* Squad based tactical shooter with next generation military action in stunning 3D environments

* Mission driven – Up to 20 different 400m x400m maps including dedicated multi-player arenas

* Up to 32 players in multi-player mode, full modem, LAN and Broadband support

* Special hidden characters for players to rescue and recruit to their squads

* Easy to use and on-the-fly planning interface gives the player total control over squad members

* Utilizes latest military hardware including the OICW combat system and the Land Warrior communications system

I then began to flesh out the mission flow of the game using the Kuwait invasion as the first campaign. This seemed like the most obvious start for the game even though the time gap between the actual invasion of Kuwait and the Allied coalition's war against Iraq was a couple of months. The second campaign was based around the SAS and Delta Force's daring raids behind enemy lines to destroy Saddam's Scud missile launchers. The third centred on the ground war and the fourth and last was to be situated in Baghdad itself. Although no Special Forces soldier was sent to Baghdad during the Gulf-war (Or so they say!) I thought that this would be an exciting way to finish the game.

In Ghost Recon, however, the action has been moved--for the most part--into open countryside. Yes, there are cities and villages you must enter, and once you reach them you'll once again have to overcome some nasty surprises in the form of hidden gunmen and deadly snipers. But where Ghost Recon seems to achieve its greatest levels of tension are in the missions that send you across open country: You know full well the enemy is out there, but you've got no other choice but to advance as safely and as effectively as possible.

Well, what can I say. It is the ultimate soldier sim, but it doesn't end there. You can also control a host of varying vehicles, including, but certainly not limited to trucks, tanks,personnel carriers, patrol boats, helicopters, jeeps and jets. All use the same interface and controls as the normal soldier. Most vehicles have multiple positions players can get into, making multiplayer warfare even better, with you being able to group up with some buddies to do some damage in a tank, helicopter or even an A10!

PCZ: Generally, what can we expect from Soldier Of Fortune 2? More of the same gore 'n' guns action or do you have other treats in store for us?

RAVEN: The first game was well received, both in terms of sales and reviews. So of course we are going to bring back all the elements that people liked in the first game. We are expanding the terrain system (the train level from the first game), making the weapons more realistic as well as the characters. We do have some surprises in store; the random mission generator for one. We want to try something different and add to the longevity of the game.

Wow. There is a great deal of depth to this game and as I said, it's a shame it's not fully explained in detail. I headed straight for the campaign which has you do some basic training at first and then dumps you right into the heat of the action. Running into a town we had to take over and being ordered to take out an enemy soldier was quite exciting. As you run, your character starts to breath heavy and as you're trying to take cover, make sure you're safe while trying to take a guy out, the game can get pretty intense.

The new video, which we have exclusively, shows off some of these environments, too. In it, you'll see helicopters flying over mountainsides as the sun comes up in the sky behind them.

The video also shows gorgeous explosions with smoke, facial animations on soldiers, beautiful tree-line forests, and brilliant-looking lighting.

You'll also see paratroopers dropping out of the sky, falling into the nicely-drawn landscapes. The game is also supposed to ship with a mission editor to let you draw up your own combat scenarios.

Operation Flashpoint is a stunning game; it's the most brutal and realistic look at land warfare at the level of the individual soldier currently available. Minor gripes aside the campaign is gripping, the graphics detailed and eye catching, the 3D sound atmospheric and the whole setting of the game exudes class. [...] There's no doubt about it, Operation Flashpoint is the best PC game you will play this year.

The AI also uses covering fire and bounding overwatch. In other words, one enemy will advance under cover from another enemy. Once the moving enemy finds a good hiding spot, he'll cover the guy behind him as he moves up. The AI will use this leapfrog technique to ensure that they stay as protected as possible when moving across the map.

Not only is the game highly realistic in terms of weapon handling, soldier movement, range and ballistics physics, etc. (read our demo review), but it also adds a Private Ryan dimension by creating the perfect wartime tone that will literally make you feel like you're an important piece in the puzzle and an active participant in the conflict.

