock regularly at conveniently placed ammo caches. But you’ll never be in a situation where you’ll be stuck for grenades.
After escaping the monastery, you and your chum need to jump into a tank and head for the hills, taking down a chopper and countless goons along the way. Here one drives and one points the cannon and fires. Again it’s decent fun, but won’t have anyone’s jaw dropping.
Pivotal has made a big deal out of Denied Ops’ destructibility, about how you’ll be able to blow up bits of scenery to make DIY sniping positions or surprise enemies by blasting through walls. Certainly the ability to destroy cover and make your own snipe position works, even if when zoomed in there will be odd moments when you’ll have a clear shot on an enemy but the game thinks you are hitting cover point blank. Surprising enemies by blasting through walls we’re not so sure about. The walls we encountered in our time with the game didn’t take too kindly to being blown up.
Comparisons will inevitably be drawn with that other upcoming two-player co-op game, EA’s Army of Two, due out at a similar time to Conflict. We’ll reserve ultimate judgement on which is best till we get our hands on review code, but it seems likely that gamers will want one or the other. One determining factor may be the game’s graphics. While Denied Ops has impressive explosions and things blow up nicely, overall it doesn’t look particularly impressive, and compared directly with other recent high-profile FPSs, like Call of Duty 4, it even looks poor. Only time will tell if this, and other changes to the Conflict series, will prevent it enjoying similar success to its predecessors.
Then there’s the multiplayer side of things, which Pivotal is keeping very close to its chest. As with most modern games, a solid online experience is essential to its success. We’re anxiously awaiting news on how it will work. Until then, Conflict: Denied Ops is a blast with a mate, but won’t set the world on fire. Sigh. Fancy a drink anyone?
Conflict: Denied Ops is scheduled for release on February 8 2008 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Head over to our Conflict: Denied Ops video interview with Pivotal’s Terry Watts, where he talks about the differences between the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions and why series veterans shouldn’t be worried by the game’s changes.
