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| | Title:
Without Warning
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System:
Xbox
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Genre:
Action/Shooter
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Publisher:
Capcom
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Developer:
CiRCLE Studio
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Release:
11/1/2005
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
Mature (M)
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A large group of terrorists have stormed and now control a large chemical plant that is just miles from the center of a large city. The terrorist group is threatening to blow up the entire plant, and cause a huge ecological disaster. You have exactly 12 hours to take control back from them, and prevent the incident from taking place. The government has sent in three special operations personnel to aid you in the mission. As the player, your main goal is to eliminate the terrorists and keep the plant from going up in flames.
Gameplay
In each mission in Without Warning, you will have control over one of the six people, which include the three special ops members, as well as three civilians. Captain Kyle Rivers, Sergeant Jack Hooper, and Sergeant Ed Reagan are the men who make up the special ops squad. Ben Harrison, Tanya Shaw, and Dave Wilson are the three civilians who got mixed up in the action, one way or another. As the player, you get to control each and every one of these people (one at a time) through several missions. You control everything they do, and make them work together towards the common goal. Some of the events take place at the exact same time, so after finishing one mission, the next one will be happening simultaneously to the mission you just completed. This is unique, and gives you several perspectives on the events unfolding inside of the chemical plant.
From the very start of the game, there are a number of obvious gameplay mechanics that make the playing experience a non enjoyable one. These problems cause many frustrating moments through the game, and suck most of the fun out of it. One example is the shooting mechanics. In order to shoot, you have to take out and point your weapon in the general direction of the enemy using the right trigger. Once your weapon is out, you have to aim by either lining up the shot—which is very hard—or hold the left trigger, which will lock on to the closest enemy. Aiming without the lock-on is almost a joke; not only will it waste a good amount of ammunition, but it is also very hard to line up due to the controls. Aiming speed can be changed, but this does not improve it much.
Another huge problem with the game is the camera. Controlling the camera is extremely hard, and doing something like peeking around corners is pretty much impossible to perform. In close quarters combat, the camera seems to freak out and go all sorts of directions. Because of this, even hitting an enemy at close range is extremely hard, since you will lose track of what is going on due to the annoying camera. In addition, your screen will be turning red and blurry to indicate you are being shot, which just adds to the confusion of what is going on. Sure, it may be somewhat realistic to get disoriented when you are being shot, but not in this fashion. And not having control over what you can see and do is extremely annoying.
If you ignore all of the annoyances, Without Warning has about-average gameplay. Most of the game consists of shooting terrorists, freeing hostages, and performing objectives such as defusing bombs. Besides bomb defuses, you will also get the chance to rewire circuits (to power up certain areas or devices), pick locks, and videotape certain events. All of these actions are like small mini games.
For example, in order to defuse a bomb you have to press a sequence of buttons which will scroll on to the screen. Once these buttons pass over a certain point, they have to be pressed (very similar to Dance Dance Revolution). If you get enough of them right, the bomb will be defused, and if not...well, you have a bomb explode in your face. When you are rewiring a circuit, a sequence of buttons will be shown, and then you have to repeat the sequence, just like a game of Simon. Lock-picking involves pushing pins into a chamber, and having them spring back out in the correct sequence.
When you are walking around attempting to complete the various missions, the camera will be in third person. Once you begin shooting, the camera switches to first person so you can better see what you are shooting. This sounds like a great idea, but sadly it doesn't work well in this game.
Each character has their own specific weapons that they will use throughout the game to take out the numerous terrorists in each level. The special ops squad members have much more powerful weapons—such as automatic rifles, shotguns, and grenades. The civilians that you will have control over don't have nearly the same level of fire power; two of them have pistols, and Tanya simply uses pepper spray and a fire extinguisher.
Graphics
Without Warning’s visuals are by far the best aspect of the game, although still nothing amazing. The environment is well done, detailed, and represents what the inside of a chemical plant should look like. There are pipes everywhere (all heading in different directions), suspended metal catwalks, and a number of rooms in each level. Character models are also well done and look accurate. The three members of the special ops team look like they know exactly what they are doing, and are ready for anything. And the three civilians? Well, they look like ordinary people. Animations are well done, too. Whether they are walking around, ducking down, or taking out their firearm, the motions are fluid and flow well.
Audio
Most of the sounds in the game are almost as bad as the gameplay issues. Voice acting sounds cheesy, weapon sounds don't seem realistic, and grenades sound like nuclear explosions. On the other hand, the soundtrack is surprisingly well done. It adds a sense of suspense to the game, and makes the overall gameplay more enjoyable.
Overall
Without Warning has a good storyline, some nice looking graphics, and…well, that's pretty much it. The problems with shooting and the camera negate most of the fun in the game. If you can ignore these problems, the game is actually pretty fun. With the amount of competition in the shooter genre, there is really no reason to look further into this game—even a rent would be a waste of money.
| The Core Score |
Overall
5.2 |
| Fun |
|
5 |
| Gameplay |
|
5.5 |
| Graphics |
|
7.5 |
| Audio |
|
6 |
| Replay |
|
5 |
|
| | | |