H&D Fanatic - Are you incorporating any sort of random enemy placement to enhance the replayability of missions in Hidden & Dangerous 2? How are you designing the game to have more replay value than its predecessor?

Tomas Pluharik - I am not a great friend of the random enemies setting. I hope that we can increase replayability by incorporating new single player styles (Lone wolf etc.) and by giving the player more ways to complete the mission. In the first mission you have three different insertion points (by foot, by car, by sea).

Seven sweeping campaigns encompassing over 20 levels take in battlefields in France, destroying gun batteries in North Africa, sabotaging U-boats in Norway and a devastating recreation of the landing at Omaha Beach, and conclude with a push through the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen into Nazi Germany. The nature of these missions change if you go it alone or form part of a squad, but each shares a specific structure designed to fully immerse players: "Missions come in three parts: infiltration, execution, and ex-filtration. Because PC gamers are mature and experienced there are consequences to your actions and even your inactions."

First add-on (July):
- A double-barrelled Civilian hunting rifle (brand: "Kozlice").
- A NATO transport helicopter.
- The Soviet SU-25 aircraft.
- Two new official SP missions.
- Five official MP missions.

Second add-on (August):
- Dedicated server support.
- Two new official SP missions.
- Five official MP missions (Co-Op campaigns).
- On-line security (not sure what this means, might be to prevent cheating).
- More support for certain types of hardware devices.
- New MP features like a MP mission generator for the Mission Editor (???).
- NATO and Soviet grenade launchers.
- NATO Vulcan AA gun (maybe the M163).
- A new attack helicopter.
- A second public demo (MP) which continues where the SP demo ended.

Third add-on and US release (September):
- Two new official SP missions.
- Five official MP missions.
- Two new vehicles.

Czech developers Bohemia Interactive have created a monster of a game that breaks new ground in military sims, at its simplest the game is a squad based first/third person shooter. But this game has a twist, namely you have at your disposal a mass of different vehicles and aircraft, all of which can be commandeered and used to take you into battle and blow the enemy to kingdom come. That's it in a nutshell, but we wouldn't be doing the game any justice without more details so here comes the waffle.

Weapons are now geographically specific. Obviously a terrorist from the Middle East is not going to use an American made rifle; they would more likely use a weapon native to their area like an AK-47. Unlike it's predecessor that claimed to be a realistic combat game but ended up being more action based, SOF II focuses on actual combat. You will have to use your surroundings to gain an advantage on the enemy. Either you take the direct shoot 'em up route, or you take the stealthy knife in the back approach.

This real-world approach to combat is reinforced by a combat model which is a lot closer to the Counter-Strike experience than any gung-ho, Rambo-style "one GI takes on the entire Soviet bloc and wins" encounter. Just one or two shots are enough to kill you (and prompt some very nice battlefield quotations) and attacking from cover, preparing ambushes, setting up firing zones and just knowing when to keep your head down are all important aspects if you want to survive.

At best if you get shot, you bleed and if you’re lucky your squad’s first aid guy will tape you up. At worst you get shot once, in the head, and you die. Also if you run out of ammo then you’re stuffed, unless you can safely crawl your way to a dead enemy soldier and thieve his weaponry, in which case you can once again stand a fighting chance. Sometimes stealing specific weaponry from enemy soldiers is the best way to advance in your mission, but more on that later.

If you're the type who annoys easily, or is looking for a more traditional FPS fix, walk away - you probably won't get on with Operation Flashpoint. If, though, the prospect of mastering these potential drawbacks interests you, you'll get a tremendous amount of pleasure from the game. Only the lack of polish and poor sound hold Flashpoint back from the Highly Recommended award; its level of realism, convincing detail and great multiplayer make it one of the best military FPS games on the market.

Multiplay is obviously a big part of the Rogue Spear experience. Red Storm knows that, so they're offering players a new multiplayer mode: lone wolf. Lone wolf is one against everyone else. When you enter the game, everybody starts with a handgun except for the lone wolf, who can choose any of the weapons. When a player kills the lone wolf, (s)he then becomes the lone wolf and the game begins again.

Has FADE Failed Codemasters?

