Rating

F

Specific Ratings

GameplayF
GraphicsC-
Learning CurveD-
Replay ValueF
SoundC

Pros and Cons

Pros
  • Interesting concept for a video game
  • Orchestral background music is used well at time
  • Starts off pretty well for the first level
Cons
  • Level designs are drab and boring
  • Hit detection is near non-existant
  • Gun sounds feel raspy and artificial
  • Game crippling glitches hinder your play
  • Framerate is inconsistent and glitchy
  • Story is barely there
  • Game graphics are bland and ugly at times

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (Xbox 360)

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Summary

How such a promising concept can fall to pieces...

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Description

When Turning Point: Fall of Liberty was first announced in early 2007, at first glance this appeared to be a must have title that would satisfy anyone's first person shooter appetite. Instead of the onslaught of recent FPS taking place overseas during World War II, Codemasters idea for a war that took place on US soil sounded like a great idea to break from the mold. It could have been, given a little more time and effort on the developers part. However, the transition from concept to final product appeared to fall apart in the middle, and what you have left is a half-hearted and rushed game that delivers on none of the qualities that make games great. The story telling is poor and near non-existent, the graphics and animations are poor at best, and the gaming mechanics are broken and boring.

The story, like reported, is awful at best. Your name is Carson, and you are a construction worker. The Germans have just invaded New York, and you are going to stop them. That's about as deep as the story unfolds as you play. There are no memorable characters in the game, no backstory, or history of why the Nazis are attacking New York, or even what your motives are. What exactly is the reason you are risking your life to take back control of New York? Throughout the game, you run through many different corridors and alleyways looking for a way into the Nazi defense, but at all times you have no idea why or where you are going. You are just running to different places within the game simply because that is where you are supposed go, and the game sort of directs you there.

Past the awful story, the games mechanics help to bring the game down even more than the story does. To start with, the biggest game breaking mechanic in the game is the incredibly awful hit detection. You can quite literally unload an entire clip of machine gun into a Nazi enemy to only have a few bullets register as hitting. That is if you can even see what you are shooting. When bringing your gun up to aim through the iron sights, the gun covers up most of the screen, causing you to have to either constantly raise and lower your sights to get the enemy in sight, or aim all around the screen to find the enemy then move your gun to him. There is also the ability to perform hand to hand combat on enemies, but not like you may think. Instead of a melee button assigned to a button on the controller, you cannot perform and melee until touching an enemy, then pressing the assigned button, and hoping to press the right combination. However, even when right on top of an enemy, you will find the that context sensitive button will not show on screen, and you will find yourself circling him until the button shows on screen.

Finally, we come to the musical score and audio/dialogue, only one of which is actually carried out with any care. Save for some of the background music, the audio and dialogue in the game is borderline poor. Sound effects for most all guns in the game feel very dull and boring. They don't carry the bang that you would expect out of a game that revolves only around shooting one Nazi, then moving on the next. You will find that even the biggest of guns you can pick up and use sound weak and unfitting for a weapon that covers half your screen due to it's size and firepower. When Turning Point comes down to it's musical score, the developers did a fairly good job on obtaining a sound that goes well with the game and the time frame the story takes place in. You really get the feel of the 1940's in the soundtrack, and some of the grand orchestral moments really help you in advancing forward toward your goal. However, when the best part of a video game is the music, you can only manage to hold the players attention for so long. The bottom line is, don't expect too much when you run into a room crowded with Nazi enemies guns blazing. You may feel let down by the disappointing notes emitted by the weapons you carry.

If you make it past these annoyances and still believe the game can be fun, you are not through all the frustrations yet. Another common problem is the constant freezing and locking up that occurs throughout the game. In a matter of about three hours, I had to reset my console twice due to the game freezing on me. Even after getting the game on clearance for $5.99 I am still upset with my purchase. I cannot believe such a broken and absolutely boring game could ever be released to the public.

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