I
f you’re looking for a deeper, more cerebral
first-person shooter, this Call of Duty expansion
is not it. But if you’re looking for more white-
knuckle WWII shooter action, United Offensive
delivers it in droves, with 13 new missions and
about 10 hours of single-player gameplay. We
consider it a must-have expansion.
Three separate mini-campaigns follow
American, English, and Russian soldiers through
the war’s largest conflicts, such as Kharkov and
the Battle of the Bulge. The expansion pack also offers a few new weapons, including a portable
chain-fed .30 caliber machine gun. Indeed, Grey Matter, the game’s developer, has delivered a com-
pletely satisfying experience that’s enjoyably similar to the original game.
But that’s not all. Multiplayer features an additional 11 new maps, drivable vehicles, and three
new game modes. Our favorite is the new Base Assault
mode. We love the way the game doles out more
advanced weapons and skills to you as your kill count
and time played increase. This means better players
gain access to smoke grenades, satchel charges, and
even artillery strikes. Not only does this help keep clue-
less n00bs from calling in artillery on your own team, it
also promotes “good” behavior—too many team kills
stops your advancement.
—WILL SMITH
Call of Duty: United Offensive
More of the same, but still tasty
What’s the fastest way to take out three
Tigers? Call in the Airedales!Loads of new content and weapons, and the
vehicles rock!COMMUNISTSFASCISTS
Domination mode seems a lot like Battlefield: 1942.
$30, http://www.callofduty.comMA XIMUMPC VERDICT 8
T
here are two basic problems with Star
Wars: Battlefront. First, it’s extremely
difficult to find good servers online.
Second, the bot AI is unforgivably bad, which
is especially tragic because bots infest nearly
every multiplayer server on the net. It makes
us sad, because the concept of a Battlefield:
1942 -style multiplayer shooter set in the Star
Wars universe had us all tingly inside. And
now our tingly feeling has nowhere to go.
Because the bots are ubiquitous, their
behavioral problems are more than a single-
player annoyance. Even more frustrating
is that the bots don’t always behave like complete morons. Frequently they exhibit intelligent
behavior—they’re aware of cover fire, use cover intelligently, and even reinforce the right areas.
However, in one-on-one or even many-on-one situations, they’re easier to kill than baby seals.
When you put them in a vehicle, it only gets worse. Get used to seeing bots aimlessly running into
corners, on foot and in vehicles.
The server browser is also bad. For a game that’s
designed to be played online, it’s inexcusable. The only
way to determine your ping to a particular server is to
click on the server. With 1,500 servers running at any
given time, this is a most frustrating proposition. Even
if you do luck out and find a full server with a low ping,
odds are that 18 out of 30 players will be the intermit-
tently retarded bots. Boo, hiss! We’re praying for a
comprehensive patch to this one.
—WILL SMITH
Star Wars: Battlefront
Not the worst Star Wars game
ever, but far from the best
Killing Stormtroopers by the squad
certainly sounds exciting; sadly, the
abysmal AI takes most of the fun out of it.Despite its flaws, Battlefront can still be fun on a
good server.THE EMPIRETHE TRADE FEDERATION
The bots are dumb, it’s hard to find a good server, and
who the hell wants to play as the Trade Federation?
$50, http://www.lucasarts.comMA XIMUMPC VERDICT 5