Full Review

16 December 2003 - Stealth is once more the name of the game in Project IGI 2. Set across the backdrop of Russia, Libya and China's underworld you once again play David Jones chasing military secrets across Eastern Europe.

Taking place over three linked campaigns the individual missions progress in depth and skill to ease you slowly into the game. Levels, in a word, are huge and depending on your difficulty setting so are the armies of bad guys that you'll have fight.

Graphics have developed on from the original, but not really in leaps and bounds and no in line with the rest of the games in this genre. Sounds now play a major element into how you avoid getting into too much trouble. Make too much noise and the bad guys come running use the wrong weapon and the bad guys come running and so on.

What is new and most welcomed is the introduction of a multiplayer element, something that was sorely missed in the first game. As we have come to expect, the game supports up to 16 players online, but the new novelty over the usual range of multiplayer games is the introduction of a cash system. You want a weapon you'll have to pay for it and the more times you die the less cash you'll have available. This is a great tactical idea and makes you really think about re-spawning rather than the usual jump back in and get killed.

On its own, this game offers plenty to the stealth aficionado with plenty of options, baddies and manoeuvres to keep you on your toes. Yet with the games market now diluted with stealth games you can't but help to think that while the original was ahead of its time, this game is a just a tiny bit late for the party.

VERDICT
Yes the levels are large, yes the AI is very impressive - guards manage to run and set alarms off before you can even get a shot off - but the problem is, is that it doesn’t bring anything new to the genre. Unfortunately in this genre that has been dominated by the likes of Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid anything new can’t just be good, it has to be bloody impressive and unfortunately Project IGI 2 is good but not special.