|
01 September 2003
Posted in
Games
| Review | |
Installation & Documentation |   |
Ease of use |  |
Value for money | |
Price (approx) | $88.50 |
Operating System | Mac OS 10.1+ |
Available from | |
Spearhead starts with you as a new character, one Sergeant Barnes. The name is apt, as that's what he's dropped directly into at the start of the game.
Before that, he's (you are ...) in a plane and it's another MoH semi-interactive cut scene - you get to check everyone else's queasy expressions without being able to do anything about it, which helps build the feeling of dread. (Or anticipation if you're a psychopath, I guess.)
Then you're dropping while the Germans shoot up at you, then you collapse through a roof into a barn. If you don't disengage from your parachute fast enough, the Germans shoot you dead. It's all on. Get out of this chaotic mess - historically accurate - and you team up with some British paratroopers. This is all well and good, having comrades in arms and all that, but these guys are quite crazy and if they die, you lose and have to restart. Things happen at a cracking pace though a variety of scenarios mostly around farms or in picturesque little villages.
 |
The Russian sniper rifle with a Fritz in the sights |
After the Normandy section (June '44) you end up with American grunts in the freezing Ardennes forest where the desperate Germans broke out in a last ditch attempt to turn the tide. This was utterly unexpected at the time - can't think why as they'd done the same thing twice before, in 1914 and 1940.
Anyhow, the snowy, horrible climate is well rendered - you almost need to put a scarf on. In the icy mists, it's easy to shoot your own guys as they look really similar. (My poor medic, talk about friendly fire! Sorry, mate.) After finding the medic comes one of the hardest levels to complete, defending two trench-lines against way too many attackers.
The last section is, rather inexplicably, in Berlin with a bunch of Russians - but what the hell, it's fun using a Russian gun for a change. Of course, the ruins are full of snipers and these often verge on impossible to see.
It's another nerve racking, well rendered episode with lots of explosions, troops sneaking behind tanks and bloody house clearing. The section where you have to drive a Russian T34 tank is dead cool too - running tank battles through the Berlin ruins. The weapons are all very well done, giving different sounds, rates of fire, everything. For example, the Russian sniper rifle is accurate, but it jumps alarmingly after each shot.
 |
Er, Kevlar underpants were not part of WWII kit...unfortunately |
The machine gun in the turret of the T34 jumps all over the place; as German Panzerfaust rockets are smoking lazily towards you from shattered buildings, it's pretty scary.
Was I sold on it? Yup. Hate to say. Bring on the other expansion packs!
Spearhead tips
Same as for MoH, but here's a great one which probably works for MoH too: move your application folder to a different location from where it installs by default. That's right - take it out of the applications folder - it crashed far, far less when I followed this advice, which I found on a web site.
Whenever you kill something substantial, quicksave (F5). Once a level has loaded, quicksave.
As in MoH, run over bodies to collect their ammo (and sometimes weapons).
© Parkside Media 2004
For permission to use this document, email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form