Spec Ops: Stealth Patrol

Overall: D+
Violence: D+
Sexual Content: A
Language: A
Drugs/Alcohol: A

Platform reviewed: Playstation
Publisher: Take 2 Interactive
ESRB rating: T

Only a few decades ago, boys relied heavily on their imagination when playing the now politically incorrect game of Cowboys and Indians. Guns were represented by an index finger or some crudely carved piece of wood, and bows and arrows were likewise replicated. Since this was normally a male-dominated game, girls weren't involved unless a hostage was required (my sister's participation was always against her will, so she fit the role perfectly).

Times have changed, and so have the games, but today's youth still have imaginations and a desire for role-play. Technology has supplanted old-fashioned "good-guy vs. bad-guy" pastimes with a more sophisticated approach, and videogames like Spec Ops: Stealth Patrol by Take 2 Interactive put players in a first-person perspective while performing acts of aggression.

Not unlikeRed Storm Entertainment's Rainbow Six, Spec Ops is all about using strategy to kill people (bad guys of course), and much of that strategy revolves around the same basic elements... briefing sessions (where your team of airborne rangers receive instructions regarding the enemy along with specific mission objectives), choosing team rosters according to individual strengths and abilities (because some guys are just better than others in certain situations), and assembling an arsenal based upon anticipated needs.

In an attempt at realism, game developers have gone to the trouble of making assignment completion an arduous task--and this may cause some players to lose interest. It's difficult to see where the enemy is (maybe that's why they're called snipers) and since your soldier can only take a minimum number of hits, it's easy to end up dead prior to taking in the scenery. As in real life, when you run out of ammo, you're out of ammo; and when you're dead, you're dead--mission failed. But, unlike real life, you can always start over; and bodies quickly disappear after being killed--thereby minimizing the effect of the carnage that just took place.

Carrying out mission objectives in single-player mode consists of flipping back and forth between members of your two-man roster, or assuming command of the team and barking out orders to the second ranger. This becomes particularly difficult when both men find themselves in hot water (in my case the second team member usually met an early demise when we came under enemy fire because I was too preoccupied with self-preservation). If you'd prefer to concentrate on teamwork in order to achieve your goal, a two-player cooperative mode allows each player to independently control a team member. Although this split-screen option is still extremely challenging, it is more rewarding, as it allows rangers to assume the responsibility for separate tasks and/or provide cover for one another.

Hmmm. Two guys working together, repeatedly practicing how to kill people with virtual guns... scary thought, isn't it?

Jim Fleming

© 2000 One Voice Communications. All Rights Reserved