Conflict: Desert Storm II - Back to Baghdad (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.3 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Brad Shoemaker
• Reviewed on: 01/07/2004
• Released on: 10/08/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: Conflict: Desert Storm II - Back to Baghdad (PC) Review

2002's Conflict: Desert Storm gave players squad-based tactical action with a tie-in to modern military history. As you'd gather from the name, the game was set in the Middle East during the early 1990s' Operation: Desert Storm--the famed military action against Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Its current-events context notwithstanding, the first Conflict game just wasn't very good. Scarcely a year later, we've received a direct sequel titled Conflict: Desert Storm II - Back to Baghdad. The hasty release of a follow-up was no doubt spurred by the political and military events of the last year. However, the new Conflict is quite an improvement over the extremely shaky first game. The PC version doesn't add anything significant to the mix, and, in fact, it's missing the console versions' cooperative play mode (and any multiplayer options). At least the PC version is easier to play, thanks to the wider array of control options offered by the keyboard and mouse.

Though there's been a more recent conflict in Iraq, and military action in the region is, in fact, ongoing, Conflict: Desert Storm II again places you in the thick of the 1991 campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime. There's not a whole lot of story to speak of in the game. You get a linear progression of 10 missions, each of which has its own setting and unique mission objectives and some of which are revealed in-game as you progress. You command a squad of four specialists in each mission, and, at the beginning of a new game, you can choose either American Delta Force or British SAS personnel. Your selection here slightly affects stats, appearance, and voice acting. Each of your team members is equipped with a weapon that gives him a unique function. There's the assault rifle-wielding team leader, the sniper, the demolitions expert, and the heavy machine gunner. The team members do have actual names and unique appearances, so you've got at least a little more attachment to them than if they were just faceless drones.

The core squad and combat mechanics in Desert Storm II are a little awkward at the outset, but with some practice you can get fairly proficient at playing the game. You can quickly cycle through your four teammates by hitting the first four number keys. Each of the four (whichever one is active) squad members can issue individual or group orders to the others. This can be done by holding down a key to enter command mode and then firing off orders with various other keys. You can tell your teammates to hold position or form up behind you, hit the dirt, advance on the enemy and fire at will, and so on. As long as you keep tabs on your teammates' health and actively switch between them regularly, you can progress through the game's missions without worrying too much about suffering casualties. Leaving three of your buddies in the care of the game's squad AI isn't always the best idea, though at least they'll be proactive about fighting enemies. They'll fire at their enemies but will often get themselves killed in the process. Of course, you can issue orders to bring them back behind cover, but that can be difficult when you're in the middle of a firefight and are worrying about saving your own skin. Overall, it would have been nice if the teammate AI was a little more adaptive when left to its own devices.

Continue reading