Graphics
All of this action takes place in some of the densest, lushest jungle yet seen on a PC. If you’ve got the meat inside your box to do it, whack everything on high and sit back safe in the knowledge that you’re expensive GPU is working its socks off. This game looks good with a capital G_O_O_D. Trees sway, bushes rustle to and fro, grass and ferns swish as you pass. Birds idly fly around in small flocks (unless you shoot them). At night, the moonlight casts shadows from the foliage across you while fireflies flit about.
The water effects are amazing, reflecting the surrounds with a beautiful ripply effect which changes as you wade through it. Try shooting a bad guy off his boat and watch as the body crumples (ragdoll physics in full effect) tumbles into the water and then a bloom of blood spreads into the sea, scaring away the fish swimming there. Texture details are fantastic and show up the advantages of having a DX9 card. This game has the most realistic environments I’ve seen to date. The graphics engine handles indoor and outdoor areas with ease, giving you stunning outside views, beautifully rendered in great detail. The thick jungle undergrowth really is very thick and nicely varied too, so it does feel like a load of textures laid down by a bored programmer. And its not just window dressing either, I’ve used the thick foliage to avoid detection while being hunted by guys on foot and helicopters up above. Pretty much everything you see you can interact with. Knock cans from tables, roll barrels down hills, use the scenery for cover and the landscape for advantage.
Move inside and things are just as good. Barrels reflect light in a way that you know the gloss paint on them should. Wet pipes are bump-mapped to look rusty and corroded and everything changes when you flick on your flashlight or fire your weapon.
In one area, you have a jet of steam coming from a fractured pipe. Above that is a strip light, the grille from the light throws a shadow across the corridor, and through the steam. The steam is hot though, so there’s a heat haze too. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the real time shadows under the superbly detailed mercenary advancing towards you through this complex mass of steam, light, shadow and haze. Don’t do what I did and sit there thinking how gorgeous this looks or you’ll die. Try opening up on him and watch how your muzzle flare lights up the corridor and the steam in different ways… and then once he’s down, try shooting the light and watch the shadow dance about changing the way the place is lit and reflecting off the wet wall opposite the steam… Ok, just ogle the screenshot and imagine that moving, in real time.
At a recent LAN I had everyone crowding round to see what the game was like with my 9800XT doing its thing. I hope you get the idea that it was impressive… very, very impressive.