by Scott - February 28, 2005 You are the squad leader of two U.S. Army squads sent in to Zekistan along with Coalition Forces to depose of the brutal dictator Al-Afad. Using the tactics of fire and maneuver, you must keep your men alive as well as the lives of others. So mount up soldiers! Check your corners and lines of fire!

Move! Move! Move!

When you start playing Full Spectrum Warrior, you�ll realize it isn�t your standard kind of, well, FSW has its own little niche. FSW is a blend of several genres that you�d think would either scare away new players or make the older players says �Nothing good�. Well, FSW doesn�t disappoint new or old players. It comes forward with a fresh style of gameplay as well as an experience that you�d find in the movies.

So what is FSW all about? It looks like a copy of the movie Black Hawk Down except with out Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore. You play as the squad leader of the two squads Alpha and Bravo (and sometimes Charlie depending on the mission). Now you don�t play as designated character, but as all eight men under your command. Each man has a job, a personality, and a skill. The personality traits of these men seem to bring you closer to them, which makes you take special care when sending them into the fight.

Now, playing FSW is pretty simple. In fact, you can pretty much play without little or no keyboard control. Your mouse is what you�ll be using the most of. Your left mouse button gives a fire sector to your squad, which makes them cover an area that is marked by the large circle on your screen. Holding down the mouse button orders them to suppress that area, which drains their ammo quickly. Your scroll wheel functions as the zoom and clicking it (if you can) changes your squads. The right mouse button gives a movement order, with the left mouse button giving the order, or holding it down allows them to �bound� move, two men move, two cover their approach. The rest of the controls are on your keyboard, which isn�t a lot of, which allows you to concentrate on the issue at hand, the fight!

FSW provides a full training session of MOUNT missions (complete with sensor equipped �laser tag� gear) to get you familiar with the controls and tactics of the game. I heavily recommend doing this first, as you�ll learn that there is more than the standard �move your guys there and shoot�.

I�m pretty sure I can fill pages upon pages on the tactics of FSW and how to go about doing them, but the essential idea is �fire and maneuver�. That is, fixing your target and maneuvering your other squad to a position to hit the target�s flank. Simple enough right? Well doing this in a third-world city with small alleyways, open streets, run-down buildings, and burned out cars makes it tougher than usual. You�ll have to use your GPS, reconnaissance helicopter, and head to plan out your routes of attack and to take maximum advantage of cover. Be careful, however, as that car or sofa your team will be using for cover can degrade and then become more of a danger then protection under fire!

You�re probably wondering what kind of squads you have under you command and how effective they are in combat. Well, you are not left with green soldiers with peashooters. Your men will be using the powerful M-16 and the M-249 Squad Assault Weapon (SAW). One of your men�s M-16 is armed with the M203 grenade launcher, giving your squad a decent, hard hitting punch in combat.
 

Incredible Detail

FSW looks just plain beautiful. No wait, I take that back. FSW looks dirty, gritty, bloody, and harsh, the way it should be. Your locale, a Middle East setting, means dirt roads, hot weather (you can see the heat blur effect from the ground) and of course, dark and dull colors with some bright colors. This isn�t meant to look like a nice place to live; it is supposed to make you feel like you�re really there. That aside, the detail in FSW is amazing.

Each of your soldiers look different, with accurately modeled gear appropriated on them, as well as their weapons and their surroundings. What I think impressed me the most was the blur effect for objects and people a distance away, much like real vision. It adds a feeling of depth and distance to the game that I guarantee will be very well liked by your eyes.

It goes without saying that you�ll a decent system to run FSW on the full settings, but it is well worth it to get the full experience. However, be prepared for a low frame rate when cranking up the visuals.
 

Sounds Of War

I love sound. In fact I�ve made several purchases to increase my sound experience and to get the full benefit of my sound card. Using 5.1 surround sound with FSW is a pure treat. Listening to the rattling of machine gun fire in the distance while your men sprint across open territory makes your ears and heart pound.

The music doesn�t come in a lot, which is great since you�ll want to listen for gunfire and any hints of enemies nearby. It has a hint of Hans Zimmer inspiration from Black Hawk Down and Middle Eastern influence to bring you to the mood of where you are.

I do have some problems though, there are times where your men won�t talk but their mouth is moving, or their speech will cutout. This happens every now and then, but it�s there. Also, the sound of your M-249 and M-16s don�t seem to sound threatening enough. Other than that though, you will not be displeased with the overall sound of FSW.
 

Got a Buddy?

You can play FSW online through the in-game browser which is quite fun. It only allows two players, with each player controlling a squad. This style of gameplay really encourages teamwork and most importantly, a headset. Although it can be stressful at some times, you learn together how to overcome your enemy.
 

After Action Report

Full Spectrum Warrior is a game unto itself that deserves worthy attention from all types of gamers. I recommend picking it up for a nice change of pace from those meticulous RTS's and fast-paced FPS's. With two bonus missions, hidden codes, and varying modes of play, FSW is bound to keep you entertained for a long time.