Particular, innovative, and immersive. Indeed, not for every gamer......
Ten Hammers. I have played many games that make an attempt to depict war from the perspectives of the men who fight in it. Unfortunately, war does not encompass or affect the world around in an individual fashion. War spreads through every detail of matter that happens to find itself within a given radius. Believe me, I toured with a special force unit in the Balkans and the effects on the hosting population are still as clear to me as a shoreline in an ocean. I suppose that even the nature of this review is not intended for everyone, for perhaps a certain amount of you will bother to read through my review. Those of you who are willing to go on with this, i will give you the perspective of a soldier, not a gamer. After all, war games is all I have ever played.
Many of you judge games by many factors. Graphics, FPS, gameplay, cost, and /or relativity. I judge war games by three factors. 1. gameplay/freedom of will 2. war simulation 3. probabilities of battle
Ten Hammers exceeds itself at every phase. Gameplay, as you know it, is revolutionary in that it presents a concept that goes contrary to every war game ever assembled. There is no individual expression, but rather there is an attempt to challenge the gamer intellectually, as he/she assesses a situation of battle collectively. In all, the gameplay for Ten Hammers removes the individuality represented by the first and third person perspectives and incorporates a concept that gives the gamer the freedom of his or her will, as he/she fights into a war, instead of fighting out of it.
Take this scenario into account:
Two squads are called in to the northern sector of town to regulate a militia unit. As you approach a corner, you realize that the enemy has relative knowledge that you are in proximity. Through the corner's angle, you begin to comprehend that the unit is also mobilizing, acquiring every inch of cover it can find. The ground you are standing on is foreign to you so it is logical that the benefits of the environment will also be unknown. As the first bullet is fired, the intel. you have so carefully studied is less and less true, for improvisation is the only act of survival. You move in, cover to cover, as team B showers the enemy with lead, in order for you to obtain your flank. You find yourself between crates, huts, and buildings. You know all to well that this situation is fatal if your team is not tactical or methodical in the decisions that it executes. Team B reports a casualty, so time is no longer a factor. Two enemies gain an angle on your squad and now are beginning to fix their fire on you. You resourcefully split your team to attempt to recapture the angle, but as the squad begins to split, the team leader is killed by another group of individuals who apparently rushed their position. Team B reports aggressive militia movement, and as you ponder on your next move, both the the rifleman and the gunner are killed in an ambush.
The only difference between this scenario and the ones I can recollect is that in Ten Hammers you can give it one more shot. I played it at the hardest level......