CT Special Forces puts the player at the fore front of a counter terrorist unit as you take command of 2 very different characters as they embark on what any counter terrorist operative does best, countering terrorist threats; ahem! With the aid of a super computer that can predict terrorist activity right down to what terrorists factions have for lunch, well maybe not that deep but you get the point; our heroes are sent to various locales to generally kick butt and stop the threat, then come home for some R and R at the CT special bar. If they are quick then maybe they’ll get home in time for happy hour. Well ok maybe that’s taking things too far because CT Special Forces is very much a serious 3rd person shooting game and perhaps only serious players need to apply here.

Gameplay:

CT Special Forces, boasts 2 different characters who play very differently from each other. First you have Raptor, the gun toting Rambo military type with a square jaw angled enough to cut bricks on a building site. Raptor is very much a go getter character and rather than being subtle is an all out gung ho action hero. In contrast to Raptor you have the more sublime Owl and whilst the name isn’t as hard hitting as the awesome sounding Raptor, Owl has his own style and pacing that opts for a more covert approach.

The first thing that you will do upon playing is an extensive training examination which will ease players into both roles, whilst teaching you the basics of movement, taking cover, the use of some cool and not so cool secondary equipment and in Owl’s case the use of some gadgets like stealth camouflage, sonar vision, thermal vision and night vision. Owl also has the bonus of being an expert at jumping from aircraft and then moving in freefall. From this early stage in the game it is quite clear that Owl is in fact the more interesting character and perhaps the developers put a little more effort into his creation. Raptor on the other hand merely feels like a carbon copy character from countless other games.

So, once training has been completed then it’s onto the game proper against real terrorists and when I say real terrorists I mean real terrorists who have no regard for human life including their own. These terrorists haven’t really been given many brain cells and will often kill each other or simply try to rush at you when you’re firing at them. Playing the game is rather deceptive as the tendency to simply rush out and kick much ass is there from the offset. However after several minutes play and of course many deaths later (namely your own); its clear to see that if you try to run and gun then you aren’t going to last long at all. CT Special Forces requires the player to use a little cunning and perhaps a hide and seek approach. Moving across the horribly maze like levels players should seek cover as often as they can; perhaps scout ahead with a scoped weapon before moving into an area and generally taking things slow so as not to be ambushed from un seen assailants. In fact there are many unseen assailants or terrorists hidden away from your direct line of sight and if one is careless you will get sniped or blown to pieces from someone who is quite a distance away from you. This actually became quite a pain for me where, as Owl I would be sneaking around using my stealth camouflage, only to be killed in 2 or 3 hits from the world’s most accurate sniper who was perched on a building several miles away. Ok, well maybe not miles but very far away all the same and through thick fog!

It seems that CT Special Forces operates on a trial and error process as you enter a new area get killed, learn from the mistake and then try the exact same situation again. What with checkpoints that you are crying out for and they simply don’t appear makes CT Special Forces a game that will really test your patience and frustration levels to the max, well it did mine. Some vehicular moments help break up the regular game play but again are also problematic due to super terrorists with pin point aim and a firing reticule that’s about as accurate as a one eyed blind man.

As mentioned earlier Owl is able to freefall from aircraft as a method of insertion, and whilst this may initially look very cinematic and exciting is in fact rather lacklustre and dull as you hold the L trigger to dive, stop for a moment and shoot a few other freefalling terrorists. What is more the ground doesn’t even appear to get any closer and therefore takes any sense of realism and danger out of this mode. Maybe Owl should stick with catching mice in a barn somewhere in the country?

Graphics:

In one word the graphics are horrible; well maybe not horrible but perhaps uninspiring and dull. For an Xbox title this is definitely not up to scratch and looks extremely dated. Character movement is acceptable and some hilarious results can be had killing terrorists by exploding barrels and the like and watching their bodies fly through the air in an extremely unrealistic manner. What more can be said here other than it’s a budget game so expect budget looking graphics, enough said.

Sound:

Sound is a little better but not much, as some grating tunes are used amongst some reasonable mood setting pieces of music. The voice acting is probably more akin to a school production than a Hollywood movie and therefore don’t expect great performances from any of the clichéd cast. Other sound effects are reasonable and there is some banter from the mean terrorists themselves which adds to the little atmosphere the game has already.

Longevity:

To its credit CT Special Forces is a reasonable length game featuring enough missions to play through if you have the patience to do so. However the length of the game is increased by the furiously frustrating trial and error game play and super accurate guards on occasion. With a mission breakdown and awards that improve either Owl’s or Raptor’s stats means that players can work towards something other than just simply completing the missions.

Overall:

Well from this review at least it seems like I have very much slated the game and may have created an impression that CT and me just didn’t get along. In some respects you would be correct in thinking this; however at its heart there is a game here that some players will find rewarding and highly challenging. With its budget price being a lure I suppose you might not feel so bad spending your money on this game. All I can really say is Owl is cool “ish”, Raptor is generic and if more time was spent polishing up the levels and game play then you could have a semi decent game here. As it stands CT Special Forces will take a certain type of games player to really get into the game and enjoy it for what it is, sadly that games player is not me.