Terror Strike: Close Quarters Combat Review

Speed and crazy difficulty make this Rainbow Six rip-off with a British accent immensely frustrating.

Speed kills. Consider this the big message of Terror Strike: Close Quarters Combat, a year-old tactical shooter (it hit Europe in early 2006 under the name of The Regiment) from Kuju Entertainment that revs up the terrorist-killing meme of Rainbow Six so much that it feels like a lethal biathlon. This certainly lends the proceedings a unique intensity, but ventilating tangos and rescuing hostages like some kind of Flash in army boots exposes serious holes in squad artificial intelligence, level design, and game mechanics. So all this breathtaking velocity really only serves to take you from "Hey, this is kind of a neat budget take on Tom Clancy" to "I want to throw my mouse through my monitor" at a breakneck pace.

If nothing else, the developer does stick close to the goal of accurately depicting lightning-quick British SAS raids to free hostages from the clutches of terrorists. Everything feels fairly authentic, even though the 1980 assault on the Iranian embassy in London is the only nonfictional scenario of the four included here. The other three--the Islamist bombing of the London underground, an IRA attack on a farm, and skinheads taking over parliament--feel a bit "gamey" due to the presence of huge armies of terrorist goons, but they still accurately convey the speed at which commandos have to work in hostage situations. Both the simulation and arcade difficulty settings seem realistic, too, especially the former, with its one-shot kills and lack of crosshairs. Video mission introductions add even more military atmosphere, as they're delivered by a grizzled ex-soldier type named only Mac, who sure seems to have seen it all before.

Don't mess with the SAS.
Don't mess with the SAS.

But there's a big difference between getting things done without messing around, and racing around like you're on fire and have got a plane to catch. Terror Strike forces you to sprint from one room to the next like Carl Lewis on speed through an airport, as dallying for even a few seconds usually gives terrorists time to execute a few hostages or destroy vital evidence on a computer. You're graded on the clock, too, so you lose more often than not even if you complete all of the specified goals. Ignoring these harsh rulings isn't an option, either, as missing the cut means that the following mission remains locked and you're stuck replaying the current one until you get everything pretty much perfect.

Missions come off more like races than typical tactical terrorist shooters, since you have to memorize threats like the curves of a track in order to steadily shave seconds off of your time. It's practically impossible to succeed in a mission during the first run-through, as you have to rush so quickly that you can't take the time to properly check all corners and avoid taking one in the face from a goon hidden behind a dresser or a filing cabinet. You generally run forward until you encounter a tough room and get killed, then start over and move ahead a little more before getting gunned down again, and then--well, you get the picture. Hello, trial and error. There is no way to save your progress during a mission, either, which further emphasizes the "get it right or do it again" racing atmosphere and really revs up the frustration factor.

Dumb teammates make getting it right a real challenge. Doors are the biggest issue. While you use a basic radial menu to give a few simple orders at closed doors, your buddies still frequently don't have a clue how to proceed. Call for an assault and your pals often just stand there, or tell you to "Shake your ass!" like you're blocking the way even though you're well clear of the door. They sometimes refuse to go through doors at all, which can be big trouble when facing a locked door that requires a full assault to smash down. Soldiers lag behind the main group, causing delays as you need a full squad to send assaults through doorways. And even when they respond to your command and charge on through, they can get messed up on the way in. They can throw a door open and jam you behind it. Or cram into the doorway and get stuck a la the Three Stooges. Or somehow wind up backing into a room and immediately get killed.

Terrorist placement and sniping skill demand such perfection that these regular screw-ups are enough to either kill you outright or cost you enough time over the course of a mission to wreck your closing grade. Buildings are very constricted, too. Although the developer makes good use of the Unreal engine (a dated version of it, however, if the drab textures and blah character art are anything to go by) to dress up rooms and corridors with touches that make maps look lived in, everything seems unnaturally cramped, especially in the Iranian embassy and in the farmhouse. It can be tough just to get your squad from one side of a room to another, let alone to crowd them all in around the door leading to a kitchenette packed with terrorists.

At least the audio stands out more than the cluttered, backdated visuals. Although the music is so generic that you barely notice it, sound effects are outstanding. Weapons boom with authority. Terrorists chatter in a realistic fashion, and generally speak only when they're panicked or trying to let their comrades know that the British are coming. Your SAS pals shout commands with just the right mix of bravado and scared, this-door-could-be-my-last fear. And the game features some truly disgusting death gurgles.

Since your buddies seem to have problems with doors, sometimes it's easier just to crank them open yourself and make with the gunplay.
Since your buddies seem to have problems with doors, sometimes it's easier just to crank them open yourself and make with the gunplay.

Going online negates virtually all of the frustration gripes noted above. But even though battling other humans helps you forget about the busted AI and the insane grading system of the solo missions, there isn't anything all that compelling about the multiplayer, either. The lone competitive multiplayer option, Sabre Squad, is a straightforward take on old-school commandos-versus-terrorists team deathmatch. At least cooperative play for up to four wannabe SASers is more interesting, as it allows you to skip the AI issues and team up with three friends. Good luck finding even three friends with the game, however, as nobody seems to playing this one online at the moment.

If Terror Strike were just a standard Rainbow Six clone (albeit one with a delightful Cockney accent), you'd have a pretty reasonable budget game for tactical shooter fans. It's a shame that Kuju had to mess up what could have been a perfectly good rip-off with so much speed and frustrating difficulty.

The Good

  • Ring of authenticity in the mission design and overall challenge
  • Authentic battle sound effects and voice samples

The Bad

  • Half-witted squad members
  • Absolutely unforgiving difficulty, especially on simulation mode
  • Unlocking missions requires incredibly high success ratings

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