Full Review

16 July 2007 - As far as great places for a press conference go Codemasters couldn’t have done much better for a game like Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, the alternative history WWII FPS.

The Cabinet War Rooms, where Churchill directed Britain’s war effort, are a maze of subterranean tunnels under the ministries of Whitehall. Small rooms lead off narrow corridors, many of them still furnished the way they were 60 years ago, and the largest of them is where we were directed to witness Turning Point, at this stage still a work in progress.

Craig Allen, Spark Unlimited’s founder, introduced the game as a natural answer to the Medal of Honour and Call of Duty series of games. Whereas Medal of Honour concentrated on the glory of war, and Call of Duty the, well, duty of fighting and getting home alive, Turning Point will be about the individuals place in history and how history can change at the smallest event.

Next up was a short promo video, filmed high up and full of glorious detail. The hour of invasion, as wave after wave of Nazi ships, planes and tanks storm New York. Shells whistle in and impact against buildings, sending rubble falling to the street as Messerschmitt jets scream past. It was all too short and over before you could take it all in. But nevermind…

Then it was off with the promo video and on with the game, skilfully played for us by a Codemasters mystery man sitting at the back of the room. We were warned that it was an unfinished product, with improvements to lighting and detail still to come, but believe me when I say there wasn’t a single unimpressed face in the house.

The action started high up on a skyscraper under construction, naked girders and workers terrified as the sky fills with planes and the city with explosions. The gamer is Dan Carson and as you can imagine, he’s in a hurry to get off the site, and fast.

Shells are landing, girders flying, and escape routes growing scarce. Still, he manages and confronts his first paratrooper, taking his gun and throwing him off the building. He was merely the first of many.

There’s no point in talking fans through what happened next as it is fair to say that even in this uncompleted state Turning Point is looking mighty fine. The action flowed beautifully, characters moving realistically and the AI evident in all combat situations. Even the detail looks good at this early stage - bullets leave trails to frighten you into hiding, and faces are full of expression.

To finish up with a bit more of the story was revealed … but not too much. It seems that after talking the battle to the Hun in New York and Washington, the action moves to London. And that was as much as we were being told. There a big twist in the story apparently and that’s for gamers to find for themselves.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Well, I for one cannot wait for Turning Point, simple as. It looks as if it will take the FPS genre on the right course, a natural progression, adding intelligent, thought-provoking stories to searing action.