PC: Operation Flashpoint has already been cracked and released on the web, but is it as simple as that?

A pirate organization has claimed to have cracked FADE, the software piracy measure put in place by publisher Codemasters. The group calls themselves DEViANCE, and said that they found no trace of FADE protection and speculates that all the press releases about it were just the usual company blurb.

Speaking to FGN Online, a Codemasters spokesman said that FADE doesn’t stop the copying of games, just the long term playing experience. The game will gradually fade over time without the original copy being installed on hard drives.

As lone gunman Captain Nick Parker, codename Havoc, we're separated from fellow GDI soldiers and dropped on the beach via helicopter. The only way forward is up a narrow, winding track, the sound of a gunboat's cannons booming in the background. Switching to third-person mode we spot two Nod grunts around the corner engaged in conversation. Aiming a sniper rifle equipped with a microphone, we eavesdrop for vital information before two shots clinically dispatch them.

Combine this realism with a stringent save game system that only allows one save per mission plus (in some of the lengthier battles) an auto-save retry position midway through, and you have an extremely tense atmosphere. At the end of one particularly tricky covert operation far behind enemy lines, running low on ammunition and having used my sole save game some half hour earlier, my heart was beating so hard I thought it was going to jump out through my rib cage and run off down the road screaming when I nearly ran into a Soviet patrol just two hundred meters from my extraction point. This game is not for those of a nervous disposition...

An action game promoting teamwork in a multiplayer environment, Global Operations centers on modern warfare as two opposing forces battle one another through first person combat tactics. Across numerous real-world locations, players will engage in missions which involve a variety of international crises. Terrorists may find themselves under attack from military soldiers sent to rescue hostages, criminals could break into a museum to steal a valuable item while an armed group tries to prevent this, or a team may attempt to wrest a VIP from the other. Each player will need to control a character who has a specific duty, one that contributes to the overall effectiveness of the team. In addition to boasting rights, those who achieve victory are rewarded with money to buy greater weapons.

One of the maps we got to play through takes place in the Alaskan wilderness, where an enemy base is located. After moving in from the outside area, you find a series of winding hallways with enemy troops located in areas that prevent you from just running in with guns blazing. In fact, if you don't take a stealth approach or make sure that you have a wide perimeter, enemies will kneel, wait behind a corner, and fire the second they see you. This happens quite often on the inside of the base since enemy soldiers are in such close proximity to one another.

MSXbox: What similarities and/or differences are there between Battlefield 1942, Team Fortress and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault? More importantly, what will separate Battlefield 1942 from the competition?

Legler: The main thing that will separate Battlefield 1942 is the emphasize on vehicles combined with footsoldiers. Every vehicle that you could imagine ranging from land, sea and air is there for you, with full physics model, to use for your teams united struggle to win the fight! Start your fighters from the aircraft carrier and support your teammates tank attack, while your friends on the proud battleship delivers round after round of deadly explosives to keep the enemies down. And finally your teams APC's bring in the troops to do the hard work to capture the stronghold, clearing house after house, room after room. It's not just your little group of five men - it's total war!

Ugamer: Which sort of gametypes you’ve put into the game?

M. Spanel: Let me think, there’s singleplayer and multiplayer [gametypes]. In detail, singleplayer you have a full campaign with lots of cutscenes, movies etcetera – even a tutorial – and you also can play all missions stand alone, without need to play the campaing. In multiplayer, you can play deathmatch, cooperative or capture the flag.

Voodoo Extreme - What kinds of units will be found in the game?

Tim Beggs -
M-16 unit, who also has a grenade launcher.
M-60 unit, who throws grenades.
A medic, used mainly for healing (of course).
A multi-purpose hero. He attacks with an M-16 and has a variety of special items depending upon the mission at hand.
Plus a few others.

In the Q andA on the Codemasters website it says Bohemia Interactive got their ideas from real history. Was all the information gathered this way or were any ideas inspired from films or other games?

The development team are based in Prague and all experienced the Communist rule, most served in the Czech army and thus these experiences were used in the game. As always technical data was researched for the Vehicles, Weapons and AI.

