Highly intuitive, fun and unique take on the WH 40k universe--wrongfully criticized by reviewers. Read for full details.
I am sorely disapointed by Gamespot's as well because one of the main problem the reviewers point out is the bad camera / poor control while actually, it is a NON ISSUE. I will make a short list of things that make up for the game's only real flaw--that you cannot rotate the camera 360 degrees-- to show you that this game has wrongfully been underrated.
The line of sight: When you press CIRCLE while you're playing a unit, it will automatically give you the line of sight with the level of difficulty showing on the line: green for an easy target, yellow for moderate and red for hard. It will show up as BLACK when something is blocking the way. Objects are translucent when there are units behind them.
The fact that you use the D-Pad is irrelevant: You can browse from a unit to the next real fast using the L and R buttons which automatically centers the screen on your next/previous unit. You only control 6 units and so the amount of scrolling you do with the D-Pad is minimal.
As for the camera issue: To help you follow the action, enemies appears as dark red squares bordering the screenview when out of sight, bright red when your unit sees them. That way you always know where the enemies are. The ones you have not spotted yet are not shown because they're in the ''fog of war''.
A great feature is that you can leave a unit with unused points when you end a turn: this will allow the unit to shoot as an 'interupt' in the opponent's turn if an enemy crosses his line of sight (clearly shown by a green triangle that you can point in any desired direction using the circle button, enemies' LOS show up as red triangles so you know you may be fired at during your turn as well).
All these features have yet to be mentionned in any review I read and what saddens me is that I didn't even read the manual-- it's really intuitive and I found all that out during my first mission. The game plays like a charm, no need for a mouse.
What's up with reviewers wishing this was a PC game / reviewing it like it's NOT a handheld game?
I consider it my favorite PSP game so far and a great game period with only one real flaw: it ends too fast. Then again that's probably because it's really addictive, engrossing and fun.
My score: 9.0
Highs: Superb graphics, highly intuitive and efficient controls, great price, very atmospheric.
Lows: AI sometimes not very agressive, Camera cannot rotate 360 degrees.