Gaming Target - Xbox: Full Spectrum Warrior

Written by Ryan Genno on June 21, 2004

Full Review: Can you stop a madman? Can you get your men out alive?

War is truly a horrible thing, but like it or not it's a necessary evil in life, and the more prepared you are for battle the better. Thq is taking a different and more realistic approach to war in their new game -- Full Spectrum Warrior. Instead of controlling a lone soldier like in other popular war games (i.e. Splinter Cell) you must rely on careful planning, teamwork, and nerves of steel to insure your survival in a nation in chaos. Mixing both action and real time strategy sounds like an odd combination, but fortunately Full Spectrum Warrior pulls it off rather well.

In the year 2006 the nation of Zekisan (don't bother looking that up in any Atlas, it's not real) has been a hot bed for terrorists thanks to its weak government and surplus of illegal weapons. Dictator Mohammed Jabbour Al-Afad has successfully seized control of the country after years of civil unrest and, to make matters worse, his Mujahadeen army is currently killing all the native Zekis. All diplomatic resolutions have failed and it's up to the United States to bring peace to this war-torn land. As team Full Spectrum Warrior, it is your mission to take out the threat of Al-Afad and his followers, and liberate Zekisan.

You lead two ground troops of soldiers called team Alpha and team Bravo. Each team can go in different paths to meet their objectives, but they can also work together to engage the enemy. Moving around a pair of teams may seem unusual for one player (two players can play on Xbox Live though) but it works great for tactical strategies. For example: if team Alpha is trapped in a stale mate with the enemy then you can switch over to team Bravo and see if they can take out those targets from around location. It's sneaky but it works. The only problem I have with the team switch feature is that your game can still end even if you are not currently controlling the soldiers. These controls also take a lot of getting used to, and moving around the 4-man cursor feels very awkward at first. Once you get use to the set up it works very well though.

Full Spectrum Warrior not only plays like a war game, but it also has the visuals to back it up too. The background graphics can be on the bland side since everything looks run down, and certain obstacles appear unpolished up close too but hey, this is war after all! The soldiers themselves look highly detailed and they even move in unison when their team leader asks them to go somewhere. These guys may act professional around their superior officers, but they are not afraid to throw around a few curse words now and again. With the game's heavy realism, FSW deserves its СMature' rating. The game doesn't sugar coat anything.