Global Ops

In Summary

Global Ops is a multiplayer-focused team-oriented FPS. With a series of terrorist versus anti-terrorist scenarios, it sits somewhere between Counter-Strike and Rainbow Six Multiplayer support for up to 24 players is promised, as well as a solo mode with bots.

What's The Big Deal?

The game uses real-world hot spots such as Beirut, Chechnya and Sri Lanka, and features actual terrorist and anti-terrorist organisations. Throw in more than 30 real-life weapons, accurately modelled entry and exit wounds, and it's about as dose as you're going to get to being a crazed gunman on a killing spree.

What kind of world are we living in when vicarious terrorism is a valid form of home entertainment? An increasingly sophisticated and varied one, if Global Operations is anything to go by, as the game seeks to capitalise on the success of Counter-Strike with an authentic replication of the spills and thrills of international terrorism. The vagaries of generic troops in combat trousers is not enough for the developers of Global Ops though, as they have taken the bold step of replicating actual terrorist organisations. Clearly this has been done without the express permission of the organisations involved, and we wouldn't like to be anywhere near Barking Dog Studios should they take offence. Imagine the scene as a massive explosion rips through the complex, leaving only the charred remains of a thousand action figures and a soda machine to suggest that the game developer ever existed.

But hey, let's hope it doesn't come to that, as Global Ops is shaping up to be quite a worthy addition to the terrorism genre. Along with the cream of world terrorism, the game also features a number of actual antiterrorist organisations, and the game will be played out in some of the world's traditional hotbeds of radical activist activity. A steamy night in Beirut? You got it. The stench of death in Chechnya? You bet. Even if you don't know where these places are, the names will be familiar to followers of world affairs, and it's a shame that Kate Adie couldn't be convinced to appear between missions with an earnest report.

As for the intricacies of the gameplay, well what do you know? Shoot people in the head, face, a neck, chest or limb and they react accordingly. An extremely advanced ballistics model is being employed, based on the power of the weapon used and the malleability of the yielding flesh ruptured by the hot leaden death parcel. So, for instance, you could shoot someone in the leg, the bullet could pass through it and then embed itself in their other leg. Which would do very little for their golf swing.

More pedantic still, if you miss your target completely and hit a wall, the engine will apparently take into account material density, wall thickness and bullet calibre to determine the penetration or ricochet trajectory.

Unlike Counter-Strike, killed players can be re inserted into the game, taking on the role of reinforcements, thus negating the problem of sitting around drumming your fingers while Korda camps the loft. Various character classes will be available, each with different skills, including recon, sniping, medic and demolitions expert. The release date might be some way off, but Global Ops is our top tip for a terrorism treat.