Yet another H&D preview [22:06:03 EDT] by - Rush
Saw over on TacticalPlanet that HotGames has put up a tiny preview of Hidden & Dangerous. They give it 4 out of 5 flames. :)

Here's the whole thing:

Looks like developers are using all this new technology to make the grim realities of war even more real on our computer screens. Just look at Hidden and Dangerous - put your PC monitor next to your TV screen while the news is on and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. This is a game all about the gritty life of being a mercenary, but without having to eat rations and paint shoe polish on your face.

The game world plays in true 3D, with your view changing from first person to an outside perspective to let you get the best look at the action. In gameplay terms though the first person viewpoint plays the best, but don't go expecting a super fast Quake-style blast fest - the action plays a lot slower and is more strategical than id's magnum opus. Players can move around on foot and use vehicles should one appear on the beautifully textured horizon, making the large mission areas easily explorable.

Like many new games in the genre these days, running around blasting everything in sight usually ends up with you getting outnumbered and killed within seconds. The best way to play is by with stealth - using the cover provided and not being seen as you complete the mission objectives is the order of the day. If you think you can stand being hidden for so long, this game can get dangerously addictive.

Ooh, nice pun at the end, eh? :) There is a bit more to the preview (standard screenshots from the Illusion Softworks web site and demo links), so do check it out.

Private Wars site [08:16:38 EDT] by - Rush
The official Private Wars web site has gone online, with all you need to know about this game from TS Group Inc.

Here's a quick run-down on what the game is about:

Private Wars takes place not in fictional game universe of mega-corporations and hideous villains, but in our real world of 1990s. If you think there's not too many exciting places to go and people to meet in real world, you are definitely wrong. In this game, you'll deal with a dozen of various threats, from sinister barons of Colombian drug empires to the Middle Eastern terrorists. Industrial espionage, VIP kidnappings, border conflicts... the stuff you see on your TV every morning. Now you have a chance to deal with a real enemy instead of alien aggressors.

The game begins with you, as a former secret service executive, founding a private mercenary agency doing any small-scale para-military operations. Your primary goal is to make money, and you cannot make money by picking and choosing. You work on whatever pays well, and your VIP clients are sure ready to pay, if you do your job right. If you don't do it right, you're in serious trouble.

Be sure to check out the media link for some pretty cool-looking screenshots, many at 1600x1200. Nice textures & modeling. There are also links for FAQ, Features, Forum, Game info, etc.

The Illusion Softworks web page updated [05:41:57 EDT] by - Rush
The Illusion Softworks web page has been updated with some new items, the best of which is the news that a new H&D demo will be out in 1-2 weeks! Besides the last demo having that huge 32 meg AVI file in it, the game code itself was old, so I'm highly anticipating this new demo.

Also new on the site is more review links (all of which we already covered here at SpecForce), updated FAQs, and a report from E3.  "Check it out!" :)

Talonsoft's H&D page [04:06:31 EDT] by - Rush
I finally got around to browsing Talonsoft's Hidden & Dangerous page and there is a lot of great info on the game like the feature set, background story and of course screenshots and movies of the game in action. Some of the screenshots look to be new (or at least, I haven't seen them before...)

I'm guilty of not visiting the forums as much as I should. But I did today, and saw some great new info on Zombie's Spec Ops 2: Green Berets.

Firstly, Spec Ops oldtimer (and fellow beta-tester) Mike Thompson has actually scored an alpha of SO2 as was shown at E3! Read his comments on it in the forum.

Also, the forum over at CombatSim.com has been flowing with Spec Ops2 news and screenshots. Here's the quick link to the message. Great info here folks, even a few posts from Zombie's Mark Long himself.

Another H&D preview [19:16:57 EDT] by - Rush
I missed this day-of, but 3Dgaming has put up a preview (and obligatory screenshots, none of which are new, but they're still cool) of Illusion Softworks' upcoming action-strategy shooter, Hidden & Dangerous.

Once again, a review surfaces that misses Zombie's Spec Ops' influence on the genre, and they again compare it to Rainbow 6 (I suppose because of the 'map screen' in H&D.)

Here's a bit on how you have to choose the right man for the job:

With limited troops as well (4 men for each mission, remember) you really must be careful. Do you send a sniper into the mysterious fog to take potshots? Or do you use the stealth of one of your men to find them first? Your men are limited. Some have skills other don't even consider worth boasting. One may have an eye for a snipe, while the other may be able to creep past just feet from an enemy soldier undetected. Each man has a different purpose, and each purpose must be consumed with great care as to provide you with the best resources for the task in hand.

News from the front [10:04:19 EDT] by - Rush
Ok, a bit late on all of these, but here goes:

Hiya!!!!!

thanks for your interest in HD and sending us your report. We get thousands of emails, so below I have prepared some deep FAQ, you will find your answers there.

Here we go:

DEMO - this demo was quite old, some magazines have it on the CD and web magazines just grabbed it and posted. They could delete that 35MEG AVI file, I think...

What is updated in the new demo (some magazines will put on the CD and we will of course at our www.illusionsoftworks.com tell links where to download it) or final version:

1. all controls redefinable, incl. mouse invert
2. improved AI
3. Dead soldiers fall down properly
4. Map improved
5. Code improved, works better, does not crash, support all cards
6. Difficulty settings (easy, normal, hard)
7. Save feature, limited, but included
8. Aiming cross from 3rd person added
9. Setup works well
10. And lots of small improvements

To your next questions:
1. Release - June Europe, July USA (really soon, isn't it?? :)
2. How to pickup stuff from dead soldiers - easy, come close and press U (use key)
3. Invert mouse - not possible in the old demo, but already implemented in the code (I had no idea how important is to include mouse flipping, but when I played Sin and someone redefined my mouse, I understood..)
4. How to zoom (sniper, binoculars) - easy, hold rights mouse button and move the mouse forwards and backwards)
5. Save - in the final version yes
6. How to use cars and drive them - press U when standing close to the doors and use arrow keys to accelerate. There is no fuel in the demo, so you cant drive anything, sorry
7. Cheat - we cant tell you, sorry
8. How to climb the ladder - stand close to it and press U

That's it
Best
Petr Vochozka, managing director

Many thanks to Petr for keeping us up to date.