CVG: How will the level design differ from other installments in the series? How will these changes affect the run of play?

Brian Upton: The levels focus mostly on exterior spaces -- city streets, farmland, battlefields, military bases - so there's both a greater sense of freedom and a greater sense of paranoia. Attacks can come from any direction so you really need to use your AI team members to cover your flanks.

Beginning today, visitors to this site can interact with a 3D model of a SWAT officer directly from within their web browser. Using simple keyboard and mouse commands, visitors can move the officer around the screen, firing and reloading both his rifle and pistol. As in the game, the model moves according to motion-captured movements recorded from actual LAPD SWAT officers.

The integration of content from SWAT 3 into this website is made possible by the WildTangent Web Driver. The WildTangent Web Driver is a plug-in that allows 3D graphics, sound, and animation to be streamed into the browser.

Sierra is proud to be one of the first to support this revolutionary new technology. To experience the interactive SWAT model, download the WildTangent Web Driver from WildTangent.com

Codemasters has also confirmed details of the multiplayer and online play support for the game. The European edition will ship with LAN and online play functionality. In this version, online play supports direct TCP/IP connectivity and is complemented with inclusion of GameSpy Arcade software, the online peer-to-peer gaming environment that helps players find games, find players and get games started.

Codemasters is also committing to producing a free online play upgrade that will optimise the network code and enable European players to utilise the multiplayer functionality across dedicated servers as they're introduced in August. The upgrade software will be available for free download from Codemasters' web site.

So what is the game like now for actually playing and controlling the A.I. Well you have probably all seen the new crosshair and this works really well. It seems to move really well and more fluid. There is also a round crosshair for when the player has hand grenades activated. When trying to use a vehicle you will now need to go around to the door to actually be able to get in it. If you want to get in the back, just move to the rear door of the vehicle. Also included in the game is the ability to be able to crouch, I was really pleased that this was included and I’m sure a lot of other people are as well.

One of the things that makes this game cool is that each helicopter handles different from the others. You are not stuck using the same machine no matter what side or mission you fly. The Cobra is the nimble little sports car that has no troop carrying ability, while the Blackhawk can carry lots of troops and put up a bit of a fight, while flying like a tank. The Hind can carry a few guys and put up a good fight while flying much like the Blackhawk, but the Hip on the other hand can carry troops galore, has more rockets then any mission should need, and flies just a bit worse then a tank. Each has a distinct feel that you will need some practice with before you will be a master pilot.

SB: Can you tell us something about the enemies a player will run into in the game such as AI, etc. and will there be "BOSSES" in the game?

KH: I'd say about 95% or more of the enemies in the game are human...mainly soldiers, scientists and military personnel from around the world. The other enemies will likely be animals (attack dogs, etc.) and vehicles. We'll likely stray away from "bosses" in the arcade sense, but most of the missions will have a definite "take this guy/thing/obstacle/objective out in order to complete the mission" motif.

Voodoo Extreme -- The levels and environments in Allied Assault look stunning. How much research did you do for the game and how hard was it to get those real-world locations into the game?

Vince Zampella -- We went through tremendous efforts to capture an authentic feel for the game. We have quite an impressive library of books, films and reference pictures that we have collected over the course of the project. The hardest part was capturing the feel of an open countryside while maintaining a good game flow. Wide-open environments take more design to be fun in a single player game.

Seven sweeping campaigns encompassing over 20 levels take in battlefields in France, destroying gun batteries in North Africa, sabotaging U-boats in Norway, a devastating recreation of the landing at Omaha Beach, and concluding with a push through the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen into Nazi Germany. The nature of these missions change if you go it alone or form part of a squad, but each shares a specific structure designed to fully immerse players: “Missions come in three parts: infiltration, execution, and ex-filtration.

This time around, Raven has decided to make the game as realistic as possible, so don't expect to see the microwave gun return this time around. In fact, all the weapons in Soldier of Fortune II are based on ones that would be used for each particular mission, and enemies will carry weapons that are available in that particular region of the globe. Kramer explained, "For the sake of realism, it makes sense for enemies to carry the weapons they're known for in real life. American Marines will carry an M-4, for example, while other soldiers from around the world will use an AK-74 assault rifle.

