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Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

I added the 9 because I thought someone would have taken Pogma, but I was unaware of how dead this dump is.

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

So here’s a mini review on GRAW 2006.

Using my much loved system, let’s start with the graphics.

1…Graphics.

The graphics are good, and quite good for their time, but I think it’s more so the games scale and draw distance than the raw quality of the graphics, and I’m maxing this game at 1920x1200 on my 26in LCD, but as I said, they look good and still hold up today somewhat.

The character animations are reasonable and the guns look and sound good, and have impact.

I think we should give this game 8.5 for its graphics bearing in mind it came out in 2006.

2…..Sound and use of sound.

I think this aspect was fairly good, but as usual, the voice acting from both sides was weak and weird at times, for example, my own team-mates would shout that they’d moved into position whilst we were scouting for enemies…..not smart!!

The game is also interactive with a small windowed com, and I thought that worked quite well.

9/10.

3….Storyline.

Not too bad, you’re basically an advanced group following orders given from command, and you control up to 3 men, a UAV{unmanned Ariel vehicle} and can also order airstrikes etc.

The storyline is arguably typical but realistic and appropriate, so I have no gripes with it, and it breaks the monotony of the usual run and gun FPSer…..of course, this is a stealthy tactical type of game, you can’t run and gun and you need to rely on your team at times.

Your team-mates AI is okay but certainly could be better, ie, you’ve generally got to use them as your defence otherwise the dummies always seem to get themselves killed, but they definitely come in handy at times, even if there are a few issues with the AI.

In 2006 I dled the demo and played it on my 19in CRT…..I remember thinking this game has polish but isn’t my type, however, when played on a much larger monitor, this game{and all games] comes alive, especially this one as it’s more of a long range shooter, so being able to see things/enemies by virtue of a large monitor makes a hell of a difference.

I liked the weapons, and found that the sniping worked very well+ the lean/peak and zoom is a necessity in this game, and is well executed.

The game also has a map that allows you to see a area of maybe a few square kilometres or whatever….at first I though this would be pointless and kind of cheating, but it’s both useful and necessary, especially to locate long distance snipers, ie, it will show you where the snipers and the enemies are, but don’t assume killing them is a piece of cake.

This game is fairly hard and as soon as you drop your guard you’ll most likely be killed, however, it doesn’t have a manual saving option and this sux when a game is relatively difficult….I must admit this puts me off as I normally prefer run and gun style games, so it certainly tries my patience, but fans of this type of genre presumably demand this type of realism.

I’m a bit ADD when it comes to gaming, so I normally wouldn’t play this game, but it’s a polished game that both draws and repels me with it’s difficulty/gameplay and annoying save point system…..that said, GRAW2 has more frequent save points and whilst we’re discussing the game, a much better UAV+better graphics……which almost prompts me to drop this game and put all my time and energy into GRAW2, which is what I might end up doing if GRAW frustrates me any further.

8.5/10 for being good, but not outstanding.

4….Subjective appeal.

Well as I said, these type aren’t the one’s I normally go for, and I get the feeling that it’s going to be GRAW2 that wins me over, but I guess with it’s reasonably strong and cohesive gameplay it deserves props, but as I mentioned, the save system really pisses me off, in fact, I’m on holidays atm, it’s quite possible I would’ve broken the game disc if I’d attempted this game during my time off after work, as I want to have fun, not be frustrated, especially by such a pissweak oversight.

6/10…..probably would be 8 with a better save system.

5…..Objective demerits, bugs etc.

The save system is going to cost this game, which is unfortunate, as everything else works well…….it always amazes me that developers ever ignore a manual save system…..one can always play on the hardest level if they want ultra difficulty.

The poor save system coupled to a difficult game make for a heavy penalty, of course, I’ve made you well aware of why I’m marking it down, and perhaps most people won’t care, or want to sneak and crawl around in a bid to ensure survival, but me, I usually just want to blast some mofo and have fun whilst doing it.

5/10….this is similar to a Deadspace fuck up, ie, Deadspaces fucked controls would cost it big time if I ever bothered to review it, although that’ll be a neat trick as I can’t be bothered to even play the POS with such an impediment.

NOTE….GRAW2 has better save points, although, it only offers you one health bar and no option to replenish, so this could and probably will force you back a few save points at times, but this is most likely a better system than in GRAW.

So we get 7.4/10 from Pogma, but as I said, if all they did was improve the save system, it would be bumped to about 8/10 overall…..which is what I suspect GRAW2 will rate.

FYI, any game that rates 8 or over is worth playing, but that assumes you’re on the same page as I am.

Would love a GRAW3 with Crysis graphics and destructible environment{Graw’s environment has minor levels of destructibility}, but they need to keep and advance Graw’s weapons…..no need to bring Crysis’s poor weapons along.

I’m expecting FO3 in the mail, so I’ll wait for that, but I will eventually get a copy of GRAW2.

berzerker · A Winner is me!

This review is a bit out of order on this website, isn't it? It may be accurate (tactical shooters are not my cup of tea, so I couldn't tell) but it does not seem to attempt to be funny (or am I missing the point completely?).

Is this a review of the demo ("but I will eventually get a copy of GRAW2" suggests this)?

Pogma9 · A Winner is me!

It's a review of the original GRAW from 2006.....but I also have the GRAW2 demo.

berzerker · A Winner is me!