While realism takes a backseat to practicality when it comes to the vehicles,
this is not necessarily the case with your person. You have a health bar in
Joint Operations but your odds of surviving more than a hit or two are minimal.
In fact, one shot kills are common. It’s not that the maps are littered with
snipers; it’s more of a combination of a realistic damage model combined with a
forgiving targeting system. On more than one occasion I’ve spent quite some time
making my way to the front only to be dropped in my tracks by a single shot the
moment I arrived. On the other end of the gun, I’ve dropped other players with a
reported headshot with a lowly infantryman’s automatic rifle when to tell the
truth I could barely make out my target in the brush. I’m all for realistic
shooters, but it can be frustrating when you have the misfortune of spending
most of a game traveling instead of fighting.
The long distances in the game are shortened when you capture the forward bases
as these will become spawn points for your team. However, to prevent a forward
bas from becoming a portal for waves of incoming soldiers the game uses a queued
span system. When you are killed you are shown the game map and given your
choice of spawn locations. You can spawn at the rear base instantly, but if you
choose to spawn at a forward base you’ll have to wait your turn in line because
the game will add a delay between each player spawn.
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| An aerial view of a jungle fortress. |
When playing Joint Operations you have your choice of one of five different
soldier classes. The first is the rifleman whose fortes are assault rifles and
the anti-vehicle rocket launcher. The gunner is a heavy weapons class which
brings machine guns to the battlefield. In addition to long range rifles,
snipers get a target designator to spot for mortar equipped engineers. Engineers
may also carry a Stinger missile to take out enemy choppers. Lastly we have the
medic who can both heal wounded teammates and revive fallen comrades. In a nice
touch, you do not have to accept the default weapon loadout for your class. You
can mix and match your primary weapon, ammo supply, secondary weapon, and
additional items such as grenades. To keep you from going crazy when selecting
your loadout, the game keeps track of your encumbrance. If you load yourself
down you’ll find it slow going in the field. There are also armories to be found
in the field, so you can restock your ammunition supplies or adjust your weapon
mix to fit the battle at hand.
The maps themselves look really good. There are plenty of trees and brush in the
jungles, plains filled with rice paddies, rolling hills, and mountains. Some
maps include villages or small towns that bring an element of urban fighting to
the game. The graphics and textures provide plenty of details and as mentioned
earlier the view from the air is amazing. The game even features a day-night
cycle that makes attacking with sun at your back a viable option twice a day and
that causes everything to be bathed in a bluish glow at night. You can don
night-vision goggles to see everything in a greenish glow and catch the muzzle
flashes of gunfire.
Joint Operations supports huge battles of 150 players and it is pretty easy to
find games running at capacity when you sit down to play. Smaller games are also
abundant should you want a smaller, more intimate battle. I did encounter some
lag issues with the largest games which seemed to be at its worst when first
joining a game. Lag did not present a major problem while playing, but it did
pop up often enough to be more than random Internet anomalies. As with all games
of this nature, patches will inevitably be forthcoming that will hopefully
address this issue.
It can at times be frustrating, but when it shines Joint Operations is a blast
to play. Taking part in a pitched combined arms battle will get your pulse
racing and set your nerves on edge. However, sometimes you’ll find yourself
spending most of a game in transit from one spot to another. The game includes
some thirty maps, but not all seem to provide the same degree of enjoyment.
Personally I’d rather fight a pitched battle on a smaller jungle map then spend
my time island hopping and looking for the enemy. More than likely you’ll find
that you like a couple of game types and maps and just stick with them.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
85%. Online shooter fans will find a lot to love in Joint Operations.
System Requirements: Pentium III 1.2 GHz; 256 MB RAM; 32 MB
Video RAM; 1.5 GB Hard disk space.
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