The enemy AI in Deadly Dozen: Pacific Theater is pretty basic. When
your team is sighted, they have a tendency to make a beeline right for you
without too much regard for cover or coordination with their fellow soldiers.
They also don't seem to suffer the same sighting problems caused by the foliage
that you do in the game. Once you've been sighted, you've been sighted,
and you won't be able to make them lose track of you by dropping to the ground
and crawling around the bushes. Lucky for you the enemy are not very good
shots and your teammates are marksmen when under computer control. You'll
often be trudging through the jungle and be surprised to hear shots ring out,
only to have the firing end as quickly as it began with an unseen enemy left
lying dead somewhere.
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| You'll need to keep your team close by to keep them from getting lost. |
Outside of their shooting skills, your team's AI suffers from some pretty
flawed pathfinding code. You'll be fine when moving around in the open,
but if you start entering buildings or making your way through a base you'll
lose them more often than first graders on a field trip to the zoo. The
game allows you to take control of any team member at any time, and you'll often
need to do this to walk a soldier back to the squad. To its credit, the
game displays a special icon on a soldier's portrait when he has become
separated and out of command range so as long as you pay attention you won't be stuck with bringing
up a wayward squadmate from the other side of the map.
In spite of its flaws, Deadly Dozen: Pacific Theater can be an enjoyable
game. There are a good variety of weapons in the game, including bazookas
and flamethrowers, and you can capture and use enemy weapons. You can also
drive vehicles, including tanks, although the control scheme for moving and
firing when driving a tank is odd and difficult to get the hang of. The
maps are too sparely populated and the AI too weak to provide an exciting
experience for the action gamer who likes his or her games heavy on the action.
The game is most enjoyable for those who like sneaking up on enemy positions and
sniping off the guards one by one. If you fall into this latter category
and are looking for another shooter that won't put a dent in your wallet, then
you'll probably be surprisingly pleased by this game.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
78%. Unlike most budget titles, with Deadly Dozen: Pacific Theater you
get more than you pay for.
System Requirements: Pentium III 550; 128 MB RAM; 16 MB
Video RAM; 8x CD-ROM; 650 MB Hard Drive
Space; Mouse.
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