Shellshock 2: Blood Trails

Developer: Rebellion Developments
Publisher: Eidos
Release Date: Feb. 24, 2009
Systems: PS3 (reviewed), Xbox 360, PC
ESRB Rating: M

In a nutshell: War is hell ... to play.

0:00 This kind of Vietnam War shooter usually isn't my cup of tea, but I'm trying real hard to broaden my horizons here, so I figured I'd give it a rental.

0:01 The preview screen on the PlayStation 3 menu is full of ambient war sounds -- gunshots, vague screaming, bombs going off, etc. It's got me on edge already, but not really in a good way.

0:02 The music accompanying the Rebellion logo is so loud I swear it's going to break my speakers. Then a generic title screen with some red blood cells floating around in plasma in the background.

0:03 "Fall of '69, and I'm on a bird into 'Nam, drafted like the rest of these grunts. We've fucked up this war and lost so many kids and now it's my turn. Some dickwad sergeant tells me I'm important; he's given me a special assignment at the border. The border of Hell is still Hell. I ain't even been so scared." And the award for best use of the word "dickwad" in horrible game writing goes to...

0:04 Just like that, I'm thrown roughly into a first-person view of a ratty hospital. A voiceover version of my character reminisces about the war from his position in the future. "Man up, pussy, and listen to Griffin. Maybe today you'll become a man," says a guide in fatigues. Another soldier gives me 20cc of some mystery drug. My future narrator goes on about Whiteknight, which I didn't know a thing about at the time. In the background, explosions and screaming. To my left, someone writhing on a stretcher.

0:07 The one guy who survived seeing Whiteknight (who/whatever he/it is) is tied down to a bed. He's my brother, Cal, screaming, badly bloodied and wearing an eye-patch. "Don'tcha recognize him, f**ko?" says my companion. "Or don't you remember what kin smells like?" Cal breaks one of his bonds and reaches for me. "Get the tranq gun," says my companion as he runs off. Some hazy red visions, then everything goes black. Boy, they're really throwing a lot of stuff out there really quickly.

***-->CONTINUE READING AT CRISPY GAMER<--***

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Defcon

Developer: Introversion
Publisher: Introversion
System: PC
Release Date: Sept. 29, 2006
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Shall we play a game? How about Global Thermonuclear War?

0:01 I love the green on black colors in the intro screen. Very WarGames (see "In a Nutshell")
0:02 Tutorial time. Apparently destroying the world is a complex process.
0:04 I love the sort of low dirge playing in the background. Really nerve-wracking.
0:05 "Silos in air defense mode are very effective at taking down nukes." I knew there was something unrealistic about this game.
0:07 The tutorial feels very tense even though the enemy isn't firing at me. Mostly because of the great music. I'm still getting the hang of the interface ... clicks don't always do what I expect.
0:11 Things move painfully slowly in "real time." I thought World War III was supposed to be quick and painless. Thank god you can speed up the timer significantly.
0:13 "UAE hit, 2.0 million dead." The text pops up as if this occurrence was the most natural thing in the world. Chilling.
0:20 "Move your subs as close to the enemy coastline as possible and lets rack up some MegaDeaths." What, the band?
0:25 Tokyo hit, 9.5M dead. The music swells and slows like a whimpering record player. I love it!
0:31 My first real battle against the CPU. There's an oceanic skirmish, and then not much happens for a while. Watching war from this high up is excruciatingly clinical.
0:36 After a very slow start, everything happens at once. They launched first, I swear. I quickly lose 67 to -8.
0:41 The Asians seem to have used their nukes too soon. I'm launching a bunch, and a few get through. Bombers coming to their aid. I'm closing in: 58-10.
0:43 The countdown timer ends my attack prematurely. I "lose" the tutorial battle 58-20. Of course, the real losers are the millions of dead people. I'm not very good at this.
0:46 I love the rolling demo, it just lets the computer play itself, like a beautifully destructive screen saver.
0:52 This time I'm controlling the Russians. A lot more land to defend. Try to use my fleets and fighters more strategically.
0:58 After falling behind 141 to -71, I realize I have no idea what I'm doing. I just can't keep track of all this stuff at once. I wish things were a little more automatic.
1:04 I narrow it to 123 to -34 before it's over. Still ... ugh.

Would I play this game for more than an hour: Maybe.
Why? I lovethe aestethic and the idea, but I can't seem to wrap my brain around the strategy.

This game based on a demo version downloaded from the official Web site.