City Interactive's games have improved since this release ... alas, not by much ... at times it's so bad it's funny.
I knew based on youtube gameplay videos and its very limited coverage on the internet that TTWC was not going to be a great game or even a good game. However, I played the demo for TTCO first and figured it was going to be a bit disappointing but OK for around A$10. So when I saw TTWC I figured "what the heck" might as well get the prequal. While the TTCO demo indicated it was similar to City Interactive's (CI) later Code of Honor: French Foreign Legion (COHFFL, 2007) and uses the same Chrome 2 Engine, TTCW is not up to that standard. So it is reasonable to say CI's FPS games did improve from 2006 to 2007, though this was marginal at best and not a great leap forward.
Anyway the premise of TTWC is US Special Forces involvement (your character is Jake Jeffers, aka "Vector-4") in the war against the Benedicion drug cartel in Colombia. Your overall aim is to eliminate three Colombian drug lords at their various heavily defended jungle hideouts. That's all you really need to know as without more than a hasty introductory video you are transported into the jungle, much like Claude Boulet in COHFFL, very much alone. Indeed, unless I am much mistaken, the same voice actor provides the voice for TTWC'sJake as for COHFFL's Claude ... and, yes, the Polish to English quips are just as bad as in COHFFL.
Each mission is preceded with a very brief mission briefing, which due to the translation from Polish mixes past, present and future tenses and indeed often gives away the mission's surprise element. As with COHFFL there are no cut scenes, until the final mission is completed, and you only the poorly written mission briefings to keep the narrative, such as it is, flowing. Every now and then during a mission you, as Jake, will hear instructions or updates from a disembodied voice, probably at HQ ... no doubt a keen eyed individual who can warn of dangers, like incoming grenades, while you are walking on a dense jungle path.
The missions in TTWC are tightly scripted. No, I don't mean it has a rivetting narrative, rather TTWC is very much an "on the rails" experience. For example, if you don't climb the tower to man the AT-gun you cannot destroy the APC, even though in the immediately preceding stage you could destroy the same model APC with some well aimed grenades. Enemy NPCs appear out of nowhere ... no doubt triggered by moving through some programmed trigger point ... irrespective of making sense in the prevailing tactical situation. Indeed some enemy NPCs appear out of thin air in rooms that you are in the process of clearing.
The 16 missions that comprise TTWC can be outlined as follows:
1 Silent Green: a stroll through the jungle with enemy NPCs popping up like those guys in "whack-a-mole".
2 Hot in Colombia: eliminate Drug Lord #1 in his jungle hacienda.
3 Flyboy Rescue: rescue helicopter crew ... the Thunderbirds marionettes move smoother than the flyboys you rescue from the ad-hoc jail-house.
4 Jungle Getaway: a rather lame scripted truck chase with lots of foolish enemy NPCs taking cover behind those exploding red fuel barrels to shoot at.
5 The Coca House: assault a heavily defended, but small, hacienda which feels like playing "whack-a-mole" as the enemy NPCs' pop-up in windows; kill Drug Lord #2.
6 Benedicion Road: another on-the-rails jungle drive manning the pickup truck's MG.
7 Counterstrike: numerous enemy NPCs want you to come out and play "whack-a-mole" on your jungle stroll
8 Hacienda Siege: back to the hacienda from mission 5 ... the enemy brings up some APCs and you need to blow them up with AT guns or grenades.
9 Jungle Rendevous: another jungle stroll but you need to bypass the nasty APCs by using an alternate trail.
10 Nelson Sadilla: highly scripted truck ride to find drug lord's secret documents in village. A reasonably enjoyable mission.
11 Following the Money: long winding jungle trails, Pre-Colombian ruins and enemy base camp.
12 Airport Security:a night mission! Destroy the Cessnas at the enemy's hidden airstrip to prevent the escape of the Drug Lord #3. Another OK mission, albeit no satisfying explosion cut scene at end.
13 Flight Path: search for downed Huey carrying explosives for your upcoming final mission. Avoid or destroy a number of APCs.
14 Airship Down: a giant (well it certainly feels that way) map set amidst a maze-like swamp still looking for that downed Huey. You will come across semi-submerged villages, camps and lots of canoes. Inexplicably there seem to be hordes of enemy NPCs hiding out here manning submerged sand-bagged emplacements. You will need to use your map to find your way around in the swamp. You will find the Huey and the explosives scattered around the various objective locations. Overall another enjoyable mission, and a map that would look good in a 'Nam game.
15 Backup Request (in briefing, or Revenge on mission menu): heading back towards the enemy's jungle airfield
16 Tomas Alphonso Archangel: another night mission at the airstrip; infiltrate (though I use that term loosely) the enemy perimeter and set explosive in three locations including the Drug Lord #3's final hideout. After the last explosive charge is set you have 30 seconds to run back to the airfield entrance and await the grand finale video extravaganza showing the explosions wiping out the various airfield facilities. THE END.
