HIDDEN & DANGEROUS
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Diversity reigns supreme

By MARTY JOYCE

Mixing a great blend of strategy and action, Illusion Softworks and Talonsoft's new title Hidden and Dangerous retraces the lives of a small band of allied soldiers throughout World War II.

In a style reminiscent of Rainbow Six, take control of up to four soldiers deep behind enemy lines in an effort to further the Allied cause.

The briefings will captivate you. Sit back as you're shown the mission map, watch as you re instructed on mission objectives, insertion and extraction points, points of enemy presence and more. It's a solid build up to each mission, and it certainly gets you in the right frame of mind.

H&D is visually stunning, portraying the landscape and weather conditions with intense realism. Whether you prefer the Quake-style or Tomb Raider-style of shooter you won't be disappointed with this game, both views are included. Although it can be a tad difficult to aim correctly when viewing your character from behind.

Each soldier has his unique strengths and weaknesses, so it's wise to allocate a sniper rifle to someone who has a high degree of accuracy, whereas someone who couldn't hit a tank from 10 paces may be best suited to carrying a heavy machine-gun. Thankfully, if you're lazy, you can get the computer to decide on your team and which member will carry what.

Like Rainbow Six there is the facility to preset your commandos  movements. Although I did find this to do more harm than good, often you'll find your men will walk into enemy fire without reacting as well as they should. I found it best to control one commando, survey the area, then carefully move the others forward.

What also takes H&D to the next level is the interaction with the surrounding environment. Finally, be able to drive trucks, ride motorbikes, search dead soldiers (both allied and enemy) for items and don enemy uniforms. It was fun to take out an enemy machine-gun tower and then to use it against the enemy.

There are some quirks within the game; most have been fixed with the recent release of a 1.1 Patch, so I won t comment on them. However, there seems to still be some annoyances.

For example, if you re lying down and you re next to a wall, you will not be able to turn around freely. It seems that when you commando attempts to turn, his legs, being as stiff as a board will hit the wall preventing a smooth turn. This can cause frustration, particularly when targeting an enemy soldier. Be weary of another bug that causes instant death, be sure to save often.

Finally, the multi-player options are a tad unpredictable, I found them to crash on a number of occasions. Hopefully, another patch will address the shortcomings.

Putting the problems aside, H&D is definitely a winner, and with its diverse missions and its intense storyline it will be hard done by if it doesn't reach top 10 status. Add this to your shopping list now, and remember if you do buy it, be sure to grab the patch, it makes a world of difference to the release version.

ORIGINALITY 90%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 95%
PLAYABILITY 90%
ADDICTION 90%
ENJOYMENT 90%