A turned based sleeper
First, for a game that is working on being 5 years old, the graphics compete with some of todays games. Maybe not Crysis, but certainly any other turned based game out there. The gun sounds are far above average. There are hundreds of weapons to choose from, most with completely different variables and stats. Gaining familiarity in your weapon of choice adds to its effectiveness. The game mechanics are very in depth and detailed. There are many contributions to hit factors: cover, weapon, skill, distance, day or night, familiarity, body position, just to name a few. Everything is destructible. Can't see an enemy but hear them??? Grenade a wall !! Each weapon has their own firing mode. Single shot, snap shot, aimed, short burst (more rounds increase with skill ), long burst, and sniper mode. Each with appropriate firing modes. You can even pick which body part you'd like to obliterate. Critical damage is figured in there as well. So many more good mechanics to this game, just name a few.
The character customization is comparable to any good RPG. You can take a generic hero or create your own. Including choice of facial features, uniforms, nationality, gender, voice, class, and stats. After a brief intro mission, you get to choose a squad up to 5 additional members. All with very detailed histories and personalities. It helped me to value my team members and it brings that much more depth to the game. You and your team gain experience with each action during a mission. Your stats, and skills all increase. Also you get additional skills via a skill tree. Picking how you'd like each particular character to specialize.
Silent Storm is one of those games you can sit back, and take your time planning your actions in combat. For example; strafe to a doorway, fire a short burst or two, strafe back and save a few action points to blast anyone who comes through. Or, camp out atop a building, putting your choice of action points in snipe, and mow those Nazi's down. This and so many other choices. Watching the destructible environments and rag doll physics is very satisfying. With more damage and powerful weapons they even increase their effects, proving your increased power. A few other good notes, you can take random encounters to build more experience. Also, every usable item can drop on the ground and be picked up. Arms, ammo, medical tools and supplies, engineering tools, grenades, etc.
Winding down to some cons. The skill tree choices are a bit jumbled. Not enough to bring the game down, but it would have been nice for more appropriate choices that lead into similar skills. Sometimes you have to choose an off the wall skill in order to get the skill you want. I only have about 30 hours in the game, but I hear later on you get sci-fi like armored suits. They are very powerful and are supposed to bring down the balance of the game. You and your enemies can acquire them. Sounds balanced to me. We'll see. Once you make your choices and they play out, there are some long waits for the AI to finish theirs. A little hint, don't touch any controls when it starts, that way it will zoom in on the individual actions and fights for your viewing pleasure.
With all that, Silent Storm is just a classic sleeper. A lot of work was clearly put into the game and its mechanics. All of which I certainly enjoy and appreciate. If you are looking for a strong Turn based demi-RPG, this is definitely the game for you.