The game's graphics are looking quite sharp, thanks to Zombie's effective use of the Unreal 2 graphics engine. The two environments we saw featured an impressive scale and a respectable amount of action that moved at a decent clip. The first stage started out in a jungle and concluded around a massive bridge over a river. The level offered a good amount of detail, courtesy of rich textures that gave the forest a very solid organic look. The second level we saw represented a better example of the cinematic feel the team is aiming for, as it opened up with a nod to Black Hawk Down by having your helicopter crash into an enemy city. The ensuing action was hectic and very immersive.

Soldner uses a terrifically dynamic advanced destruction system that allows players to destroy nearly every object in the environment. Though there's no real terrain deformation involved, the fact that you can shoot through doors, fences, trees and even buildings makes the battlefield an even scarier place. Better still, it keeps the pressure on campers who like to hide out on the upper floors of a building and snipe you through the window. (Snipers will be further limited in power by the fact that the game will not allow one-shot kills. A minimum of two shots will be required to take out an enemy soldier.)

You play as one in Soldner's single player campaign of over 250 dynamic mission types. You'll also play as one in the game's ambitious 32-player online multiplayer mode. And that's when the real fun starts in a variety of flavors: deathmatch, capture the flag, hostage rescue, assassination or conquest, just to name a few.

Moving troops from cover to cover, making sure they're covering all sectors as much as possible and keeping one eye open for the unexpected is your job. Your soldiers will react and respond more positively to your commands if you're consistently making the right decisions and keeping them out of hot water. If you make lots of mistakes and keep putting them in danger they'll curse and begrudgingly respond to your commands. They'll always execute your commands because you're the leader and it will always be done in a timely manner, but you'll know what your troops think about your leadership.

Most importantly, you'll be able to play the game cooperatively. The main campaigns put you in control of two, four-man teams. During co-op play, you'll command one squad while your teammate controls the other. This will no doubt lead to some exciting gameplay, especially when you consider the way voice chat affects the ability to strategize.

When you play through a mission, a replay of your run is automatically recorded. As is possible in many RTS titles, you can watch these replays using a VCR-like interface to help develop tactics. Thankfully, these replays can be sent through Xbox Live for all to download and watch. This alone is a cool enough feature, right? Well, what if I told you that at any point, in any replay, it's possible to resume that game and play. For example, if your friend was having problems with a section of a certain level, he could send you his replay. You could pick up at any point in the match, beat the problem section, and send that replay back to you friend. He could choose to pick up where you left off, or go back, watch your technique, and try to mimic it himself.

Alas, the game is what it is and as of this writing it’s fun, but it could have been an all-time favorite. Strong level design, good graphics, excellent action and tactical controls and considerable depth all add up to something worth buying. Even subtracting the wonky first-person shooter controls, grade A bugs and iffy AI still isn’t enough to knock the shine off this diamond in the rough.

Because despite the bugs, wonky controls, and curious design decisions Hidden & Dangerous 2 is a dizzying amount of fun. There is an amazing variety to the missions, the action is intense, and the replay value is huge. The array of things to shoot, drive, and interact with is staggering and keeps everything fresh. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, they throw something else at you. The maps are almost entirely open so each mission can be approached from any number of directions with any number of strategies. You can also play the title several different ways using the traditional third-person action mode, the tactical mode, or a sliding combination of the two.