Ok men, listen up!
Hitler and his boys are dug in deep and it's The Fighting First's job to lead what may be the largest single offensive Military strike in the history of the World, and failure is
not an option, gentlemen.
Versatility is essential to our success!
You men may find yourselves supporting our Sherman tanks or even driving them at times as the mission may require.
Our Flyboys will be providing aerial support but they need
your help as well, by filling in as gunners aboard one of our bombers, providing supporting fire from anti - aircraft units on the ground, and by eliminating or capturing enemy anti - aircraft units you encounter .
Even the Navy will assist you in the assault on Omaha beach as much as they can, but
you have to conduct the fire missions to neutralize the numerous enemy bunkers Intel says are waiting there to greet you gentlemen.
{Here comes another one! Brooklyn, keep your head down!}
Rommel's
entire Panzer division has been spotted along your planned route, so be ready with Bazookas, any Panzerschreck you find - or call in another fire mission -
anything to put their tanks out of commission quickly before they take out our Shermans!
It goes without saying that you're expected to have a weapon in your hands, loaded and ready to fire at all times, so be sure to utilize any French, Italian, or German weaponry you find useful - to tell the truth, some of their guns are even better than ours.
And don't forget those TNT and satchel charges which are great for demolishing obstacles, artillery, Screaming Mimis, and maybe even some of those darned V2 rockets if we're lucky.
Good luck men, Uncle Sam is counting on the Big Red One!
{We got a sniper in that tower over there! -
Brooklyn!! keep your head DOWN!}
[ I'm from the
Bronx, Sarge!]
...
Graphics -
4
The levels, explosions, enemies, vehicles, and weapons are richly detailed and although the gameplay is extremely linear and does not allow much free exploration of the environment except nearby your squad's current location there's still quite a bit to see.
I wouldn't say the graphics are as realistic as those in
Black but the quality is both good and consistent.
During the numerous cutscenes you are able to look around the environment freely, and at the beginning of each stage authentic WW2 newsreels show some of the actual battles you get to reenact in the game.
Sound -
3
The environment sounds good, lots of layers and loops long enough to remain interesting.
The voice acting is good, adds dimension to the characters, and also helps create a sense of urgency during firefights, for example.
Weapons sound great, from the extremely loud cracking as you reload a MP40, to a quad .50 blazing away in the gunner's pod on aboard a bomber during an aerial battle, to the sound of a Steilhandgrenate whistling through the air then going off - right through the game they really did a great job on the sound, with the sole exception of the fact you cannot turn the music off.
That alone is why I rate the sound as 3 ; everything else about the sound is great.
The music isn't playing constantly but the times it does play are enough to hinder my ability to immerse myself fully in the game.
Replay value -
4
A very enjoyable and easy to play first person shooter, nice to play again once in a while.
Gameplay is very straightforward and when your next move is not obvious, Sgt. Hawkins is happy to direct you where you need to go next with his howling commands.
Compared to some other games like those of the SOCOM series this game may seem short and over too quickly {there's only about 12 levels} but the richness of the graphics and the variety in the gameplay itself makes up for it and keeps it interesting.
Challenge -
3
Big Red One is not a very fast - paced game, the AI of enemies isn't so good {but they are good shots} and they have a strong camping tendency.
A lot of the time I found enemies simply hiding behind doors or walls and they don't seem to move around much except when taking the place of a fallen comrade at a machine gun nest, for example.
Few parts could be considered truly difficult, except perhaps when multiple MG42 nests bearing down at once or if your squad member is being a bit slow to open a door, for instance, and overall the game plays rather smoothly.
Most gamers should have no problem beating it.
Tilt -
3
An enjoyable game all around.
Definitely worth adding to your FPS collection in my opinion.
Linear Mode