Level landscape can be a friend, but an adversary too – thick vegetation allows inconspicuous sneaking close to posts, whereas in barren zones a player stands a good chance of falling victim to snipers. Also, we paid a particular deal of attention to AI enemies, who are meant to oppose you not with their absolute accuracy and fantastic reaction, but with their intellect. Besides, you are not alone in Venom, you are aided by a teammate. Why only one, you may ask? Other games commonly have a greater number of them. The thing is that our goal was to come up with a tactical action game, and not a strategy. One teammate is easy to control, and that makes the game pacey. The number of orders given to the teammate has been minimized –there are only four of them and pressing just one key will be enough to give them.

Question: 1.What are the main differences of H&D2 against the original game? 2. In H&D, I have been often killed by Germans from a very long distance - that seems quite unrealistic. Are you going to correct it?

Peter Kubek: 1.The game basics will be the same. You can expect better graphics (new LS3D engine), AI, newly implemented ballistics, improved tactical map (as requested by many players of H&D), rolling menus, and there are also major improvements it the overall interaction with environment. The major difference, however, is the single hero of whole game. 2.The AI is completely new (in terms of both program code and design), so there should not be those glitches from the first H&D.

Q: Will be there a new options such as possibilty to destroy more objects?

A: In the game it will be possible to shoot to pieces almost all windows, doors, furniture etc, also you can shoot enemys weapon away from his hands or helmet from his head , sometimes also with [his] head )

Even though this is a first-person-shooter, MoH has elements of squad-based games. What I am getting at is that you have to perform tasks according to your superiors' orders weather you have to act as a support in a massive offensive or clean up an enemy machine-gun-nest. This is where the NPC AI plays an important role. As the developers like to point out, the player can always enjoy a piece of the action performed by NPCs or choose his own way and act on his own. Interacting with NPCs isn't obligatory, but when you do it their reactions will strictly depend on their ad hoc AI routines.

Taking a stance is UK publisher Codemasters which has announced plans to include new, anti-piracy code in copies of the soon-to-be-release Operation Flashpoint. The new protection system, known as FADE, is unique in that it disables key game features on recognising a counterfeit game.

"Anyone attempting to play an illegal copy of Operation Flashpoint will begin with a game that looks and plays just like the real thing," Codemasters tells us. "However, over a period of time, the game gradually self-modifies and degrades elements of play to a point where the game is no longer playable."

The OSS will be playing an important role in the invasion. Your job on D-Day will be to capture enemy officers and gain as much information as possible from them about enemy defenses further inland – OSS intel believes that the Army is severely under-trained in hedgerow fighting and any edge we can give the frontline troops in the next few months will help reduce the casualties. Time is short on this objective, which is why you're going in directly on D-Day.

This is because the Czech developer, Bohemia Interactive, has decided to treat us to a 'total package' military simulation. With the emphasis on simulation. If it's a vehicle and it's in the game world, you can control it. That includes helicopters, planes, tanks, trucks, jeeps, tractors, boats, parachutes and, of course, your own two feet. OK, the flight sim aspect won't be rivalling the likes of Falcon 4 or Comanche Hokum for realism, but can you name any other game that includes them all, often within the space of a single mission?

At the heart of Operation Flashpoint is the infantry. I will describe other vehicles later that you can play, but at its core this is a first person infantry shooter and it excels at this aspect. Movement is similar to a real life infantryman; don’t expect to be able to run forever without getting winded and don’t expect any fancy rail gun type weapons to frag your friends into submission.

WWII Online: Blitzkrieg is a massively multiplayer online game of WWII combat, fought on land, air, and sea. Players can command tanks, pilot combat aircraft, or fight "down and dirty" in the infantry or marines. Complete with a combat system that requires the three main branches of service to interact and organize together in order to gain ground, or fight off an attack from the enemy, WWII Online is the first true combined virtual battlefield available online. Players can tailor their game play experience to a degree of detail that has never been available before.

