I’ve tried to change my attitude this past year from having a negative outlook on everything to a more positive attitude. No matter how bad life can treat you there is always a bright side to everything. Even if I’m speaking out negatively about a subject I still try to find something positive to mention as well. Now this wasn’t easy for me to do and it’s an area I’m still working on constantly. So why mention something about my life and my beliefs in this review? Well no matter how positive I try to keep myself there is always something that will just rub me the wrong way. Case in point the game: Terrorist Takedown.

The box for the game promises “intense action” in “heart-pounding scenarios” with “fully realistic sound effects” and “incredible 3D environments.” While some of this might be true, the rest of the descriptions (to remain in a positive state of mind) might be stretching the truth just a bit. In case you can’t tell from the title, Terrorist Takedown is a military-action game where you have to vanquish the terrorist. Now from the screenshots you might believe the game is a first-person shooter, but you’re wrong (as I was with my first assumption of the game). The game is actually a rail shooter where your viewpoint is presented from that of the gun and the game moves around while you shoot. In most rail shooters you usually never have control over where you move or where the action is headed. This is the case with the majority of the game.

A common complaint about rail shooters is that you never have control over where you’re going. Great rail shooters have a way to avoid this complaint by giving players more options than just shooting at the enemy as they appear on the screen. However, Terrorist Takedown is not a great rail shooter. In fact, it’s not a decent rail shooter either. While the graphics look surprisingly well for a budget title, the controls, sound effects, and mission variety are all disappointing. The game is divided up into 16 different levels, which looks good on paper. However the average length of a level will last anywhere from 2 to 4 minutes.

One particular set of levels will have you controlling a helicopter’s gun while the computer moves through the stage. The helicopter flies through the stage and your job is to take out all of the enemies with the gun. But you have to be careful because the gun can overheat and you won’t be able to fire until the gun cools off. Once all of the enemies are destroyed you’ve cleared the level. Simple idea and concept to pull off, but not in Terrorist Takedown. The controls are simply horrible during the majority of the game. The aiming cursor keeps floating around the stage making it almost impossible to hit anything. I found it easier to just move the mouse continuously left and right while I was firing at an enemy. If I was lucky I would hit something, but a game should never be left to luck.

The other missions offer a little bit of variety, such as the missions where you actually control the helicopter. The view changes perspective to an over the top view of the helicopter. But once again the mission is still the same, destroy the enemies to clear the level. The helicopter is controlled by the W, S, A and D key. The W and S key regulate the altitude of the helicopter while the A and D key control the direction of the helicopter. It’s funny and sad that the manual for the game has the controls for the helicopters printed wrong. The manual states you control the helicopter with only the W, S and A keys. The S key is supposed to control the direction and altitude of the helicopter. But even during the helicopter missions the gameplay is lousy, the controls are so touchy that it’s hard to hit anything. The commander barked orders at me telling me not to get hit, but it was almost impossible to avoid being hit because of the controls.

The rest of the missions follow the same rail shooter concept as the earlier helicopter-gun mission, but this time you never move. The other missions have you controlling either an artillery gun, anti-aircraft vehicle or anti-aircraft rocket. During these your position is locked and all you control is where to aim your weapon. But once again the controls hamper this because the cursor keeps floating after you stopped moving. You never run out of ammo so you at least you can keep firing and hope to hit something.

Terrorist Takedown was definitely not the game I thought it would be. Rail shooters have their place in gaming history and if done right can still be entertaining. Terrorist Takedown misses the mark in so many ways that it’s hard to maintain a positive frame-of-mind when mentioning the game. The horrible controls, ancient gameplay style and repetitive missions are just the icing on a cake that went stale a long time ago. However all hope is not lost if you crave mindless shooting gameplay with some decent graphics. If you understand the type of game you’re purchasing (a rail shooter) then you might be able to find some enjoyment with this game.

Gameplay: 4
Rail shooters went out of style a long time ago but they still exist. Most gamers find these types of games mindless and boring because there isn’t much interaction you have on the game. While Terrorist Takedown tries to offer a solid rail shooter experience the unresponsive controls creates a breakdown instead. It seemed a game of chance that I would be able to hit someone during the missions because the targeting cursor was still moving after I stopped. Even during the levels where you had a stationary gun the controls were still uncooperative. The missions themselves were short and very repetitive. You had at least two-to-three of the same missions that comprised all of the 16 levels.

Graphics: 6
The graphics were the one bright part of this game. Now this isn’t Doom III graphics but all of the stages and locations were very bright, colorful and had a decent amount of detail. The vehicles you would see during the game had a good amount of detail and the explosions looked good as well. However the frame rate, especially during the missions where the computer was driving or flying, would stutter from time to time, especially during heavy action. All of the enemy characters in the game looked the same, as did the vehicles. But the graphics were the best part of the game.

Sound: 4
It was funny that during the game you would always hear your commander or someone else shouting to you but you could never see them. Most of the commands they issued were repeated over and over again during the level. If you have to start a level over again, then you get to hear the same voices (over and over again). I even noticed that the game would say something that had absolutely no impact as to what was happening during a level. In fact, I think the game was either loading a different sound bit for another mission or there might have been another problem. The sound effects for the weapons came across clear during most of the game. I noticed an occasionally drop-out of the sound effects during the earlier missions. Most of the sound effects and voice acting sounded the same and became repetitive during the entire game.

Difficulty: Medium
Sixteen missions that last 2 to 4 minutes each. If you add that up that doesn’t equal a huge amount of gameplay time. The floating controls will probably be the breaking point for the difficulty. If you miss a target then you will probably have to start a mission over again. This doesn’t really make the game very difficulty it just makes the game a big stake of trial and error. I hope I hit all of the enemies this time, my tenth time playing this mission.

Concept: 3.5
A rail shooter is not the ideal type of game to help support the military. Sure it might give gamers a sense of “blisteringly intense action” but most games will yawn at the ancient type of gameplay. If it wasn’t for the controls then it’s possible this game would have higher ranking. A rail shooter with touchy controls is not everyone’s cup of tea and not my idea of fun. The addition of the helicopter mode does give you a little bit of variety, but not enough to keep modern gamers entertained.

Overall: 4.4
It’s hard to stay positive all the time, as I’m sure some of you out there know. Staying positive during a sub-par game can be just a difficult as life itself. The positive aspects of this game are the decent graphics. However the negative aspects, from the terrible controls to the gameplay itself, unfortunately out-weigh the positives. In the end, I can say that if you expect and understand the type of game Terrorist Takedown really is then you will probably enjoy it. For the rest of us we can be positive in knowing that there is always a next time and another chance.