Delta Force 2 shots! [00:42:02 EDT] by - Rush
Voodoo Extreme is reporting that Delta-Force2.com has scored some screen pics of Novalogic's Delta Force 2, showing off their latest voxel-based game engine.

There's a small typo in the review as posted (not my fault :) The paragraph should read:

Of the first campaign, only the first 2 missions are in the demo, but they give you a very good idea of how the rest of the game will be. These first 2 menus are done very nicely, with scrolling clouds in the background of the menus, and very nice graphics throughout. There are also buttons for Mission Status which shows your current available inventory and Soldier Info. Solder info shows their abilities (see below), and a little background info on the soldier such as their military background, medals won, etc.

Here's a snip of how the first level starts:

The first level puts you alongside the banks of a raging river, amidst a heavy rainfall. For those of you that played SpecOps when it first came out, this is very reminiscent of the feeling given by the beginning of the first Jungle mission. The sounds are perfect, as are the graphics. It's really incredible. Sounds far away are drowned out by the heavy rainfall. The river races along at a frenzied pace. Stepping too far into it will result in the loss of a teammate at the hands of the current.

He's also got 26(!!) awesome screen snaps as well, showing off the weather effects, lighting, explosions, enemy troops, scenery, etc.

Note: Netscape has some trouble viewing the pages of the review, so you might want to print out the article, or use block select (Hit CTRL-A), to highlight the text so you can read it... (Or use IE... :)

Luke: How will Spec Ops 2 prove itself to be even more realistic than past efforts?

JW: We will have a lot more tactical element in SO2. For example, if you wound an enemy, they may decide to retreat, and, depending on the mission location, you may be able to follow their footsteps or blood trail to prevent them from alerting the rest of the forces. Of course the AI will be able to follow your footsteps and blood.

We also have hit specific targeting, 1 shot to the head will usually be a kill, but it will take several hits to the torso and many hits to the arm/leg.

We have flashlights that you can use, laser sites, binoculars, fire, better explosions and more weapons.

Again, we are using real world weapon sounds and texture maps as well as all mo-cap data, real world locations, authentic uniforms and voices.

Do check out the article. There's one great part that describes the various mission locations and the scenery that you will see there. Plus there are 2 never-before-seen SO2 screenshots, one in the German shipyard, and one in a bunker (ala' Delta Force. :), probably in Pakistan.

H&D preview [21:30:40 EDT] by - Rush
GameCenter has a preview (with screenshots) of the current fav, Hidden & Dangerous.

We already know the game takes place during W.W.II, so here's a bit about how the missions actually play out:

You are charged with leading a quartet of commandos on a wide variety of covert missions, from sabotaging enemy operations to eliminating key officials within the Nazi hierarchy. During the briefing stage, you will be presented with a short overview of the mission, which includes a fully narrated 3D tour around the prospective target, intelligence concerning likely enemy resistance, and proposed entry and exit points. It is then up to you to determine the best way to accomplish the mission, deciding, among other things, which commandos are best suited for the mission at hand and how they should be employed. Depending upon the mission locale and your goals, the team is then inserted via parachute drop, dispatched from a submarine, or unloaded from a seaplane within striking range of their immediate objective.

I'm still making my way thru the H&D demo, and hope to post a mini-review of it soon.. Stay tuned!

H&D demo finally [03:38:19 EDT] by - Rush
Ok, sad as this is, I just got done downloading this damn thing! So much for 56K. :)  But jeez, they could have left out the 35 meg AVI file! 28 megs of the zip file was just for that. They should have released the AVI in a separate file to DL at a later time or something.. Thank goodness for ReGet. It took me over 24 hrs and 5 calls to my ISP to get this demo!

Plus it didn't help that the Q3test was released on the same day. I'm sure a lot of bandwidth was being sucked down with everyone grabbing that...

Case in point is that Avault has posted a demo of Illusion Softworks' Hidden & Dangerous! Its a bit on the hefty size at 73MB, but what the heck, the game looks like it'll be pretty cool.

Here's a snip from the article:

The game itself operates a great deal like cross between Rainbow Six and Commandos. You control a team of four soldiers that you can switch between any time you like. Each of your units can run, walk, kneel, crouch-walk and lie prone in addition to firing their weapons. The game can be played either from a first person point of view that is almost identical to Zombie's Spec Ops, or you can jump into a first person action mode that looks more like Rainbow Six or Delta Force.

The article is a good read (and I gotta admit, the back-story sounds pretty neat), and the pics are very cool as well.. killer sky and very clean textures.

Here's a snip that caught my eye:

SimHQ: What type of new technologies will be utilized in SO2?

John Williamson: We have hit specific targeting (one shot to the head should take down anyone, but it will take multiple hits to the chest or limbs). Blood, footprints, debris and bullet holes. Spot lights (see the screen shots), dynamic lights. Stealth components, so you have to be careful to stay out of the lights, be quiet, etc. Some of each mission will involve timing your entry to avoid patrols, wait for open doors etc. Sort of "Thief" meets "Metal Gear Solid". You can of course just shoot your way in, if that is the style of gameplay you are after, but you have to be a really good shot, really good...