Full Review

27 June 2006 - There’s something about war that lends itself particularly well to video games. Maybe we’re all sick in the head and crave blood? Or it’s just that it gives us a wicked sense of excitement and fulfils our hero complex?

The original Full Spectrum Warrior went against the usual methods of directly controlling the action, instead giving you a squad of soldiers to shuffle around the battlefield.

And despite being looked at with a few raised eyebrows, it proved to be one of the better examples of modern wartime gaming, shifting a fair few copies in the process. Hence this sequel.

A sequel to a title we’ve always enjoyed is one awaited with much trepidation. Can it really improve what’s gone before and fix those few flaws? Or will it completely destroy the previous good work, and be a total travesty?

Sadly, Ten Hammers seems to have taken the latter option. It starts well and you’re promised much. There’s now two groups of soldiers to control, giving the strategists among you more options and ways to dispatch the enemy. Plus the campaign itself proves to be a much lengthier affair so will keep you up a few more late nights.

In practice however, there’s more than a few flaws. The obvious step up in graphical quality has only left us with a title that suffers from more than a few frame rate issues. And although these can be forgiven initially, once they’ve caused you yet another death as you frantically attempted to move your troops out of the line of fire, you’ll be screaming blue murder.

Another unwanted addition is the muddled AI on both sides, giving you either a set of easy kills as the enemy aimlessly wanders directly in your line of sight, or causing much mirth as your troops fail to spot and shoot an enemy practically standing on top of you.

VERDICT
There’s just something about Ten Hammers that feels unwieldy – even untrustworthy – when compared to its older brother. Maybe it’s the confused AI of both your teams and enemies, but with so many random irritating deaths to be discovered, this is a definite step backwards for the series.

We hoped and prayed this would live up to it's prequel, but it's let down by dodgy graphics and ropey AI. A shame.

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