US Special
Forces: Team Factor is the latest game to come out that is trying to
capitalize on the success of Counterstrike. Team based first person
shooters are a dime a dozen these days so in order to compete, any new
game had better be something special. Team Factor does have a few new
tricks up its sleeve, but they arent enough to overshadow the many
problems with the game. The graphics are downright ugly; the sound is
almost nonexistent, and the gameplay feels like Counterstrike for
Dummies. If US Special Forces: Team Factor had come out about three or
four years ago, it probably wouldnt be too bad. Sadly, the first person
shooter genre is filled with great games that are much more deserving of
your hard earned cash than Team Factor.
In Team
Factor, you can play as one of three teams: US Special Forces,
Terrorists, or the Russian Spednatz. All three teams have nearly
identical uniforms and all play exactly the same, so it doesnt really
matter which one you choose. After you select your team, you then pick
what type of unit you want to be. You can be a sniper, a soldier, a
heavy weapons expert, or a support scout. The main difference between
each unit is, as you expect, in what weapons they carry. Again, they are
all pretty much the same, so it doesnt matter which one you choose. The
soldier is probably the best rounded of the options, offering an assault
rifle complete with a sniper scope that allows you to dispatch enemies
from both long and close range very effectively.
There isnt any story in Team Factor, and the single player game
consists of just choosing a map and fighting against bots. There are
different objectives on each map for each of the three teams to complete
that consist of capturing intelligence, hacking a computer, or defending
a specific area. Victory can also be secured by simply eliminating the
other teams, though, so these special objectives arent really a factor
unless your computer controlled teammates finish the objective for you.
The single
player aspect of Team Factor feels tacked on. When you first start up
the game, it is immediately apparent that Team Factor was designed for
multiplayer gaming first and foremost. The solo experience offers about
as much depth as a puddle, and it is clear that it was intended entirely
to prepare gamers to play online. There are only sixteen single player
missions and none of them are very hard. They can be beaten in a day or
two, but after the second or third map the game starts to feel very
repetitive and tedious.
One interesting thing about Team Factor is that there is a skills
system that allows you to gradually improve certain skills the more you
use them. Strength, stamina, stealth, awareness, marksmanship, and
breath control can all be improved the more you use each of these
skills. These different skills allow players to create more
individualized characters so that the game feels less repetitive. In
practice, though, the difference between a character with full stats and
a default character isnt very noticeable. With added strength you can
carry more ammo, but that is the only skill that has a real effect on
gameplay. This was a good idea, but wasnt implemented very well.
The bots in
Team Factor are pretty pathetic. They alternate between running around
frantically and being very aggressive to simply stopping in the middle
of the battlefield and standing still no matter what kind of danger they
may be in. The bots also have an amazing ability to know exactly where
their enemies are, but they arent smart enough to actually go around
obstacles in order to reach them. Instead, the bots just fire round
after round of ammunition at walls and other objects scattered
throughout the environments. When the bots do actually find you, they
are fairly good shots, so it is best to shoot first and ask questions
later. You can change the difficulty level of the bots, but it seems to
only affect how much damage their bullets inflict and doesnt change
their skills at all.
For a game that was designed from the ground up for multiplayer, the
online community for Team Factor is almost nonexistent. Team Factor
doesnt use GameSpy or any other matchmaking services, so finding a game
online is extremely difficult. Im sure most gamers have overlooked this
game already thanks to the huge number of great games already available,
so it doesnt surprise me that there arent that many people playing
online. The number of people online at any given time can be measured in
the dozens, and it probably wont get any better. The game allows up to
thirty (30) players in a multiplayer game, but youll be lucky to find
servers with any people on them, let alone thirty. The multiplayer
experience, just like the single player game, is pretty dry and doesnt
offer anything that FPS fans havent already seen before.
The maps youll play on in both single and multiplayer all feel
pretty much the same. There are jungles, open plains, and city maps
along with a few others, but the level design is fairly similar on all
of them.
Graphically,
US Special Forces: Team Factor looks very dated and ugly compared to the
likes of Ghost Recon or Battlefield 1942. The characters look like they
only have about four frames of animation and it is just sickening to
watch. Enemies appear to be gliding along rather than running. The
uniforms for all three teams look almost exactly the same so it is
difficult to tell the enemy apart from your own soldiers. The only thing
you need to remember is that when your crosshairs turn red, you had
better start firing. The weapon designs are blocky looking, but it is
easy to tell what weapon you have.
The sound in Team Factor consists of the same gunfire sound for every
weapon and absolutely no music. Occasionally youll also hear an
explosion from a grenade, but none of these effects are particularly
well done.
Overall, US Special Forces: Team Factor just cant compete with the
multitude of other first person shooters available right now. The first
thing I noticed about Team Factor, other than the bad graphics, was that
it plays like a poor mans version of Counterstrike. It is terrorists
vs. counter terrorists with realistic weapons and environments just like
Counterstrike, but Team Factor isnt anywhere near as good as CS or any
of the dozens of other FPS out there. US Special Forces: Team Factor
isnt even worth a look unless you are absolutely desperate.