[i]"I really don't want to be the only (negative) review on the store page but this game is quite frustrating for me, someone who's a midcore gamer, to play due to the lack of indicators, and I've also tried both suggested methods - going in guns blazing (playing it like an action shooter game) or sneaking around and backstabbing soldiers (stealth). Maybe it'd be more appealing to the hardcore audience, who knows?"[/i]
Secrets of War is a strategy game where you can choose between only two options - either you go rambo all the way or you try to be stealthy. The thing here is that you can switch from stealthy to rambo mode but there is no way for you to turn the other way around even if the other Nazis are very far away and technically, shouldn't be able to hear your gunshots.
Note that for some reason, they respond to your gun shots but not to the gunshots of their fellow men. I knived a soldier to death after he shot at me, and missed, a couple of times, but funnily enough, his brothers-in-arms didn't hear his gunshots. In previous run, I used my gun to kill the fella; and lo and behold, every Nazi in the camp, no matter how far away they are, will know who's the killer and start shooting even if they didn't actually see me yet.
[h1]Watch me play![/h1]
https://youtu.be/z6UAXOwiR9Y?t=1868
In the first mission, I went Rambo-style although the game asked for stealth; and in the second, I opted for stealth which I think would probably end up with me shooting the remaining enemies because there's no way you can grab the papers on the table without first decimating the squad drilling in the courtyard or they will most definitely kill me.
Anyway, instead of writing an essay, I though I should put everything into a list of some sort so that it's a bit more summarized. Here goes!
[h1]Pros[/h1]
+ Nice World War II theme where your role is to infiltrate Nazi bases to gather critical intel regarding their plans and operations
+ Has at least 1 optional side mission per level (I think) - make sure to loot the bodies of slain Nazis to get the document which will trigger the start of the side mission.
+ Challenging in a roguelike-kind of way
+ Enemies can actually run out of bullets... like you. Most of them are also pretty clever, knowing enough to dodge behind buildings and covers (not that it helps though) when they are not firing at you.
+ Stealth kills can be quite satisfying in this game when you get away with it
+ Crouching and running work great here. Make sure to use crouch to perform stealth kills and to sneak past enemies.
+ You can throw stones to distract enemies and if you miss, chances are you can pick up your stone again if you remember where you threw it.
+ Note that height matters. So trying to shoot a crouched enemy while standing = missing that shot. I learned this the hard way :P
[h1]Meh[/h1]
+/- The enemy just need to land a single shot on you to kill you. The same goes for you as well - hit them and they will go down.
+/- Controls are easy enough to learn, though sometimes, the control options you want don't always pop up such as the "Hold F" key to drag a body away to hide.
+/- If you think the game isn't hard enough for you, know that you can't save the game in the middle of a mission. Most missions would probably take upwards to 30 mins I think but it all depends on which technique you use. For the first mission for example, it took me around 10 mins of rapid shooting (quickly moving from one target to another) to clear the level, but for the second mission, I tried stealth so that will probably cost me more time to complete.
[h1]Cons/Feedback[/h1]
- Buggy tutorial. For some reason, the next and back buttons for the tutorial pressed themselves, flipping between different pages of the tutorial randomly, making it very hard for me to read the instructions.
- Glitches - can "walk into buildings" and don't worry, enemies can see you through the walls of the building too. There's also an invincible soldier running against a tree in the second mission. The camera will sometimes freeze at a certain angle and refuse to rotate at all. The interfaces can also be glitchy, such as the time when I brought up the settings and the "Close" button disappeared.
- Landing a shot from a distance is all about luck since it's very difficult to aim when you have no idea how far your gun can shoot. In my case, instead of risking it, I tend to wait for the enemy to make his shot and then attack him when he's reloading.
- Can't seem to shoot diagonally even if my character is facing the right way
- Throwing a stone to distract an enemy is also very luck oriented because the game doesn't show you the "area" that the noise would be heard so you don't know whether or not throwing your stone would work as it should.
- In the two levels I've played, some enemies are placed in a way that it's impossible to stealth kill them without being able to lure them into a more isolated area. The stones are supposed to help here but they don't really do a lot of good when the soldiers don't always seem to "hear" the thud of the stone hitting the ground even if it's pretty close by.
- No cone of sight, so you have no idea how far a soldier can "see" or how close you can get with a disguise before you are outed.
- In fact, the game doesn't show any sort of indicators besides the yellow exclamation mark that appears briefly above an alerted soldier's head. It's all trial and error, turning the game into a Flappy Birds-style stealth game where you just have to keep restarting the game and learn from your mistakes from the previous run.
- The covers don't really do much. The enemies can still hit you if you're behind a cover; and vice versa
- As mentioned, alerted soldiers are only marked out briefly by yellow exclamation marks that will disappear. By the time you reached those soldiers, they may look nonchalant but they will fire at you the moment they see you... regardless of disguise.
- No noticeable way to reduce alert level of soldiers, so if you F-ed up your stealth run by firing your gun, you will have to shoot your way to the end.
- Picking up stones you've thrown (by walking over it) can be hard because it can be quite hard to see sometimes since it's small and the color of the stone blends so well with the dirt on the ground.
- As mentioned before, I've noticed that enemies don't respond to their fellow soldier's gunshots if it's far away at least, but if the gunshots came from me, the entire base goes into alert mode regardless of how far away the other soldiers are.
- The game seems rather pricey, though considering how many times you'd have to repeat a level, the cost-per-hour ratio for this game would probably end up being favorable for you... if and only if you decide to persevere.
[h1]Overall[/h1]
Personally, I think Secrets of War can be fun on so many levels, but from what I can see right now, it falls short of what it could have become. The lack of indicators (cone of sight, a more permanent alert sign for alerted soldiers, and crosshairs would be very helpful) is a major downside for me because I've played enough stealth-driven games and I know how crucial it is to have as many info as you can just so you can map out your moves.
However, maybe this is exactly how the game is intended - to be as punishing and as hardcore as it can be... and if that's the case, then midcore gamers like me would probably want to stay away. It's not like I don't enjoy a good challenge - I love Shadow Tactics for instance, and that's one challenging game - but this game can be quite demotivating to play.
[h1]Side-Note[/h1]
[quote]If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/[/quote]
