Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers E3 2005 Hands-On

When Pandemic and THQ shipped the original Full Spectrum Warrior last year, it definitely opened a lot of eyes as far as introducing a different style of gameplay to the military genre. Unfortunately, the simple tactical problems you solved in that game ended up becoming stale rather quickly, limiting its overall appeal. The sequel, Ten Hammers, is set in the same country as the first game, but in a different area, so you can expect to see a greater variety of settings instead of just dusty Middle Eastern-style cities. These areas include a swamp level we played, where people have built slums on floating platforms and on a hillside next to the swamp. But aside from just changing up the scenery, it appears that the developers at Pandemic are trying to address many other criticisms of the previous game.

The primary differences in Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers stem from interface improvements. Controlling your two fireteams is easier, in that you can tell one team to move to a spot that only the other team can see. Let's say you've moved up to a corner of the building with Bravo team, and while controlling Bravo, you see a spot behind a car that you'd like Alpha team to move up to. In the original FSW, there was no way to command Alpha to move to a spot that it couldn't see. But in Ten Hammers, you will be able to highlight a location through Bravo's eyes, click the left thumbstick (on the Xbox version), and then select one of your other fireteams to move to that spot. The upshot of all this is that it makes bounding overwatch maneuvers much easier and more efficient.

There's another new command called precision fire that is useful in cases where you're dealing with an enemy that is too far away to toss a grenade at him, and in a position where it's impossible to flank him. By selecting one man from a fireteam, and holding down the fire button, you can aim your cursor over the position of the enemy who's under cover. Once he pops his head out, you can then release the button and nail him, even though he's behind cover. To balance out this powerful move, the man you use for precision fire will have to step out from behind cover so you can aim his rifle. This makes him extremely vulnerable, as we found out the hard way in our play-testing. You're not going to want to use precision fire in cases where your own fireteams are under heavy attack. It'll come in handy the most in situations where there's just one or two enemies left to take out.

There's also a new "scout" movement command that allows you to send one man forward to a location you designate. If he encounters no enemies, he'll wave the rest of the fireteam to join him. If he does find resistance, he'll immediately retreat back to where he started from. This command should come in handy when approaching blind corners and other areas where an ambush might be lying in wait. Another cool feature is that you'll be able to split a single four-man fireteam into two pairs, allowing you to do more complicated maneuvers.

Other gameplay changes include the ability to enter buildings and use upper floors as an elevated firing position on entrenched enemies who are at street level. You'll need to be careful though, as some buildings are also occupied by enemies. Also, a new radio menu allows you to call in fire support from artillery and gunships. Certain missions will even allow you to control land-based vehicles, like Bradleys or turreted Humvees. You'll be able to move them and use them as mobile cover, or take advantage of its firepower to uproot enemies behind cover.

The development team will also extensively overhaul the multiplayer aspect in Ten Hammers. You'll still be able to do the missions cooperatively as in the first game, but a new versus mode will be included that pits US forces against insurgents. There'll be major differences between the two sides, as the US will operate in heavily armed four-man teams supported by vehicles. The insurgents will have somewhat less firepower (although they'll have access to some vehicles also), with the advantage of numbers and the ability to control units individually. Insurgent units will respawn periodically, and leader units will have the ability to recruit new followers from neutral NPCs standing around the map.

Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers is currently slated for release in the first quarter of 2006 for the Xbox, PS2, and PC. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more information on the game as it becomes available.