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Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers Review – Is it worth it?

Full Spectrum Warrior Cover

Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers Review – Is it worth it?

Full spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers is a real-world military combat tactics inspired video game. Published by THQ and released in 2006 for Playstation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. Ten Hammers is based in an imaginary country – Zekistan,  a composite of Afghanistan and Middle Eastern countries. The environments comprise desert, rocky foothills, swampland, and urban areas. By commanding two units your basic goal is to kill all the insurgents through a limited number of tactics. 

The original game gave players a good introduction to the genre of squad-based tactics. The game was used by the US military as a sim training tool for infantry soldiers to become familiar with such tactics. While it may have been a good tool for the army, most gamers found that the experience lacked depth, not to mention that it was hampered by the controls. The more important question to ask is if this game is worth paying your hard-earned money for. 

Heightened Realism

Full Spectrum Warrior Gunner
Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers shows a new level of realism.

There’s a lot of swearing in this game, and it does lend some authenticity to the content as it replicates the tension, confusion, fear and anger that comes with being in such a dangerous situation. It’s too bad the cutscenes are so corny. The acting and the dialog are just awful. It’s as though the developers wanted to turn this into a B-movie instead of portraying a slice of real life. Surprisingly, this game uses modern and realistic tactics throughout gameplay. One of the most popular tactics is to have one team flank the enemy while the other engages them in fire. Through the use of the precision fire mode, you will be able to take control of your teams’ weapons. Using the automatic rifleman, you can equip the use of a machine gun, or you can attempt to pick off the enemy one by one much like a sniper by using the team leader’s rifle. The grenadier can launch grenades into open windows and take out more than one enemy at a time. 

Player Maneuverability

Other than the ability to shoot your team members’ weapons, the control of your characters movements are accomplished by issuing orders or pointing and clicking to a place on the map. 

It’s in your best interest to move your unit to a place where they will be safe. There are several walls, buildings and burnt out vehicles to use for cover. 

The ability to take charge of up to four teams, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta will allow you to have one team cover the other during such moves. You also have the ability to split your four-man team in half. This gives you more flexibility but it’s only appropriate in delicate situations that don’t require a lot of firepower. Another team that you can employ is the indigenous scouts, a unit of Native inhabitants that perform spy/recon missions for you. Keep in mind that there is always strength in numbers.

Gameplay Additions

Full Spectrum Warrior fire fight
A street firefight with automatic weaponry.

One such addition is the Bradley tank which lets you blast some heavy 25mm rounds into the enemy’s nest. 

As well as the ability to enter buildings and climb stairs to gain a higher vantage point. It can be easier to defend your position and better assess your strategic moves based on the layout of the streets that you can see more easily.

The online version includes a four-player Verses mode as well as a two-player co-op mode. The Verses mode includes maps from the single-player mode. The factions are somewhat matched, but they have different advantages. The co-op mode is the shining star in this game. It features eight new levels and is by far my favorite mode. You can bring all of the features that are available in the single-player mode to these online modes.

Features

All equipment is based on real-world military weaponry including the ability to control mechanized units, such as Bradley Tanks and Armored Humvees. Allowing the use of combat tactics to command infantry squads, ranging from US Light Infantry and US Ranger Forces to Multinational UN Coalition Forces to take on a variety of missions. 

New features of Ten Hammers include the ability to enter interior environments and position sniper teams, save and protect hostages and control additional fire teams, Charlie and Delta. Ten Hammers offers a variety of multiplayer modes for a friend or foe online gameplay experience. Play in Co-Op mode and go head-to-head with other players or team up for objective based missions.

Final words

Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers has the feel of both real-time combat tactics and shooter style gameplay. However, because it is not an open-world style video game the missions can feel demanding with only one of two ways to complete them and no respawn abilities. For those looking for an action-packed game with a focus on fun it may be better to look elsewhere.

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