I can't say I've come across too many games that I felt really had no reason to exist. It should go without saying at this point that the World War II FPS well has run dry and, thanks to "Call of Duty" and its sequels, the last bits of innovation that could be squeezed out of that dying genre probably already have been.
Enter "Hour of Victory," a game developed by N-fusion Interactive that tries to pick up where "Call of Duty's" last World War II effort left off. The only problem is "Hour of Victory" is a barbaric, simplistic, horribly broken game that barely gets itself up and running half the time and its other half is so laden with glitches and bugs that it makes its mediocre game play stand out that much more. That's not to say "Hour..." is a deplorable game. Trust me, I've played worse. But N-fusion - if this game is any indication of their work - seem vastly incapable of creating both a cohesive narrative in a game that fervently begs for one as well as fresh, innovative game play in a worn subgenre that has spent all of its creative energy.
But, again, that is not to say that "Hour of Victory" is a bad game; just a very inept one. First and foremost, combat feels clumsy and unintuitive. There's a nice physics system being put to good use - especially on the opposing forces whenever you take one down - but it's utterly ridiculous that one smack with the butt of your rifle will instantly kill them while five well-placed shots from whichever gun you're using will do absolutely nothing.
There's also the issue of automatically melee-ing your foe when you are within a certain distance. An innovative feature, yes, but it can present one of two problems. The first being that you are firing one moment, then get closer to the enemy for a more accurate shot but, oops, you melee instead. Not to mention there could be barrels (or something) obstructing half your path. With the clunky programming "Hour of Victory" suffers from, something of an imaginary wall also acts as a block for your rifle butting (another problem) so you probably end up dead by way of your foe's bullets because, what the hell, HE doesn't seem to have this pseudo-wall blocking him. The second problem with the auto-melee is similar to the first; just replace the invisible wall with wonky hit detection - meaning you actually hit the enemy 1/4 of the time - and a hail of gunfire coming your way.
You can tell "Hour of Victory" really tries it's hardest to be innovative. Apart from the vehicle segments and "Call of Duty"-ish combat sequences, there's the ability to choose from three different characters, respectively, before the start of nearly each mission. Each of them has differing skills. For example, Ross, the Commando, is built for full-on assault and can withstand the most damage whereas Taggert, the Covert Op assassin is good at picking locks and eliminating enemies silently but can soak up very little damage. The only problem with this is the Commando is the only character you'll probably ever willingly use unless forced to do otherwise. So the opportunity may arise with other characters to be able to climb ropes and reach sniping positions (Bull) or pick locks (the aforementioned Taggert) but it matters so little in the end - and has such little effect on game play - that it's utterly useless. And besides, the game throws so many enemies at you, and so many RESPAWNING enemies, that you're GOING to pick Ross no matter what your playing style is. If the last sentence is any indication that's how the developers seemingly wanted you to play anyhow.
Even with the game using the Unreal 3 Engine as it does, I can't say I've ever seen the technology look any more mediocre. Textures look like brown and grey smudges and most are unfathomably low-res. Lighting effects are damn near non-existent (and here I thought I was playing a game from 2007), characters faces look hideous; the only decent thing about this iteration of the engine are some of the locales (the Alps, for example) that, for some odd reason, look better in screenshots than they do in-game. The snow looks realistic and some of the character models are detailed well enough but those are about the highest two compliments I can pay this game graphically.
Considering how mediocre this game is, I was completely shocked to find that the sound design wasn’t utter shit. Music is orchestrated and similar to that of the "Call of Duty" and "Medal of Honor" franchises (you were expecting different?); but if you're going to steal you might as well steal from the best, correct? The music is actually pretty impressive if not for a complete lack of distinction between tracks and their general make-up being culled from better WWII shooters. Voiceacting is shoddy at best, though weapons sound satisfying, as do the various sounds of combat. Again, the game doesn't sound terrible, just incredibly average.
Considering you can find this game in most stores for $19.99, you shouldn't expect much from it. Most 360 Platinum Hits titles are $29.99 and this, released last year, will take as much out of your pocket as an old BudgetSoft PC game. With that said, expecting anything above last-gen AI is simply out of the question, but I will say one kind thing about the enemies’ "intelligence," they find cover well. Other than that, it's a crapshoot. Considering Hitler's real-life cunning, as well as that of his troops, you'd figure these Axis soldiers would put up more of a fight. Not here. Some tend to run aimlessly in circles, others stand in one spot without firing, sometimes they have absolutely amazing accuracy WHEN firing (surprise, surprise), sometimes they aim right at you from behind cover for what seems like hours without spending a single round... the list goes on and on. "Hour of Victory" possesses what could be some of the worst 360 AI I've ever encountered.
You'd think by the tone of this review that I hated "Hour of Victory." In truth, I really didn't. Considering I paid a measly $20 for it and it did give me a few hours of cheap entertainment, I can't really complain. As they say, you get what you pay for, and at $20, you certainly are getting what you pay for here. Looking past the overdone-to-the-point-of-nausea game play for a second, "Hour of Victory" is also loaded with bugs and glitches. In sections where you commandeer a tank, you often get stuck on the sides of objects, or you will find yourself clipping through the ground, or possibly even getting flung halfway across the map for no reason. But what's worse? "Hour..." tries it's hardest to be like the better "Medal of Honor" games and, of course, "Call of Duty 1-3." It can't muster it, though. "Hour of Victory" is spectacularly average at best, nearly unplayable at worst. Take it from me though, as middle-of-the-road as that sounds, don't waste good money on it.
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