Gameplay, Goodies

Classes

Global Ops brings in many familiar classes, though some have a bit of a twist. There is the demolitions man with his grenade launcher, the heavy weapons guy who brings light machine guns to the field, the general-purpose commando with his assault rifles, the recon specialist with submachine guns, the medic and the sniper. Each of these classes fulfills its intended role quite well, though there is generous overlap.

He can't be happy about that

No fighting on holy ground

Believe it or not, it's medicine, not man-love

A skilled recon player can defeat a commando or heavy weapons expert in close combat. A sniper isn’t necessarily going to take out the commando in a long-range duel. Some classes are quite necessary for certain missions – a demo man is almost a requirement to take out those anti-aircraft batteries, for example. A medic keeps respawn times down by bringing back the severely wounded, who lie in a near-death state after they’re brought to zero hitpoints.

The classes can also interchange weapons to a certain extent. A heavy weapons guy can use a commando’s assault rifles, though there is no way a recon specialist can use a machine gun. Nearly all secondary weapons and equipment, like shotguns, pistols and gas masks are shared among the classes. However, a heavy weapons guy with a submachine gun is still just as slow as any other heavy weapons guy. A sniper with a shotgun for close-range combat is still going to be at a disadvantage against a commando wielding an M16.

Not a bad sniping gun for a SAW

GRENADE!

You can never see where it flew, they're so small

It was all a dream, I used to read Word Up magazine…

Global Operations is based on a modified version of the LithTech 2.5 engine. Enough tweaks were made to make us wonder what engine this game was based on when we first tried it. Once you realize what engine it is, the cues become obvious – the lighting, the weapon detail and texture styling – but it took some guessing to figure it out.

Execution by Firing Squad!

Give your men orders

This thing eats bullets like termites eat wood

There are some really impressive features that Global Operations brings to the table, that are just too easy to overlook. Weapon detail is one of them – the SAW (a light machine gun) and its ammo chain are particularly effective at showing off Global Ops’ great lighting effects. Character model texturing comes in a massive variety, giving a distinct feel to every level. Military uniforms of all kinds are in the game, and the terrorists aren’t dressed that bad either. But are those hockey jerseys on those Turks in Canada?