It seems there has been a sharp rise in the number of military games being released over the past few years. The war in Iraq and the military actions in Afghanistan seem to have drawn the interests of gamers. Instead of recreating or playing a game based on something that happened almost 50 years gamers have been able to play a part in contemporary events happening in the world today. Even branches of the United States military have been using games as a way to recruit and train inductees into the military. With First to Fight the Marines now get to put their input into gaming with the emphasis being on authentic tactics used by the Marines in military situations.

The developers state the title was designed with the input of “40 active-duty United States Marines fresh from combat in the Middle East.” The game employs a system used in the Marines called Ready-Team-Fire-Assist (RTFA) that is composed of you and three other team members. The purpose of the RTFA is to provide your team with 360 degrees of security at all times. To really understand what this means imagine four individuals standing with their backs to each other. Working together all four individuals would be able to see everything going on around them at all times. During the single-player game each member of your team will always follow the RTFA procedures to ensure the team is always secure and protected. The Ready portion of your team is the rifleman who is always located next to you (the Team) since you’re the team leader. The Fire portion of the team is the SAW gunner and the Assist portion of the team is the assistant gunner. The RTFA procedures are followed at all times unless you, the team leader, issue different orders.

Issuing orders during combat is essential during the game. The orders given can determine whether you and your team members will complete the mission successfully. The orders that can be issued range from Holding position to Free fire (ordering the team to fire at will). During the game you will probably use the Go To command more than any other command. This allows you to direct your team to a specific area during a battle. Ordering your team to move across the street allows the team to engage any hostiles they might encounter. Heck if you wanted to you can probably even try to finish the entire game without firing a shot since your team members could do all the dirty work.

There are other commands that can be issued which affect the gameplay as well. One of the most important are the MAGTF actions. MAGTF stands for Marine Air-Ground Task Force, which is comprised of snipers, mortar support and air strikes. When you come across a contingency of enemies your targeting system should turn red (signaling an enemy). Simply press the right mouse pad will bring up list of commands that can be issued against the enemy. If you want to call an air strike to take out an enemy tank then let it be done. But you are limited to just a few MAGTF commands during each stage. I found that saving the MAGTF commands for engaging heavy artillery was the best option for making it through the game.

Another command available is the door command. If anyone has played other squad-based first-person shooters then you probably know what I’m typing about already. If you come up to a door that is closed (and can be opened) then you can issue several different demands to open the door. The hardest-hitting command is the Frag Take Down command which orders your team to fire a grenade into the room and then securing the room after the grenade has exploded. The Take Down command has your team securing the room by eliminating any hostiles but without the use (and surprise) of the grenade first. But if you like you can issue the cover or suppress command to your team members to both hold their positions (and eliminate any hostiles exiting the room) or keep the keep the hostiles pinned down in the room. As I mentioned earlier all of the commands are simple and easy to issue at any time. Just point your target, door and/or vehicle, click the right mouse button and then select the desired command.

The entire game controls appropriate enough that it should please fans of the FPS genre. Since this is a squad-based military FPS just don’t expect Halo, Doom or Unreal. You are tied at the hip to your team so don’t expect to last longer than a few minutes if you want to be Rambo or Master Chief. Issuing commands to your team will keep them alive along with yourself. One of the biggest obstacles in First to Fight is finding out where the enemy is hiding. Since the game is based upon events in the Middle East you will find yourself fighting the enemy in city streets and sewers. This isn’t a huge battlefield we’re talking about, this is tight combat in small places. The easiest way to draw the enemy out is by ordering your team to different areas on the map. Just point at a location and then press G button will order the team to move.

The combat controls are easy to understand for those with or without FPS experience. The standard keyboard (W, A, S and D buttons for movement) and mouse (for looking around) are included by default. There are some additional movement options such as leaning left or right to look around a corner and the ability to sprint, crouch, lay on the ground and move slowly through areas. Firing your weapon is controlled using the left mouse button while pressing 1 to 5 on the keyboard changes weapons. The combat action can get a little funky at times, which is the biggest problem with the game.

This game is designed with help from active duty Marines and is supposed to include some advanced enemy AI. The box even states “Experience a first-person shooter so realistic, the Marines use it as a training tool.” So why did I experience enemy soldiers running through me during levels (offline and online)? Why would an enemy let me stand in front of him while the rest of my team nearby as well? It seems the AI in the game just wasn’t what is promised on the box or in the manual. During several levels I would have hostiles running through me just so they could complete the scripted event that was supposed to happen later on in the level. The enemies would run through me only to wait for me just a few feet in front of me to try and ambush me. It wasn’t much of an ambush because I saw them 30 seconds earlier.  

Another issue had to do with the shooting accuracy of the enemies. On several occasions I had an enemy take me out (while I was ducking behind a concrete barrier) when the enemy was shooting from a truck mounted gun. I didn’t think that the guns mounted on the back of a truck had the same accuracy as a sniper rifle but I guess I was mistaken. Speaking of snipers I never once witnessed my sniper command being followed during the game. Maybe the snipers were always out of the position but each time I ordered snipers the hostiles would keep on pegging away at my team. After several minutes I would give up on waiting for the snipers. 

