Special Forces: Team X Review

Since the inception of online gaming, one genre has dominated the charts: the shooter. Over the years we've had every possible scenario: future and historic war zones, fights on alien planets and many more. These have all been covered in both the first and third person perspective and with every new release into the bloated genre, you always hope for something unique. So, with the release of Special Forces Team X, have Zombie Studios added that something new that will keep players coming back for more?

Special Forces Team X is a third person, cover-based shooter with vivid cartoon graphics, breaking the tedium of the obsession with ultra-realism. Think Gears Of War meets Borderlands.

The action takes place in tomorrow's world with brutal conflicts between different geo-political factions, with the firefights being hosted on maps where the layouts are decided by a player vote. Instead of the conventional map voting, players vote for each part of the map, making every fight unique.

When you enter the map voting screen you are greeted with a blueprint that's split into three sections, each section can be changed individually so players can vote for the favourite sections of the map to gain an advantage. For example, you could choose a map mainly for long range sniping with cranes and lookout points, or a selection of warehouses and building sites for shotguns in the face. The sections of the map that are chosen do not affect the objective, and the aim of the game is still to get homicidal with a bangstick.

Some game modes will be familiar to players and will need no introduction: Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Control Points (Domination in COD terms), but there are more exclusive game modes to get dropped into the middle of. In another mode, called Hot Zone, one area is selected at the start of the match and players must fight to control it, the more players in the zone, the faster the team points increase until the zone moves and the fight starts again.

Lastly, there is High Value Target where, at the start of the game, one player is marked as the target. Each kill that they get will be rewarded with five points and the rest of the team two points. If you kill the High Value Target, the bullseye moves to you and the scoring system will change to your team.

In all the game modes it's essential to keep behind cover. With a quick tap of a button you will be jumping over the barrier you're cowering behind, and gradually flanking the enemy. The game also rewards players with teamwork, stay with your allies though the game and you will get a multiplier that will keep increasing as your teammates join the fight. Also, unlike most shooting games that pit two teams against each other, Special Forces Team X will allow players to fight with up to four teams on one map, this makes the battles a frantic joy.

With any of the map variations, in whatever game mode, you will be greeted with the highly stylised graphics that shows a step away from the realism of some recent shooters. Thankfully, the graphics give you a feel that anything goes, with over the top explosions and shots that can rip your head clean off your body. This may not appeal to all gamers, but if you can look past the gore you will find yourself hooked for hours.

There are a handful of licensed weapons in the game, including the AK-47, Famas and Dragunov. On top of these weapons which you can equip in your loadouts, there are special "candy" weapons scattered around the battlefield which include a powerful sniper rifle and a chainsaw. If you are not happy with the firepower at your disposal, you will be able to call on man's best friend: the dog; so if you find yourself running out of bullets, a quick call to the dog and he will go hunting for the enemy.

The customisation doesn't stop at the map generation system powered by the player votes. Players will be able to fully customise the character in the game: weapons loadouts, camouflage colours, clothes and player taunts. But with every game recently, you will need to unlock weapons and clothing by playing matches and getting kills. The more you play, the better equipment you will be able to take to the battlefield.

As with most games, Special Forces isn't without its faults. Firstly, the run and cover system isn't perfect. When you are in cover you will sometimes not be able to get off the wall you are on, like the enemy has attacked the walls with super glue. This happened to me a couple of times, you will either stay there and die or when you get off the wall will probably jump into oncoming gunfire from the opposing team. As well as this, upon release, the dogs will often stand next to you and not move onto the enemy no matter what you press.

Even with these faults, Special Forces Team X is an altogether good game, with new features not seen before in the genre.The graphics feel like a welcome change from what we are normally used to, the servers seem to be full at the moment and hopefully they will stay that way for a while to let players have decent games. Hopefully, the players won't just skip off when the next COD or Gears Of War is released, because I know I'll be back playing for quite a while.