Full Spectrum Warrior review

Full Spectrum Warrior is a shoot-'em-up with a difference.

Previously, you may have had to take on the might of an invading hostile force - single-handedly ploughing your way through a succession of increasingly suicidally difficult missions to a final showdown - or bark orders at your cowering team-mates as part of a crack squad of mercenaries. This time, you don't actually do any shooting yourself. Instead, you take command of two US fire teams, each comprising a team leader, heavy gunner, rifleman and grenadier, and direct them through missions teeming with hostile forces in the fictional war-torn country of Zekistan.

Controlling your troops couldn't be simpler - most orders are just two mouse-clicks away, but for the uninitiated there's a superb tutorial that teaches you all of the basics, from utilising cover to laying down suppressing fire.

Once the action kicks off in Zekistan's bullet-littered streets, you'll need to remember everything you've learned if you're to survive past the first corner. Enemies display an incredibly lifelike level of intelligence, pinning you down and breaking for new cover if they feel threatened. A moment's hesitation can see your men chopped down in a hail of lead.

Based on the same training program used to instruct US soldiers in urban combat and tactics, Full Spectrum Warrior is one of the most realistic squad-based war simulations currently around. Bullets tear into cars, scarring them with jagged holes; wood splinters; men and barrels hurtle through the air when blown up by a well-placed grenade. Injured combatants buck and crumple like rag dolls. What's more, your men move in perfect formations, speak like real soldiers and cry in pain or panic when shot or given poor directions by you.

But in spite of the game's gritty realism, it won't be long before you find the whole experience a bit transparent. As you move from street to street, flushing out enemies, you'll more often than not find a convenient sidestreet that lets you easily outflank them. While this may be fun for more casual gamers, those of you who are looking for a challenge certainly won't find it in the game's level design. However, if you've ever wanted to know what it's really like fighting as part of a US squad in enemy-held city streets, Full Spectrum Warrior is as close as you'll currently get.