WWII was a major event that changed the world’s history and now Video Games wish to take people back in time and show them how those battles were fought. Unrealistically but they do show some battles the way they were fought. Each game offers a unique WWII experience: Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Brothers in Arms are just some of the few more successful Games out there that each offers a real unique game play experience. Hour Of Victory is Midway’s answer to all these games and where HOV offers a truly next-gen experience in some parts, it falls short on others.
You start out by picking 1 of 3 main characters in the game, one is a commanding officer, the other a Sniper and the last one is tactical. Each of these 3 characters offer s something unique to the game and also offer different path’s to the same story line. No I don’t mean like call of duty when you play as an American, a French man or a British that all eventually end up in the same story line but different levels. I mean they all play the same levels but sometimes they’re paths are different from one another. Fox example Ross (Commando) is able to move heavy objects and Taggert (Covert op) is able to light fuses and blow things up. Depending on the character you choose things can go differently in every level.
Each character has their own set of weapons for different operations. Ross has the machine gun and a pistol, Taggert has a Sten MK2 and a knife and BlackBull has a Springfield Sniper Rifle and a Gun. Ross is always useful in huge battles with guns because he is able to withstand more shots than the others. If a character dies in a certain level you are taken back to the last check point and you have an option to choose a different character or the same character. This is a useful feature because you can try out different strategies if one does not work.
The story goes that “The Allies have discovered that the Germans are attempting to develop an Atomic weapon. This could tip the balance of the war in the favor of the Germans. The game follows a small team of elite soldiers as they seek out information regarding the German’s secret weapon program, and fight to bring it to an end before they can unleash this ultimate weapon.”
The battles in HOV are real intense however the AI lacks any knowledge of what is going on. The enemy AI does try to hide and come up with different tactics every so now and then but the difference between HOV and all other WWII games is that they just throw a lot of enemies at you, Wave after Wave of enemy coming at you until you defeat them all and survive. If you survive you can move on but if you don’t try again. Even when you stand behind an enemy it will keep shooting forward without knowing that you’re there even if you shoot and miss it will take some time for certain soldier enemies to turn around and shoot you. When it comes to AI it falls short of what is expected of them.
Even though the AI is as dumb as 60% of the whole population on earth, that doesn’t meant that it does not offer great challenges. It sometimes gets so hectic that you will get into the game and forget everything else. Tanks shooting at you, endless enemy soldiers with machine guns and rocket launchers and most destructible environments they all draw you in at one point or the other. The reason why I say most destructible environments is because not everything is destructible no matter how weak it is.
In most games you will use the ammo to reload your weapon with the amount it needs. For example if you have 50 bullets in your pocket and your gun holds 15 and you only have 5 left and you reload back to 15 you will have 40 bullets left. In HOV if you have 50 bullets in your pocket and 5 in your gun and reload it back to 15 you will have 35 bullets left in your pocket. Every time you reload depending on how many bullets you have on your gun they will all be lost if you reload, so constant reloading can leave you without ammo fast.
With HOV trying to be as realistic as possible it does however fall short when it comes to real life. Just like other WWII games before the stop and rest and get back out there and fight again, HOV uses those same elements. If you’re hurt you will need to stop and heal and get back out there and continue fighting again. It is more convenient this way however there’s no point in trying to be as realistic as possible if you’re going to get shot 1000 times and not die. One more added feature of HOV that other WWII games don’t have is Sprinting. This was normally featured in gears of war and now it is being featured in HOV. This is a useful technique that they added because you can sprint for cover when things get hot.
The Dark Gloomy battlefields truly match the world in HOV. Soldiers dying left and right, you trying to survive harsh situations, fighting for your life all this were made possible using Unreal technology. The same technology used to make Gears of War was used to make HOV. The characters are badly done and it seems as if someone smooshed their faces with a finger like clay but the environment catches the true feeling of war. Although Rag doll like animation does affect the outcome of everything. Every time you will an enemy soldier their bodies will look like if they were really rag dolls which can take away from the experience.
The controls are perfectly mapped out. It uses every single button on the controller to do something without confusing the player. Unlike other games where things get hectic you lose track of what button does what however in HOV you remember perfectly what does what and know when to use it. That’s not to say that you will get confused every now and then but you won’t get confused as other game controls confuse you.
Truly authentic Surround Sound delivers a great gaming experience even if you don’t have a surround sound system. HOV features great sound effect whether it’s shooting all types of weapons or loud explosions that get your heart pumping.The soundtrack is also great and matches the mood of the game along with the graphics and the voice over could have used a little more work but it’s not all bad.
Unlike other games where once you beat the game there’s nothing else to do but to beat it again in a different level, HOV offers that and a with 3 different characters to choose from with different paths you can try to beat the game with each and every single character in different game modes. Online multiplayer can handle up to 12 players and can add more life to this game where it’s life normally last for only a few days or maybe weeks of game play.
Closing Comments:
The Demo on Xbox Live really sucked and it might have given HOV a bad name however HOV is definitely two steps forward on the WWII fps genre however it does take a few steps back with its AI and badly rendered characters. The campaign only last 5-8 hours depending on how many times you die or how long it takes you to finish a level and Multiplayer can be really bad most of the time. HOV looks like a 1st generation 360 games but there’s always room for
improvement. Before judging the game rent it first and play it, don’t just make all your decisions off the demo.
Game Play: Interesting yet repetitive throughout the entire game. 7/10
Graphics: Great as a first generation 360 title, OK by today’s standards. 6/10
Sound: Great sound effects and Music. Specially if you have a surround system 8/10
Controls: Easy to pick up and play, no complicated buttons to learn or figure out. 7/10
Life Span: 3 different characters to choose from 4 different game modes, you are looking at over 30+ hours of game play. 8/10
