Lawrence.com

It seems like everyone wants to add that dose of authenticity to their military-inspired shooters these days. Specialty label 2K Games brings developer Destineer's Close Combat: First to Fight into the tactical shooter foray, fighting an uphill battle against more high profile franchises. The result is better than you might suspect.

In FTF, you lead a four-man fireteam of US Marines through modern urban combat in several disjointed missions in Beirut. To bring said authenticity, the title was developed under the direction of the US Marine Corps as a training simulation for Marine use. Right out of the bag, your squad takes the predicted ready-team-fire-assist formation, protecting a full 360 degrees as you move through the dangerous streets. Movement is slow and guarded and immediately roots itself in that tactical "feel." You can give your team commands such as group, defend, suppress and shoot, and later to man vehicles and mounted guns. You can command the squad to go wherever your reticule is pointing and they'll respond appropriately. You can also command your team to storm rooms and assault to take certain enemies by surprise. All of these basic commands work solidly in practice and feel surprisingly good, especially when you can call in air strikes and mortar teams.

One immediate fault has to be that you can take on much of the levels by yourself in one-man-army fashion. Inversely, since your squad AI and aim is smart and insanely accurate, you can let them take care of it all for you. But the right way to play to get the most out of it is to work in tandem, which is the intended way. I'm not sure if there should have been safeguards to not allow the first two situations to happen, but I am sure realism was a priority for FTF.

Speaking of realism, gunfire is dangerous. There are no super-soldiers in the game. Enemies go down with a couple shots to the torso or merely one to the head. The enemy animations react concordantly with wherever the shot lands, increasing the immersion. The healing option for your squad is a little less real, but is an understandable concession for a video game. When your team is shot up, they won't perform as well and if they're dead, you're task becomes even greater. So, you can use your on-board med kit to heal your squad. Just pretend that every time they get shot that it's not in a critical place. Maybe that can save that lost realism for you.

Although your squad seems really smart, terrorists aren't half the time. Some spots of the game have the enemies taking cover, flanking with great prowess. But sometimes you can camp in your safe harbor while taking out many, many enemies that either come around the corner or over an edge, never learning from the previous grunt's fate. It makes most of the game incredibly easy.

In the main campaign you only have the M-16 A4 and its grenade launcher attachment coupled with fragment and smoke grenades at load out. And although you can pick up any enemy weapon and use it, each mission will have you starting with the same stock. But play co-op mode or the fun modified co-op and you have more weapons at your disposal to add some variety.

Online is also a great experience. Although the main dish is merely Fire Team Arena, essentially a team-based Deathmatch mode, it's pretty engaging, intense and fun. The play is fairly lag-free and offers a lot to competitive aim-oriented gamers.

The graphics impress on a texture level but not an augmentation level. The lighting and shadowing is pretty sparse and unconvincing. The player models look great and most of the animations are smooth. But most of the locales don't exactly feel organic. There's not much sound to report on. This game is about ambience more than it is soundtrack, and what is there is acceptable.

Close Combat: First to Fight is a surprise. I honestly didn't think I could take a developer's freshman effort on a new label that seriously. Although it has some kinks to work out, the foundation is solid and Destineer should be very proud.

Graphics: C+

Sound: B

First Play: B

Last Play: B+

Gameplay: B

Overall: 83% B