So some of the later missions, from 10 onwards, were reasonably satisfying, albeit this is a relative assessment and not "satisfying" as compared to, say, Rainbow Six or Call of Duty!
Alas despite a good premise, the anti-narco war in Colombia, and reasonable graphics TTWC is irretreivably marred by the atrocious enemy NPC AI. Yes, it is even worse than it was in COHFFL.
Friendly NPCs are no more intelligent than the palm trees that comprise the the scenery ... at times they do nothing except pop-up here and there unannounced only to be mistaken for enemy NPCs. Often you start out a mission with a squad of friendly NPCs ... the mission briefing indicates that you clear the way for them and they will follow. Well that's the theory ... usually you only see them again until the very end of the mission ... no doubt they've been engaging the enemy NPCs "somewhere else" or helping themselves to the cocaine. The funniest thing is when the enemy arrives in pick-up trucks and you snipe off the gunners in the tray and then you walk up to the truck and the driver will be sitting there waiting patiently for you to either shoot or spare him.
As in COHFFL, playing on "Hard" difficulty is still easy, except that enemy NPCs now can spot you almost over the horizon and shoot you with AK47s when you can barely make them out with the sniper scope. Indeed Jake can be in the densest jungle trying to sneak past an enemy position but he will be spotted, even by remote gunners inside APCs. Again this sounds similar to the player reviews of SGW here at GS. As an aside and based on my play through of the short-lived demo and its jungle graphics SGW is certainly an attractive looking game with reasonably good gameplay but it is still the NPC AI that lets down this latest, and much hyped, CI offering.
You get a flavour of what you are in for when you first load up the game ... a slow process with a "Please Wait..." message on a black screen. This is repeated at the start of each mission with "Standby" against that haunting black screen. Surely even the bland mission briefing or mission map showing objectives would be a more engaging and informative backdrop.
As noted graphics, especially the jungle scenery, which comprise most of the game, are well executed and would do many a 'Nam game proud. The enemy and friendly NPCs are rather generic with only a handful of different faces and uniforms used. The maze-like swamp map is also well presented. Likewise COHFFL, for its age, presents sub-Saharan Africa well. Anyone who has played or seen videos of SGW will know that CI certainly has the graphical presentation of its more recent games well under control. Alas it needs to really work on the AI systems.
Gameplay is typical FPS with iron sights or telescopic sniper scope as appropriate. Although there is a lean function you cannot aim in lean mode, only look. You can readily play this game, even of Hard, as a run-and-gun shooter but don't be surprised if enemy NPCs pop-up anywhere as you proceed. The use of tactics, like staying off paths and trudging through the jungle or keeping low and moving slowly, does not help as the enemy NPCs will see you and start shooting. Using boulders, thick trees or logs for cover provides some protection from injury. If you see enemy in the distance they will either be moving backwards and forwards between two points or standing still. When you shoot at them they tend to disregard the danger and head for your position. Indeed if you cannot see the enemy NPCs they are usually near those exploding red fuel barrels that seem to litter the jungles of Colombia. Well at least you can trigger the explosion effects ... alas Stranglehold this is not.
Another annoying aspect of TTWC is the sound of Jake's/your character's footsteps ... wherever he walks it sounds like stomping inside a vacant barracks. On crouch mode Jake makes no sound at all ... but this is still not stealthy as he will be seen. At times the ambient sounds are quite suitably "jungley" but this is marred by the footsteps of our hero Jake as he cautiously sneaks down the jungle pathways. Advancing through the swamp results in a satisfying "slushy water" sound irrespective of whether Jake is upright or crouching.
Apart from changing difficulty from "Easy" to "Hard" there's not much else to vary the gameplay. For me it was just plain funny so see how the enemy NPCs respond or not respond to your advance or attacks. The mission objectives are not always naturally intuitive and HUD compass-map does not always clue you in. The voice over sometimes mismatches with on-screen activity, for example in one mission you are told to follow the path on the right when it's actually on your left, which seems to be a function of crossing some invisable AI trigger point which does not consider the direction you have arrived from. Support for the title seems to be lacking as there are no patches available and there are a few minor bugs and imperfect translations in the mission briefings.
For those interested, the war on drugs in Colombia is also explored in the much slicker DFBHD Team Sabre.
OVERALL: TTWC is a very average and nowadays low-cost single player FPS. However based on playing the demo TTCO seems to be the better game of the two CI FPS games set in Colombia. I would not recommend TTWC for the FPS devotee. COHFFL remains an "old friend" being one of my earlier FPS experiences. Alas TTWC does not recapture this magic.