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During the last fifty years, there has been a never-ending war, with everyone wanted to be the world's supreme leader. The world trades humans for business and the entire economy revolves around warfare. This is what you get yourself into when you load up Iron Storm, a grim and depressive world, where World War I didn't end when it was supposed to and you’re stuck in the middle of all possible chaos. Trench warfare, mustard gas, betrayal and high-proficiency weapons all meet here.
Your alias in Iron Storm is Second Lieutenant James Anderson. Lt. Anderson is an orphan who is grew up during this war without knowing who his parents were. Known as the man everyone can rely on, Anderson is considered the hero of the Allies. The majority of your life has been in a never-ending war along the eastern German front, where you lead the Allies against the Russo-Mongolian forces. The Russo-Mongolian forces are lead by Baron Ugenberg, whose goal is to try and expand his empire worldwide, from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Ugenberg has a secret weapon and is going to show the world wars it has never seen, this is where your mission begins.
When you begin your mission as Lieutenant Anderson, you have to steal the weapons the enemy is making and bring it back to the Allies (Consortium). With a dangerous and possibly last mission, you have to go through all of the mayhem that is WW1. As you begin this altered history, you immediately tell you are in a war. Shells whistle above you, and are constantly being smashed against the ground, to add to the environment, machine guns are constantly heard in the distance.
Iron Storm offers internet (and LAN) play for all you multiplayer fanatics. You can take up to 15 buddies of yours for a ride. The game's environments are awesome, if that word can be used to describe all this destruction, but you'll only find the standard multiplayer modes here. Death matches, capture-the-flag and team play round up the multiplayer mode. While the multiplayer action isn't bad by any means, you never get the feel of real innovation or thought here; instead you get a lot of "What If" thoughts.
It's notable that Iron Storm is loosely based on World War I where most of the action happened in trenches with artillery and mustard gas, not the airplane intensive World War II. You really don't notice the different or think you'll notice the difference between games based on either of those two wars, but in reality World War I's warfare is a lot more gruesome than WWII. You will see enemies in trenches as they are killed and blown to pieces (literally) with mustard gas.
Iron Storm depicts all the gruesome details that made WWI what it was, and mixes its own havoc and mayhem into it. Gruesome fighting techniques, designed for the weapons available at the time, combined with advanced weapons and false events are a perfect recipe for total destruction. The game gets so hectic you will frequently find yourself saving before taking or turn or entering a room. You never know which move could be your last, and that motion lasts through a bulk of the game. The game's arsenal includes pistols, sniper rifles, shotguns, grenades, rocket launchers, but due to event changes in Iron Storm you'll find mustard gas grenades, machine guns, and even machine guns with exploding bullets.
One of Iron Storm's fresh features is the ability to use either first-person shooter mode, like most pc games of this genre, or switch to a third-person shooter mode. The first-person shooter mode feels natural, as it is the norm for PC shooters to use this mode but the third-person mode feels good too, a lot like Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid. There isn't a dull moment in this game, everywhere you go, and you will fight your life. A second's delay could mean your being swarmed by enemy troops who seem to enjoy shooting you.
Iron storm knows its market, and to all the people who live for quality FPS games, you will find yourself amused in here for a long time. It adds a whole other section of PC gamers with the inclusion of the third-person mode. Chances are you'll use FPS mode most of the time though. As stated, both the game's graphics and sound are the best of its kind and the requirements aren't that intensive. Dreamcatcher and 4x did an awesome job crafting this journey, you should pick this one up.
Requirements:
OS: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
CPU: 500 Mhz PIII
RAM: 128MB RAM
8x CD/DVD-Drive
HD Space: 700MB
Video: 32MB Direct3D
Sound: DirectX 8.1 Compatible
Recommended:
CPU: 1GHz or faster
RAM: 256MB RAM
16x CD/DVD-Drive
Video: 32MB plus Direct3D
Sound: EAX Compatible Card
-- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 29, 2002
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