Uber Soldier Preview

Over the years World War II shooters have had their share of fame and fan clubs. Be it games like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor, they have all been played and loved by gamers where they get to play as a soldier in the famous battles of World War II which they have read and heard about. Uber Soldier is the new World War II First person shooter by CDV.

Twist in the Tale

Like the other World War II games, you get to play the part of a soldier, the twist in the tale being you playing the role of a undead German soldier who wants to take revenge against the Nazi empire for his fate. The story of the game unfolds by the Nazis experimenting genetics to make better soldiers in the field, the result however is an army of zombies including your character. You play the role of a German officer who is killed in a battle. Your body is turned over to a scientist for genetic experimentation. However after becoming the undead you still have your memories and now you are on an absolute revenge spree.

Gameplay

The game boasts of 12 levels of singleplayer missions, alongwith a hidden level. The game features ragdoll and intentionally exaggerated physics allowing movement around the levels various objects such as trees, bushes, rocks etc, which offer a substantially better gameplay.

The AI is pretty impressive and headshots are quite difficult to attain as the enemy units tend to keep their heads down, warn about danger to subordinates and run away when they get injured. The snipers in the game are placed perfectively, at elevated positions hidden well amid the cover and tough to spot. Snipers are also effectively placed, superior elevation and almost always behind cover, but the game features damage direction indicators so that you can spot the attacker easily. However the game does not have a Multiplayer mode which could be a negative point for the game.

Weapons

Gamers who have played Call of Duty and other World War II games would easily recognise most of the guns as they are almost the same as other World War games. There are mainly 16 weapons to choose from which are categorised into types. There will be the usual MP40, MP44, SVD, Kar98, PPH and of course a knife for a quick silent kill. Besides the standard weapons, the game features a flamethrower and a Panzerschreck to add to the mayhem.

The weapons are organised in types as mentioned, hence allowing two guns to be carried simultaneously like in Call of Duty. Now being a zombie, you would also get to have some mental powers; however these powers will be generated by rage which you will have to accumulate in the game by getting three headshots or three knife kills in a short amount of time. When you have a certain amount of rage you can use it to activate a mental power such as bullet shield can deflect enemy bullets and bounce them back as well.
These powers can be used only for a short period of time, i.e. the amount of rage you have.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics of the game are quite decent; the graphics engine seems to be pretty up to date and features everything from shader effects to normal mapping, bump mapping, subtle glow, shockwave effects, and lots of particles. The character models are sharp and look quite detailed. Keeping in mind that the game took only a year to set up the graphics of the game are quite impressive.

The sound of the game is nothing great so far, but the game is still being developed so hopefully it would be as good as the game seems to be graphics wise.

Uber Soldier is set to release in the first half of 2006 and although the game may not get popular due to lack of a multiplayer mode, it may just be one of those games that one can play for simply passing the time. The game will be priced less than the price of other new games so as to makeup for the loss of the multiplayer mode.

Karan IceFusion Bajaj