Turning Point: Fall of Liberty has been on Geek.com’s radar for about a year now. Taking a standard World War II first person shooter and turning it on its ear has unquestionable appeal; take a look at the success of the alien WWII shooter Resistance: Fall of Man. What if Winston Churchill didn’t live to stop Hitler? The idea is that the Nazis would be able to cross the Atlantic and start occupying east coast cities, with giant dirigibles as drop ships and bombing attacks that would shatter icons of American freedom. Could the actual game be as good as its premise or should Codemasters have left WWII history intact? Read on to find out.
The story and the premise are solid. It’s an alternate history worth looking into, and it would probably play out well on the big screen as well. Much of the cinematic in general is quite well produced. There are some images that just stick in your head; especially like seeing the Nazi flag on American streets.
Unfortunately, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty’s execution does not live up to its premise. There are a number of flaws that keep this game from approaching what we’d hoped for.
Most obviously, saying the game is a mediocre shooter is a bit kind. The weapons themselves feel rather clunky and inaccurate, and it feels insulting that your accuracy percentage is rated at the end of each level. The enemies are downright stupid, rarely taking the kind of cover you’d expect, and yet you have trouble avoiding them. It’s also pretty weak that you are expected to leave the action (pause menu) to figure out what you’re supposed to do next and even when you do it is vague. I don’t need full cut-scenes for every single order, but I’d rather someone tell me where to go, especially when there aren’t obvious enemies popping up.
Additionally, most of what would be cool the first time through becomes pretty dull in the inevitable multiple run-throughs of each mission. It’s clear that far too much of what’s happening around you is scripted. For example, early on, every single time planes fly by you, they seem to destroy every beam around you until you go in the right direction. When this happens, you are feeling the developer’s hand far too much.
The graphics aren’t all that great either. The motif is very dark and ugly; it could be described as ominous, I suppose. Still, it’s practically impossible to tell the difference between fighting in most WWII shooters and this one–aside from the often-downed landmarks. It’s as if the Nazis only wanted to take out American icons, which doesn’t make sense historically. They didn’t take over France by destroying the Louvre or the Arc d’Triomphe.
Sometimes you’ll see some great explosions and well-crafted buildings. But then at other times the screen will slow down and freeze, especially in periods of intense action. This happens all too frequently.
Gameplay itself is rather jarring, since the checkpoints are so uneven. It’s pretty ridiculous when you kill what seems like a brigade of Nazis, and then–all of a sudden–you’re downed from out of nowhere.
There’s not too much to redeem this title, aside from the relief that comes with taking the disc out of the Xbox 360 itself.
All told, I could not be much more disappointed with a game. I had been looking forward to it for so long, and I thought it held so much promise. Nope. I can’t really recommend this for anyone who wants a new take on the WWII genre or a shooter fan of any kind. It’s just so poorly executed that it’s just not worth playing.
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