Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising review

That’ll teach you to nab my parking space.

I like Battlefield: Vietnam, we really do. It is, after all, an excellent game. So when I heard about a war game, with helicopters (we really like helicopters) and the ability to put you up against 149 other geeks from across the globe I was rather intrigued to say the least.

So, five minutes in, having reclaimed an all too familiar ‘n00b’ status once more, I was in for a rude awakening. Having wandered around for a little I found myself being driven somewhere, I wasn’t quite sure where, in the back of a lorry.

Having arrived, a fair while later in fact, I got out, had a look around, seemed to be in the thick of things and began to think about getting to somewhere safe, perhaps killing someone on the way. My thoughts came a little late though, because by the time I got round to doing anything I’d gone full circle and arrived back at the spawn screen.

Good morning… Indonesia

Ah, you’re pleased to see me.

It’s a bold move on developer NovaLogic’s part to have set the game in Indonesia – the trendy thing to do nowadays seems to be to develop a game set in Vietnam - after all, Iraq is just so passé.

I’m not massively acquainted with either Indonesia or Vietnam if I’m being completely honest so I’ll have to take their word for it. However things are definitely different with more lush greenery and a more tropical feel overall. The landscape visuals are best described as Battlefield: Vietnam meets Rainbow Six meets Far Cry. This is good enough for me: when it’s not night time the scenery is very pleasant.

That’s just as well. If there’s one thing you’ll be seeing a lot of in Typhoon Rising, it’s going to be the scenery. Simply put, there’s a huge amount of it. If you thought that there was a lot of land to get across in Battlefield: Vietnam, think twice as much at least. After all, with room for a maximum of 150 players on any one server, the map will need to be quite roomy. It’s already possible to get ‘exterminated’, as the game so nicely puts, it in a fairly short time – any less space and you’d be gone in seconds.

Don’t forget the assault rifle

Well, it beats the motorway.

It’d be pretty accurate to state that Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising is the first game of it’s type to support such a large number of players on each server. It’s largely due to this that a few gaming gremlins rear their ugly heads.

My initial gameplay description might have been a little exaggerated but people who are new to Joint Operations and opt for the supa-fly, over confident, all guns blazing technique are going to experience a few problems. This, of course, is not a bug, but you’ll be needing some patience with a large dollop of stealth if you’re planning on notching up any kills, or going any way to attacking an enemy base.

My comments on the amount of landscape you’ll be seeing were not exaggerated in the least, under… exaggerated if anything. Travelling is so often necessary that it does become a pain fairly quickly. You do get the choice of spawning at ‘objective’ points where you’ll be transported to the action a little faster, though you will typically need to wait about 30 seconds for the privilege.

Need a lift mate?

Not a holiday camp unfortunately.

An area that really does it for me in any game is vehicles. This comes on the condition that they’re done well. Running around on foot like your typical soldier grunt is all well and good but, from time to time, we of few accolades wish to become pilot extraordinaire or the next Michael Schumacher with the jeeps.

I’ve got to admit that I was a little disappointed when it came to the helicopters. This is one area that, wait for it, Battlefield: Vietnam has down to a tee. In Joint Ops you press one button to move forward, one to move back and swivel with the mouse. It’s hardly the ‘you’re one second away from disaster at all times’ approach you’ll experience in the other game.

Land and sea based vehicles are a little better and, despite their fairly blocky appearance in certain cases, are visually passable.

Where’s Tom?

Squad based action aplenty.

I would have expected this to be a Tom Clancy game. Why? Try as I might, running around shooting randomly only attracts the attentions of those who have found a nice little place from which they can take you down with maximum ease.

It’s true that there’s a fair difficulty curve to contend with if you want to do battle with the 100+ non-n00b people on the server. Once again, though, this is a game in which, to gain the most from it, you’ll need to put in some effort – there are even a few tutorials to help you on your way. These really shouldn’t be ignored.

It lacks the jazzy soundtrack of the other game for a reason, it lacks the ease of play for a reason. I’ll even admit that the helicopters are most likely easier to control for a reason, but Joint Operationss shouldn’t really be compared with any other, or indeed any other game. Show some commitment and you never know, you might last a good five minutes on it.