UberSoldier Preview

Introduction

AUGUST 1942: At the height of World War II, with the outcome still very much in doubt, secret Nazi experiments are underway as the Germans are looking for a way to bring life back to the dead. One experiment, led by a ruthless Nazi general, discovers that the shock people experience upon death endows their minds with powerful supernatural abilities. After countless attempts, the scientists finally succeed at raising the first of a new breed of warrior - the UberSoldier.

In UberSoldier, you take the role of Karl Stolz, an officer killed leading a Wehrmacht patrol against partisan forces. The process that has brought life back to your lifeless body has unlocked powers from within your once-dead mind but they do not take away the memories of what your Nazi masters have done to you. In the game, you’ll use up to 16 different authentic World War II weapons to complement your new powers, fighting both human opponents and supernatural warriors over twelve levels of play, in your quest to eliminate once and for all the Nazi menace.

General Gameplay

A very simple test for something like this is the number of times you want to play it. In my case I was happy to play through all the difficulty settings a few times, exploring different strategies and weapons.
However for me there is one problem and that is A.I. Often I found the guards just staring at me, strangely this occurred only in close combat. Also a guard would attempt to hit me with his rifle butt and I would back away, he would then continue this action even though I was ten or fifteen metres away. At longer distances they were very effective and would attack me at the slightest provocation.
A top-down map is provided in the top right corner that helps orientate yourself to your objectives and location. Some may like it, others, me included, feel it spoils the “Where the funk am I supposed to go?” element of gameplay that I find so enjoyable.

Graphics

The environments look good, not on the Half-Life 2 or Doom 3 scale but good enough not to be disappointed. Of course the locations themselves have a lot to do with that and in the few levels I played I didn’t find any sunlit sandy beaches or moody, claustrophobic corridors (good thing too because I don’t like them!). Textures are detailed and the incidentals, as I like to call them, are both convincing and realistic.

Weapons

I had a small problem at the beginning in that I was unable to collect new weapons, I thought this was some sort of bug until I realised that I had to specifically pick-up the weapon in question and drop the current one, of course this is a minor issue.
The weapons themselves are enjoyable to use and have the right amount of kick back and the sound is good. No weapon stands out as the must-use one.

The Time Shield

This is a device that you can use to literally “Stop” bullets. As you move forward so does the shield. Sounds great in concept but I somehow felt it was more an idea that somebody thought was cool and managed to implement rather than a solid feature that fits into the story and setting. It seems too advanced for the rest of the game. However, it may well be explained properly in the context of the full game, so perhaps I am being unfair.

Rage and Anger

Another feature I’m not entirely convinced about is the Rage and Anger bonus. If you shoot three enemies in the head within a short period of time then your basic health/shield protection is increased, this is Anger. If you stab and kill three people in a short period of time then something similar happens and this is called Rage. The display is in the bottom right hand corner and is basically three skulls with either A bullet hole or knife. As with the Time Shield I have trouble fitting this into the setting. Sounds like a perfect feature for Multiplayer games but not quite right for a Single Player game.

Voice Acting/Script

Generally the voices are clear and easy to understand. However what they actually say is a little strange; “Rebel Bastard” just doesn’t ring true in those situations and also the German soldiers seem to have a perfect English accent! Maybe I’m being over critical?
When your character gets hit, which in my case was quite often, he made a terrible B-movie “Aaarrrhhh”, that became quite annoying.

Miscellaneous

When saving a game you hear this chalk on a blackboard scribbling. Nice to have some audible recognition that the save is working but it seems out of place.
The final body positions of your dead enemies are quite realistic and add another little element to the overall feel.

Set Scenes

In the very first level there’s a set scene where if you don’t manage to kill a guard before he leaves the room he is waiting for you to open a door and then he pushes some barrels down the stairs and the explode. It’s fun but exploding barrels seem a little over done.
The fires created by the exploding barrels are pretty cool especially the heat haze above them. There are also a few gas canisters that flail around when hit.
In the next level there is a point where your comrades capture a soldier who has to open a door for you, this works well and was a change from just finding a key.

Level Design

I was impressed with this aspect because they managed to balance detail and realism with good gameplay. In the few levels I played things were a little linear but for me that’s not a problem. Regular readers of PlanetPhillip will know that I believe the actual locations are as important as the level design. If I don’t want to be in that type of environment it doesn’t matter how good the level design it won’t be enjoyable for me.
In the full game I’m hoping that there will be plenty of underground research labs and industrial type areas; of course you may prefer sandy beaches etc.

Conclusion

From reading the above it’s easy to think I wasn’t impressed with this game but you’d be wrong. I enjoyed it immensely. There’s no doubt I would buy this game and probably even finish it, which is actually unusual for me (Doom 3 and Quake 4 both stand partially completed).

It’s hard not to make comparisons with other games and besides the superficial similarities, this game reminds me of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Of course you could say it’s the Nazis and supernatural but I think it’s a little deeper than that. Whatever it is I like it and heartily recommend you download the demo and try it for yourself.
I really hope that some sort of editor is included with the game because I have a feeling the community could make some very good levels with the limited resources I saw.

Disclaimer

This post was written using the Preview build and the demo & retail game may differ significantly, however I have a feeling the demo is almost exactly the same.

What do you think?

As with all posts here at PlanetPhillip you have the opportunity to respond with your comments and questions. In fact I am eager to hear what you think of the game, so get writing.