The most immediate difference between JO and its Swedish inspiration is the environment.
While teams of three and four obviously didn't give us the full experience, we managed to get a good grasp of the direction NovaLogic is taking - and have a surprising number of laughs in the process.
To get a better idea of what Joint Ops is bringing to the table, we recently got hold of the latest code and fired it up on the office LAN. Loyal Battlefielders may be reeling in horror at such shameless coattail-riding, but bear with us, as there are some interesting twists on the formula here, some of which aren't half bad. There's also a nine-mission single-player campaign, but as with BF1942, this serves mainly as a primer for the online games. Large-scale maps, real-world team-based warfare, vehicular action over land, air and sea - all online of course, with up to 64 players duking it out simultaneously. There's a bit more to it than that, but that's the basic starting point.
To put you out of your misery, the ten words we're talking about are: ' Battlefield 1942 with the Delta Force: Black Hawk Down engine'.
In the case of Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising, however, we're pretty sure it's a cause for celebration, as this is a rather fine-looking entry in a new sub-genre. It certainly makes our jobs easier (or totally redundant, if you like), though a cynic might suggest it points to a certain lack of novelty and/or depth in the game at hand. We never know whether to worry or celebrate when a game can be summed up in ten words or less. UT2004 may still be the most balls-out fun to play and Battlefield 1942 probably has the edge in terms of variety, but Joint Ops is certainly a worthwhile contender. Nevertheless, Joint Ops already shows a lot of promise, and can certainly lay claim to being the most realistic and tactical of the current crop of multiplayer teambased shooters.
Such issues, plus the numerous bugs - the most annoying of which is the dodgy collision detection of the various vehicles - are sure to be addressed if they haven't been already by the time you read this. Helicopters aside, everything drives like a souped-up hover-tank. One might also suggest that although the game rightly favours the foot soldier, the vehicles could do with a little extra beef and certainly have need of some attention to the handling. Stomping off to take an objective, only to meet a sniper's bullet time and time again is pretty irritating, and can result in many minutes of dead time'. As is so often the case where telescopic sights are issued freely, sniping is a constant frustration. Dead Timeĭespite the finely tuned balance between soldier and vehicular combat. And because there are no tanks being constantly repaired by a pit crew of engineers following close behind, players are more willing to enjoy themselves on foot, encouraged by the fact that most of the vehicles are highly susceptible to infantry attackĪnd the maps so dense with foliage that trudging is often the safest way around. Unlike in Battlefield, most vehicles can seat an impressive number of players, almost all of whom are able to pop a few shots off from their seat. Maps up to 50 square kilometres in size and able to service up to 150 players, each of which are able to gain entry to 29 types of drivable vehicle - from Jeeps and amphibious ATVs to patrol boats, hovercraft and helicopters. While Joint Ops does indeed beg, borrow and steal a great deal from our favourite combined arms shooter, it has much more going for it than just the modern-day tropical setting.Īs ever NovaLogic's figures are impressive.
After all, why should I get excited when there are couple of highly accomplished mods for BF1942 that cover much the same contemporary ground?Īs it turns out, I found myself not just mildly entertained but actually gripped by the turmoil of a near-future Indonesia.
The fact that the game uses a modified version of the Delta Force: Black Hawk Down engine and the blatant way it appeared to ape the gameplay of the Battlefield series did little to alleviate tensions either.
So I approached Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising with a degree of trepidation.
It's no secret that I've never been much of a fan of NovaLogic's games, especially the over-simplified arcade leanings of the Delia Force series.