by Tim - May 31, 2004

Wouldn�t it be great if wars could be fought with video games? Wouldn�t it be even better if you could fight in a battle that took place just weeks ago in a video game? Well now you can, with Kuma Reality Games� KUMAWAR.

Taking Shooters to the Next Level

When you buy a shooter nowadays, you play all the missions and then all you can do is go back and play the same missions again or play the multiplayer part of the game. Both get old eventually. With KUMAWAR, you don�t have to worry about running out of missions. Each week, a new mission is released based on a real-life event. Most of the current missions are about Iraq or Afghanistan, but the developers are constantly working on new missions to add to the game.

Although KUMAWAR is supposed to be as realistic as possible, there were some things that I didn�t like about the gameplay. For instance, when playing single-player you have a squad of soldiers and you can rotate between them. It�s important to give squad commands, otherwise your squad members will get themselves shot�really easily. In a real combat situation, I don�t think any soldier would just stand around and let himself get shot.

Something else I found irritating was that my soldiers couldn�t lean around corners to see what was there. Games today like Rainbow Six 3 allow you to lean out and see what�s there before you run out in an open alley without seeing what�s coming up. In KUMAWAR, there were many times when I had to guess what was around the corner because I couldn�t see ahead of time, usually resulting in losing one of my men.

On the plus side, the storylines in the missions are accurately detailed, and each mission is narrated with a �briefing� before you actually play. KUMA even has its own military analyst.

As I said before, squad commands are imperative to winning missions. You must rely on your squad members and their special weapons to advance through the mission. For instance, in some levels the enemy will have a lot of snipers that could easily pick off your men if they get too close, so you�ll have to use your own sniper to take them out before your men are in range. Your soldiers will also have an array of weapons that they can use, including automatic rifles, rocket launchers, pistols, grenades, and even knives. You even get to play as the Iraqis in some missions!

A little outdated for �Modern Warfare�

The graphics in KUMAWAR really didn�t appeal to me. After playing games like Painkiller and Unreal Tournament 2004, I had a hard time getting the �realistic� feeling from KUMAWAR. The graphics just weren�t smooth�and they just didn�t look right. It looked like the developers could�ve spent more time on models or just used a better engine.

One good feature however was the ability to switch between first and third person. On top of that, a new mission recently came out which used night-vision (props to Kuma Reality Games for the night missions!).

But one might ask�why pay ten dollars a month to play something with outdated graphics when you could just play America�s Army for free?

Not exaclty the best sound

The thing I really didn�t like about this game was the sound. The music didn�t seem like it was too well thought out. Even worse though were the sound effects. They didn�t give me a realistic feeling. The voiceovers were kind of dry�the enemies dying got old real quick. If you can look past the sound though, the idea of playing out a real-life event makes up for it.

What about the enemy�s point of view?

The cool thing about KUMAWAR is that the multiplayer allows you to play either as the good guys OR the bad guys. You can play co-op missions against the computer, against other real-life opponents, or play tournament-style �Red on Blue� deathmatch games.

The downside to the multiplayer however is that it was done through GameSpy Arcade. It also unfortunately doesn�t have a rating system. If you can look past GameSpy Arcade and can actually find a game to join or get one started yourself, the it�s quite a lot of fun.

Real News, Real Missions, Real Fun?

KUMAWAR allows you to play missions that actually happened, and they give you a ton of information about each mission, full with briefings, news reports, and other details about the mission and the real-life event that it�s based on. They even include real movie clips. It all sounds good on paper, but in reality (no pun intended), most gamers don�t really care about all the news and briefings, they just want to get straight to the action. I found myself skipping most of the mission briefings and just going straight to the mission.

The best part about this game however is the ability for unlimited missions, with no limits to the timeline. Kuma Reality Games recently released the Iran Hostage Mission. What�s next? Kosovo? Chechnya? The Israeli wars? Korea? The possibilities for future missions are limitless, as long as the developers continue to make new missions.

What's a KUMA anyway?

Overall, KUMAWAR is a decent shooter. It�s definitely not up to par with its current competitors as far as graphics and sound, but it offers something unique to the action genre, and it will keep you interested by releasing a new mission every week. As for what KUMA means�that�s something I guess we�ll never know.