I’m not trying to rain on First to Fight’s parade here, but I’m not sure if anyone I know in the military would approve of enemies running through them as a training tool. The emphasis on your team and the RTFA is a key part of the game and a key to surviving during the game. RTFA does teach you to pay close attention to your surroundings and to your team. If one person on your team is out of position then it could lead to an easy kill to your character and a game over screen. Besides the questionable AI the rest of the game focuses on scripted events. This means that if you die at a particular location in the game then the computer will still follow the same script when you continue. So it might take a few tries before you get through each level.

In the end First to Fight does a commendable job of being a decent and entertaining FPS. The amount of FPS games on the market today is staggering and for someone looking for something new and different then First to Fight won’t be that game. The focus on your team is a nice feature, but nothing that will make this title stand out from all the rest. The enemy AI is really the downer of the game since it doesn’t seem to match the time and detail given to the team aspects of the game. First to Fight is an admirable game for trying to give players the Marine’s viewpoint of combat, but for gamers that viewpoint just isn’t enough. Compared to other games out today First to Fight looks like it was late to the battle.

Gameplay: 6.8
I mentioned the enemy AI and how it wasn’t the greatest testament to videogames but the rest of the game does play admirably. The controls are tight and responsive during combat and maneuvering during the game. The game includes a radar so you can find enemies during the game but the radar is limited in certain levels. This adds a nice sense of tension since you’re not sure where the enemies will be coming from next time. The game ranks you after each mission depending on the moral and health of your team. The higher the moral the better the ranking.  

One other item of note is the ability to ask the enemies to comply, as well as the citizens. If you see an enemy soldier you can issue a comply command and it’s very possible the enemy will surrender. You can then secure the enemy to make sure he doesn’t surprise you with a double cross. As far as citizens go, let’s just say they’re off limits. If you kill citizens (or even an enemy soldiers that have surrendered) then you fail the mission. Surprisingly most of the enemies never offered to surrender during the game but I was able to subdue a few.

Graphics: 7.5
The background graphics for the different locations are nicely detailed with each location having the war-torn look to them. You will see buildings destroyed, bullet holes every where and rubble filling the streets. The game even includes some nice lighting and shadowing effects that might give some systems a problem. In fact, I had to turn down several details in the graphic settings to get the game to run smooth. With the default settings on the game my character would freeze during a shootout. The game was still playing and still looked great but I just couldn’t move. Once I turned down a few of the settings everything was Ok. The character graphics were nice for your team, but the enemy soldiers all looked the same and didn’t seem to have the same detail as your team. The frame rate was steady and consistent after the adjustment to the graphic settings.

Sound: 7.0
The sound effects and music in the game were adequate but nothing that will get your heart racing. The sound effects of the weapons were good but most of the guns sound very similar to each other. The music almost doesn’t exist since the majority of the music you hear is during the initial cutscenes. The voice acting of your team members was well done and doesn’t get too repetitive.

Difficulty: Medium
Sticking with team-based tactics will keep you going far in the game. You will run across instances where the enemy AI stands up and demands attention by taking you out immediately in certain areas. But slowly moving your team into position or ordering a mortar attack or air strike will even the odds quickly. At the same time you will find instances where the enemy AI is almost clueless which will make the game seem like a walk through the park. 

Concept: 7.0
Squad-based military FPS games are everywhere. This genre is like a disease that’s spreading to all corners of the world with no end in site. First to Fight does an admirable job of focusing on the RTFA/team aspects of the Marines during the game. But unfortunately the enemy AI isn’t always up to standard compared to other military FPS.

Multiplayer: 7.6
Now multiplayer is where the game shines. The game plays great online and is a worthy experience for hardcore online FPS gamers. There are three modes available in Multiplayer; Cooperative, Modified Cooperative and Fire Team Arena (FTA). Cooperative and Modified Cooperative allow you and three other players to play in the single-player mode. The only difference being that the Modified Cooperative gives you a larger selection of weapons to choose from than the stand cooperative. The same concept applies online as it does in the single-player game, and that is teamwork. There will a leader that can issue orders to the other players to follow. When I was playing it online I never once heard an order being issued, but it didn’t matter since everyone was having a great time. The cooperative mode seems to free up the game when playing it online because you didn’t need to worry about keeping the team together. Sure the game was easier when everyone played as a team, but the game played at a faster pace and was more intense when everyone went crazy.

The Fire Team Arena is the deathmatch portion of the online multiplayer mode. Up to eight players can compete on two teams (four players per team) with the objective being to take out the other team. Everyone on the team has a set number of lives they can use during a FTA match and if they use all of the lives they are out of the game until the next match. It reminded me of Counter Strike but with the ability to keep playing even after you died (at least for a couple of more times). The battles were fierce and competitive even though I was owned many times.

A few more gameplay modes would have probably made the multiplayer score even higher. More players besides eight would have been nice as well. The Fire Team Arena is a great mode that will probably have players hooked for a while. The online portion of the game is done through Gamespy and I had no problems with lag while playing.  

Overall: 7.2
In this great big world that we live in finding enjoyment in something is a difficult decision. Do you go to the movies, how about playing disc golf at a local park or maybe stay at home and play a videogame? Most of you reading this review will probably pick the later option, which is why you are here. If you are looking for the greatest FPS ever made then you will need to keep looking. But if you want an entertaining military FPS game, that can be a frustrating and aggravating at times, then First to Fight might be your game.