Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising Preview

To put it as directly as possible, Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising is NovaLogic’s brand new fast-paced multiplayer military first-person shooter. A few years back, the name NovaLogic was primarily associated with well-known series like Comanche, F-22 Lightning, and others. Comanche, a title that introduced some serious step-ups in the world of flight sims, soon received worldwide acclaim from critics and fans alike. The development team’s most recent endeavor was the reasonably successful arcade style shooter, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, inspired by Ridley Scott’s action flick. Right about the time Delta Force: BHD had hit stores, NovaLogic decided to elaborate on the concept of combining gritty team-based ground combat with intense flight-oriented action. Because the company had extensive experience with both genres, there was no doubt that they could pull it off. Looking at what they’ve done so far leads us to believe Joint Operation: Typhoon Rising could cause quite a stir amongst upcoming action games of 2004.

Hey, point that thing some place else!

Don’t suppose we have time for a quick dip?

The game takes players to Indonesia, a couple of years from now, the year 2006 to be exact. You play the part of an Operation Force sent into action to overcome bad-ass Separatist forces, which jeopardize the stability and safety of the entire area. Although the game doesn’t cling to actual relevant facts, it vaguely relates to some of the current events occurring within that region. There’s not much revealed regarding the story at this point, other than these few details. Still, NovaLogic proved themselves worthy of creating a convincing narrative many times over, so you shouldn’t have any worries. Whatever the case, the game will probably be centered on multiplayer combat, the absence of a more elaborate story will probably not be missed.

Yep, Joint Ops will revolve mostly around multiplayer action. To make things a bit more exciting, NovaLogic worked separately on a single-player mode, giving it a unique storyline as well as a wide range of different tasks to complete. Gamers will also be able to try out 10 lengthy single-player missions, set in the environments of Indonesia. An interesting point here is the developers’ firm intention of making the maps as large as possible, stretching the technology to its boundaries. They recently claimed that each map was designed to be 10 to 15 times larger than those we’re used to experiencing in multiplayer shooters like say, Unreal Tournament 2003. Single-player missions will take you to several different locations such as Bali, Java, and Jakarta.

The game’s multiplayer sees a welcomed return of familiar modes from Delta Force games, such as Team Deathmatch, Team King of the Hill, Flagball, Capture the Flag, and Co-op. Numerous brand new modes are still being finalized, so we’re still waiting for the developers to divulge more info about that one. Recently though, we’ve learned that they plan to include a few objective-based modes, next to the already mentioned classics. Most of these modes apparently have an amazing potential and should be thrilling to experience on various maps. By the way, next to wide outdoor areas, you’ll be able to enjoy matches throughout different types of indoor settings as well. For example, some maps feature long tunnels and underground passages, where players are able to take cover and set traps for enemies (hm, this reminds me of a certain map we played in SoF II: Double Helix). Other missions are going to involve simple DM-style clashes, while others require you to gain control over a specific territory. One particular map obliges one side to invade an island, while the opposing team is left to defend the area from any assailants. Normally, assaulting the island cannot be an easy task, since your team has to avoid well-fortified enemy positions. Still, the cool thing is that you can use any line of attack you deem fit - players may approach the enemy on water using inflatable rafts or huge speedboats or they can simply lunge forth into action via the helicopter. For what it’s worth, Joint Operations will be supporting up to 64 players simultaneously and will be playable online via NovaLogic’s so-called Novaworld service. Well, such a feature certainly promises to boost the game’s community, provided, of course, the development team straightens all potential technical issues on time.

Basically, every match denotes a clash of between two teams - The Indonesian soldiers and Joint Operations force. Both teams wield their own firearms and can choose from an extensive array of drivable vehicles (20 altogether), though only a few have been revealed so far. Those who opt for the Joint Ops team, will get a chance to ride in Black Hawks, Little Birds, Chinooks, Five and a Half ton trucks, diverse ATV’s (All Terrain Vehicles), HUMVEE’s, and Landing Crafts. On the other side, the Indonesian team will get to operate a nice array of vehicles as well, such as the BTR-80, Mi-26, and the Super Puma. There are many others of course: hovercrafts, motorized rafts, Mark V speedboats, and so on. Evidently, the inclusion of vehicles promises to be one of the most appealing aspects of gameplay. One of the primary goals during the game’s development process, was to properly tweak the in-game physics, so players could get a clear idea of how these vehicles operate in real life. Still, the physics model was also slightly toned down to ensure slick controls, so players won’t have any difficulty maneuvering their choppers, boats, jeeps, etc. This, in turn, indicates that gamers can leisurely jump into a desired vehicle without spending too much time on mastering the controls. Contrary to what we’ve seen in Battlefield 1942, certain aircrafts in Joint Operations feature a slightly trickier way to mount the pilot seat. In order to reach the controls in, say, a Black Hawk helicopter, your character must enter the craft and actually get to the pilot seat. As you’d expect it, most of these vehicles are equipped with mountable machineguns and grenade launchers. We were also told that many long hours have been spent on balancing, so players can find good use out of every vehicle available on the map. Almost all the vehicles in Joint Ops are a bit larger that the ones in Battlefield 1942, which means you can cram ‘em with additional troops. This makes for another noteworthy difference between the two titles.