The Regiment (PC)

It all starts with the training in the SAS 'Killing Rooms' - and this IS tough. Here, the training is not about how to walk backwards/forwards or how to climb ladders - its about practical, real-world tactics such as how burst into a room and take up a dominating position, how to scan a room for friend/foes, then moving on to the target range, practising taking down static then moving targets with double-tapping (two quick shots) while in very different (and very distracting) situations. Training is completed with wingman, full squad and hostage situation sceanarios. All very pratical, tactical training which you'll need for the missions - and you won't progress through the training unless you reach the required standards - which are very high!. You're rewarded for speed and accuracy (which means head-shots); big penalties for hitting hostages/friendlies or missing targets.

As you progress through the training, some of the missions become unlocked and are available to play. For each mission, former SAS member John 'Mac' MacAlesse talks you through the situation and relates the intelligence available. The missions seem to be based on real life events - the first one is the Iranian Embassy siege in which MacAlesse was 'the man on the balcony'. These talk-thrus are extremely well done and although the intelligence is usually sparse, I guess that this is all the real SAS had to go one so it just adds to the drama of each situation.

The missions are TOUGH. You don't sneak about and hide around corners picking off the enemy at will. When the Go code is given you move. Surprise. Speed. Aggression. Thats what the training gears you up for and thats how you need to act to get a result. It really is gripping stuff and will take you more than a few goes to get through each one successfully.

On the downside, the graphics are not the most modern and the menus are very consoley - but 'The Regiment' does bring a new realism to the
counter-terrorist genre of games - and for that it gets 5 stars.

And as a bonus, the Extras section of the DVD contains fascinating interviews with John MacAlesse about his time with 'The Regiment' - but you'll have to progress through the game to unlock them all - nothing is easy with this game!

A hidden gem well worth seeking out.

Training
When you start the game, you have to pass roughly 20 training missions, teaching you how to assault rooms etc, and you have to get a C rating or above to pass each mission. This rating is based on things like accuracy and speed, and is used to pass all missions throughout the game. The training is a good idea, but it gets to a point where it's not fun anymore, and you are just glad to get the C rating to move on.

The missions
There are 4 main missions which are each broken down into 3 missions (12 missions), each smaller mission playing as a different assault team on the mission. This idea I really liked, as it adds great realism to the game, because you don't feel like a 4 man army taking on a massive building, you and your team just take care of your floor/area.
You can play the missions in simulation mode or arcade. Arcade is the way other shooters play, where you have a cross-hair, a count of how many bullets you have left etc. Simulation is like the name suggests, it's as if you are in the SAS, so you just have your health and how many bullet magazines you have left. This is a real challenge as you find yourself having to count how many bullets you have fired (like the real SAS), or you will soon find you go to shoot a terrorist, and your gun just clicks.

The bad things
At this point you will be wondering why I have given the game only three stars, after saying all those positive things about it. The reason is, unfortunately there a quite a few things which take those other two stars off full marks.

The first thing you will notice after playing a level a few times is, that the terrorists are not randomly placed around the level. This is a big disappointment to me, as I assumed this would be in the game after playing SWAT 4 (which was made nearly a year ago), and this takes the realism away. When you know where all the enemies are, you can almost assault rooms and just shoot at a certain place, knowing you will hit a terrorist.

This brings me onto the assaulting of rooms. You might as well just go in on your own, and learn to shoot quickly, as your men are not much help. The options you have are to go in with your buddy, send the whole team in, or send in the team after you have thrown in a grenade. This greatly limits your ability to complete the mission successfully, because you can't get into rooms and rescue the hostages quickly enough.
The final downside to the game I feel is your men's AI (artificial intelligence). This will frustrate you the most, as it often results in you getting killed and having to start the mission again. Your men will quite often all just be looking at you, rather than looking in all directions for threats, which often results in a terrorist shooting you all.

Conclusion
It's not a bad shooter, but I don't feel there is enough there to be a strategic shooter. The game makers had the right idea, but missed out too many important parts like the lack of assault options.