Ghost Recon’s user interface has gone under quite a few changes since Rogue Spear, though the basic information is still there – it’s just represented differently. The squad management screen is easy to get to and manage, and directed the troops will easily become second nature. Command and control looks much improved over Rogue Spear, not to mention very intuitive.

We had the opportunity to record about ten minutes of video footage from the presentation of Hidden & Dangerous 2 over at the E3 expo. Tomas Pluharik, the lead designer of this game, is showing some features of the 3D engine as well as realistic ballistics (even the bullets ricochet in a natural way) and behavioral models. As shown, soldiers will have to complete missions in various environments – deserts, low-rolling hills of Central Europe as well as the Norwegian fjords. According to Tomas’ words, the game should be complete around Xmas, however, it will be released in early 2002 (the guys want more time for betatesting)

Operation Flashpoint Gamers Premiere

The demo of the military sim game Operation Flashpoint has been downloaded well over 1 million times. It is one of the most anticipated games of the year and for good reason. Gamers now have the opportunity to play the full game in advance of its store release. In a world exclusive premiere, gamers will be able to play the full game single player and multiplayer on a high spec LAN at The Playing Fields (www.theplayingfields.co.uk) from 12 noon on Saturday 9th June.

The game is truly an awesome single player and multiplayer treat. Absorbing? Don't book anything serious at the end of June. More details on the premiere are at http://www.theplayingfields.co.uk/page.php3?ref=sp-flashprem

Who from the original team is working on SoF 2? Which guys are new, and what have the other guys moved over to and are working on now?

A good deal of the original Soldier of Fortune team is working on Soldier of Fortune II. Jon Zuk is the project lead for the title and he is joined by Dan Kramer (lead programmer), Keith Fuller (assistant lead programmer), Matt Pinkston (lead level designer), Mike Renner (assistant lead level designer), Joe Koberstein (lead artist), Jarrod Showers (lead animator), and Zack Quarles (lead sound designer). With the exception of Zack, all of the leads worked on the original Soldier of Fortune. Much of the production team in the art, design and programming departments remains the same for the sequel as does the management and support team. The project is in VERY good hands. Right now, just about 100% of the original team is working on the sequel.

[trenches] Which new weapons can we expect from The Shop?

[john] We are using real world weapons, using their military designations to avoid the damn lawyers. There are helicopter and jeep mounted weapons to play with, along vast arsenal of regular assault rifles, handguns and grenades.

Lead level designer John Sonedecker started us off with a killer: Ghost Recon development began three weeks after the release of Rogue Spear and as of the E3 showing, stands at 60% complete. That's an October of 1999 start date for those of you keeping track. While about half of the Rogue Spear team spent its time on Urban Operations the patches, a fair number of them also spent time doing the conceptual work that would lead up to the Ghost Recon product. Red Storm quickly decided that a "R6:3" would be more of a bad PR move than a bad game. So they opted to get rid of the old "RAINBOW" team of super-elite counterterrorists and replace them with the US Army's version of a hyper-technology spec ops force. While Red Storm did consider going back in time (to World War II, for example), it eventually settled on a similar theme -- just far out enough into the future to be possible.

Global Operations is a stand alone, team based, first person shooter based on a significantly modified version of the LithTech 2.5 engine. Although it is being developed as a multiplayer experience for up to 24 players, there will also be a single player game with AI controlled team mates and opponents.

Barking Dog Studios are developing Global Operations for Crave Entertainment.

The quickest way to describe Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon is to say that it’s Rainbow Six outdoors, but there’s more to it than that. Though it does use a very similar interface, it has been rebuilt with a new engine, and takes a slightly different approach to squad-level strategy and action.

NovaLogic has developed a Delta Force game for the last three years in a row and it is now time to take a step back and analyze the technology used and the gameplay itself. We want to make sure that the next game in the series offers our gamers something more than a Delta Force re-hash. Be reassured that we have not abandoned you, and as soon as we have anything concrete to announce you'll be one of the first to hear!

Also on this subject, we are still supporting our customers with FREE online gaming on NovaWorld, for the majority of our current and back catalogue games, a cost that the company currently swallows.