Project IGI Review

The year obviously could not end without an interesting and relatively good combat simulation. If we disregard the over tactical SWAT3 and the online only Half-Life: Counter-Strike (which is still being played at least one to three hours here at ActionTrip offices), Project IGI comes as a great replacement for that Delta Force: Land Warrior single player crap.

Project: I'm Going In is a mission-based first-person game with an accent on special forces infiltration type o' sneak-shoot gameplay. The plot comes down to a highly typical story of a NATO operative named "Jones" who has to lay his hand on an insane ex-KGB colonel (a woman, by the way) who stole some nuclear weapons from a NATO base storage silo (what a load of crap). First you get to know our badass hero, as he is tying his shoelaces while the chopper is preparing to take off (khhm... we've all seen Rambo and Operation Wolf) all followed by Mission Impossible type of music.

That 'mission-based' in the last passage actually meant that Project IGI is a single player only game. Yep, and I'm gonna say that again: Project IGI doesn't have a multiplayer mode! Fortunately, unlike the pathetic Delta Force: Land Warrior who suffered from a demented AI, IGI will prove much better off there. The game might seem hard until you get used to the opponents. The first mission is a good way to practice for the rest of the game, as this is where you'll best get to know your trigger-happy Russian terrorist enemies. The enemy will be capable of some very intelligent moves, like making a ambush behind a doorway, or waiting on you below the stairs if they presume you are on the roof, or try to sneak up from behind during gunfights.

There is no need to worry, though, as they do not always act that bright. For instance, they only move their lazy asses when they see you, when they're shot at, or when the alarm goes off. In most other situations, they remain steady and calm, even if they see their colleagues being shot... And once they figure out they are being shot at, they start to run in circles, lie on the ground and shoot. And regardless of their position (angle) they are very accurate at mid-range, which will be your gravest problem in this game. They will not be too precise if standing really far away from you, in which case you can just zoom them in with your Dragunov or MP5... They'll just stand there without even bothering to hide. You might need an extra bullet in case you miss a lot from afar, but who wants to bicker about that when health is in question? And when you take the first one out, they'll start regrouping in a funny way, so that eventually another soldier takes the place of the one you just shot. Then, you can easily take him down, and wait until another one takes his place. Repeat the procedure until you killed them all. I didn't mind this AI bug, because that was the only thing that saved me when I faced numerous opponents at once.

The graphics are fairly decent. As you might have heard by now, IGI uses a heavily modified flight 3D engine, which could best be seen by the size of the levels, and the obligatory flight sequence between them. I could barely believe my eyes when I saw what the interiors of buildings looked like; they look too good for a flight engine specially concerning the quality of textures and number of objects. The strangest thing is that interiors look much better than open spaces, which have blurry textures and much less objects. On the other hand, I appreciated the fact that there are not too many trees around, as the trees gave me quite some trouble in game. You'll probably rather rush into a gunfight than try to hide behind something as inconvenient as this and get tangled up in it for some strange reason. Another weird phenomenon was the occasional ground motion. It seems as if it were alive. This is probably a side effect coming from the flight engine. Most of the starting locations look alike. It is only later that you'll really get to enjoy night missions, or missions in snow, rain and confined spaces...