Excellent WW" strategy/action game (Hidden & Dangerous (DC))

Member Name: vampula

Product:	Hidden & Dangerous (DC)
Date:	24/08/01 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Playability, Graphics

Disadvantages: Difficult to control at first

This is an action/strategy game set in WW2. You control a unit of allied troops and have to complete missions against Nazi's in order to finish the game.

In each mission you can use between 1 and 4 men. You also choose what equipment each man carries. There's a lot there including explosives, binoculars, and of course different guns (machine gun, sniper rifle, pistol, etc). If you're feeling lazy you can just select auto choose and equipment will be selected for you. However, as equipment is so important once you become familiar with the game you'll want to choose your own. Once in the game you can swap items amongst your men, and you can take anything left on enemy soldiers that you've killed. If one of your men is killed you can take his gear too. You may also find weapons, etc, in the mission so you always have a chance to increase your arsenal. Of course you can only carry a limited amount so you often have to make hard decisions about what to take.

You can take direct control of any man or you can programme the men to perform different tasks (eg crawl towards a barn and lob a grenade). I usually do both, like programming them to cross a bridge and then taking control for more delicate tasks).

You can use the mouse, keyboard, or joystick to control the men. I recommend learning to use the joystick as you then have total control without ever looking away from the screen. The controls are a combination of button pushes. It seems difficult at first but you soon get used to it.

The missions vary in difficulty. Some are quite easy and can be accomplished in less than 10 minutes but the majority are difficult and you will need several attempts before you complete them. And it's not just a matter of finishing the mission. You also need to conserve as much equipment as possible. Often you find that, even though you have finished a mission, because you have lost so much equipment or 1 of your men has been killed
, you'll want to do the mission again. A mission may involve infiltrating an enemy camp and destroying a storeroom, or finding and releasing hostages, capturing a leader, etc, but whatever it is you always need to plan your tactics and use initiative when deciding the best way forward.

The graphics in H&D really are excellent. From the high quality buildings and vehicles to the enemy soldiers running towards you. You can even see enemy soldiers when they're so far away that they are only tiny specks. If you view them through your rifle site you can zoom in (they'll now show clearly) and shoot them. This can be tricky as they tend to disperse when they hear gunfire.

The sound and music, although fairly simple, are put to good use and really do create a dark, deadly, WW2 atmosphere. A lot of the game is silent and the music will usually only start when something unexpected is about to happen. So when it starts your heartbeat really does shoot up!! You never know what to expect ... a unit of enemy soldiers suddenly appearing perhaps, or discovering that you've just walked into a field full of land mines.

There are many ways to complete each mission (you decide which is the best way forward) and with the superb graphics and good sound this game is hugely playable and should last you a lot longer than most other games.

There are a few problems with this game. When a lot is happening on the screen (like when you're fighting enemies and a couple of tanks appear) things can slow down quite considerably. Also, your soldiers aren't always too clever. You may find that one of your men is shooting continuously at an enemy (wasting valuable bullets) that he will never hit (because he's behind a wall for instance). And the speech is repeated a lot. When a soldier is hit he'll always say "Aagghhh ... my leg" and when the enemy sees you he always says "Englander!!!!, Englander!!!, ...)

Despi
te these problems I think H&D is an excellent game and one of the best on the Dreamcast.

Summary: