Global Operations Preview

I won't lie to you. Global Operations sounds to me like a major Counter-Strike / Team Fortress 2 rip-off. I mean, the more I read about this game, the more I became convinced that there's absolutely nothing original about it. And according to the available info, my assumptions seem fairly accurate.

The game is under development by Barking Dog Studios: a team of programmers known for their work on Homeworld: Cataclysm and Counter-Strike BETA 5.0. Barking Dog has obviously earned its reputation by being labeled as that team of people who do not innovate on a grand scale, but are rather good at making "small to medium" innovations and improvements to tried and proven basic concepts (original games / mods) like Homeworld, or CS for that matter. Although Global Operations is essentially a stand-alone, professionally done project based on the LithTech 2.5 engine certain patterns that Barking Dog has followed in the past are clearly visible in this project as well.

Global Operations is a team-based first person shooter, which pits one group of players who are playing rebel groups, guerilla forces, and terrorist groups against the other group who play the role of real world special forces and peace keepers. The scenarios are time limited and consist of various objectives, like: hostage rescue, bomb defusing, territory control, VIP escort, base destruction, assassination, and assault/defend. Yeah, I know... sounds similar to CS, but GOps promises to add certain variations to these basic concepts like having to board and attack (or defend) a giant oil tanker, or hijack a military vehicle. Moreover, many of the mission specifics haven't been revealed yet, and hope remains that Barking Dog will include even more nifty scenario ideas, which would make this game more unique.

GOps is aimed at a multiplayer experience, but it can be played with any amount of people up to 24. The rest of the vacant team positions (like the position of the V.I.P.) can be filled with AI NPC's or bots.

The in-game action takes place on 16 real-life locations, including: Chechnya, Columbia, Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Spain, Peru, Antarctica, Japan, South China Sea, England, Mexico, Canada, Afghanistan and the USA (all your favorite vacation spots really). And most of the scenarios that take place at these locations are loosely based on real life events, like the Argun Gorge in Chechnya, or the airport at Entebbe. Each of the 32 elite fighting forces, which are included in this title match the specific location where the conflict takes place. In other words, you won't be able to fight as a Navy Seal in Chechnya. If a mission is taking place in South China Sea for example, one group must play as an Indonesian paramilitary force, while the counter terrorists naturally assume the role of Australian Special Forces.

Global Ops design team is clearly concerned about the game's realism factor, but they're also quick to stress out the fact that Global Ops, even though it's leaning heavily on realism is in its core a fast-paced action title. Brian Thalken, Managing Director of Barking Dog was quoted saying: "We want to step beyond the accurate portrayal of weapons, sounds, and environments and make every aspect of the game realistic. Parametric skeletal animation creates seamless and fluid character movements, sophisticated player 'decaling' shows mud or blood on uniforms, and weather effects change from rain, fog, snow and more. But beneath this realistic veneer, 'Global Operations' has the heart of an electrifying action game."

Robin Walker, Hold Your Breath: Player Classes in Global Ops

I'm certain I've mentioned this term in some of my earlier previews... Of course, it was in my Team Fortress 2 preview! Now, this part of Global Operations just screams RIP-OFF with a megaphone from a tall building, but who cares really. I mean, while we're at it, I must say I don't care how similar this game is to say TF2 or CS, as long as Barking Dog manage to deliver everything they've promised. And anyways, with Team Fortress 2 skipping this year's E3 again, it just seems to me that we might see Global Ops hit the shelves before TF2 does. Also, don't forget that in Global Ops you get the added bonus of bits and pieces of ideas "borrowed" from Counter-Strike, and not just Team Fortress 2. I have no doubt that Valve will achieve something special in TF2 -- something that none of us were able to anticipate. But as a consumer, I don't give a rat's ass if the pooch gang borrows concepts, as long as Global Ops turns out to be a good game. Hell, I'll probably buy both Team Fortress 2 and Global Ops if both of them turn out to be quality products.

Phew, I had to get this off my chest. Now back to the player classes in Global Operations (the real sticking point for any die hard TF2 fan):

There are seven player classes in GO (i.e. the players can choose between seven different specialties): sniper, recon, medic, heavy weapons, demolitions, commando, and intelligence officer. Yeah, this should be the part where I talk about how this will greatly enhance the team play factor of the game, but I think you all know that from Team Fortress. Most of the classes are self-explanatory, or familiar to you from the aforementioned Valve mod. But the class that has stirred up most controversy, at least the way I see it is the Intelligence Officer. Here's an excerpt from my Team Fortress 2 preview, and afterwards I'll quote the press release by Crave explaining the role of the Intelligence Officer:

Commander class is the link between TF2's FPS and strategy elements. From what I could gather, this is one of the more distinct units in the game. Commander is not directly involved in the action. His main choir is to set the tactics, and make quick decisions. Commander is overseeing the action through a birds-eye camera view, or through shoulder-mounted teammate cameras...

The Intelligence Officer coordinates the troops through a combination of real-time cameras and a top-down map to recognize hot spots, guide troops to objectives, and direct reinforcements through both voice over IP (technique first used by Valve in Team Fortress 2) and waypoint setting. Playing this class does not place you in the battlefield.