Close Combat: First to Fight Preview

The way that the psychology model works in relation to MAGTF is that the presence of attack choppers or tanks influences both the morale of your squad mates and the morale of the enemy. Naturally, if exposed to heavy shelling enemy morale will go down considerably, affecting their agility and accuracy among other things. Conversely, the morale of your troops will go up and they’ll be able to move quicker and shoot better, so you’ll have an easier time dealing with the well entrenched hostile forces. Your team’s morale will also go up if there are more than 12 Marines around or if the enemy is suffering losses. On the other hand, they’ll feel like crap if you keep issuing stupid orders or if they find themselves stranded all of a sudden and surrounded by hostiles. (In all honesty, who wouldn’t feel like shit in a situation like that?)

But if all this talk about realism and military doctrines is a bit too much for you, know that First to Fight will have two different modes of play: normal and simulation. Those of you looking for a more action-oriented shooter-like experience will want to give the latter a try of course, while the true hard-core military fanatics should go for the simulation mode. What’s important to note here (once more) is that the combination of intuitive controls, self-contained team AI that doesn’t require a lot of micro management and good mission design should ensure that the action is dynamic and as smooth as in any great action title. You will be playing this one from the first person, and if all works out in terms of the core technology behind it, we should be looking at a game that’s A LOT more fun to play than Full Spectrum Warrior on the Xbox.

Finally, another design element that will add an even greater sense of immersion are the highly detailed and gritty visuals. Close Combat: First to Fight is powered by a proprietary game engine boosting some of the most realistic models and environments seen in tactical shooter games to date. The game will take place in sewers, in buildings similar to Saddam’s palaces, and in the dusty ruins of commercial streets. Both the player models and the backdrops will be brought to life with the use of highly detailed textures, normal maps for the representation of the most intricate details, advanced skeletal animation system for the game characters, volumetric shadows, specular lighting and so on. All it takes is one look at the in game screenshots to acknowledge the myriad of details in each of the background shown - blood sprayed across the walls, torn down wallpaper in abandoned buildings and so on...

In light of all the concepts and AI perks I have mentioned, it looks like Close Combat: First to Fight could be the sleeper hit that Full Spectrum Warrior never was. The game is looking to fuse the exciting and nail-biting dynamics of modern day shooters while offering the type of AI that will be good enough to simulate successfully the type of warfare marines are trained to experience in real life. It’s an ambitious goal, but if they can pull it off, military shooter buffs will have plenty to rejoice about come this fall.

(R. Lee Ermey should be proud. - Six)