Review: Project I.G.I. 2

Originally written 6.29.04
Website: http://www.codemasters.com/igi2/

Minimum Requirements:
- P3 700 or equivalent
- 32MB AGP graphics card
- 128MB RAM
- 1.9 GB hard drive space
- Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
- DirectX 8.1

Where the hell do I start?

I just completed the game and it was a very satisfying game at that. I'm almost so excited to just summarize the game and command you to play it, but that wouldn't be fair, so I'll have to give it a well deserving review. "I.G.I. 2" is a sequel to the first, "Project I'm Going In" which was blanketed with bad reviews. My impressions from it's demo were on par with them. I decided to give "I.G.I. 2" demo a try, was definitely interested and bought the game. Your role here is as "David Jones", a member of the "Institute for Geotactical Intelligence" group - pretty much your world security/counterterrorism "team". Ah yes, you have to save the world again. Ho hum. While the plot may be typical tactical/action shooter fare, the game has lots of tense fun for you. The plot is as follows:

"As the Cold War drew to a close, the world believed that peace would reign across the globe. It seemed that a new age had dawned, an age of lasting unity between nations. But this was not the case, instead the fight for global supremacy had only been forced underground into the battlefield of covert ops and evil acts of terror. Into this arena sprung a new force, masked behind the guises of subterfuge, plausible deniability and "information management", the Institute for Geotactical Intelligence" raised the sword against those who would subjugate the world. Though the malignancy of terrorism has broken our world on occasion, the global crucible has not yet boiled over into World War 3. For that thank the one-man army David Jones, and the forever-unsung heroes of I.G.I."


Your first mission begins with a cinematic explaining your goals and revealing the plot along the following missions via cutscenes using the games engine. You begin in a massive outdoor area within a factory outset at night. You are allowed 4 types of weapons at one time, and throughout the game you will be able to use around 30 weapons. Amongst them: the MP5, frag grenade, flashbang, M16/M203, SVD Dragunov sniper rifle, RPG-7 rocket launcher, SOCOM pistol with laser sight, silenced and non-silenced automatic light firearms and much more. Typical weapon assignment is: heavy gun slot (RPG-7, sniper rifle, M16 etc), light gun (pistols or light semi/auto guns), knife (always equipped), grenades slot, and accessories slot (rarely found health syringe, laser designator, etc). Also usually permanently equipped are thermal goggles (which can see through certain walls), binoculars and a very handy satellite PDA-type zoomable realtime map - which shows the location of objectives, enemies and yourself.



As you progress, the missions will involve even more thinking. Various objectives include cutting fuel tanks, turning on power generators, hacking computers, opening locked gates, infiltrating and stealing objects and more. These are not always typically sneak-around-and-snipe type missions. You are not required to play this way. If you are spotted, you will either be fired upon, an enemy will sound an alarm, and/or enemies will hunt you. In some missions, being spotted or letting the alarm sound means game over, and you will have to restart that mission. Most missions, however are not this strict and you usually have a huge environment to hide about in. There are also destroyable cameras, and non-destroyable cameras. If they spot you for a certain number of seconds, an alarm will sound. Some cameras can be turned off either momentarily or permanently via computer. Shooting a camera to explode will often alert enemies.

Because "I.G.I. 2" uses Innerloop's "Joint Strike Fighter" fighter jet simulation engine, amazingly wide and mountainous environments are possible. You are not limited to interiors in this game. When you do encounter interiors, they really aren't that detailed but they do alright for their purpose. A big plus in this game is that, the missions do not have linear paths. You can usually complete Objective 4 before Objective 2 if you think it's safer, or what-have-you. There is often more than 1 or 2 ways into an objective area, giving the game a good replayability factor, aside from it's easy, normal and hard difficulty settings. Playing "I.G.I. 2" on Easy, I completed the game, 19 missions - in 2 weeks, playing everyday. The game's saving system is limited to I believe 4 saves per mission when playing "Easy" or "Normal". I am not particularily opposed to this system, as it makes playing a bit more challenging. You need to think economically and play efficiently. Another important thing to note - if you find you needed that sniper rifle in say, mission 6 - make sure you had it in your hands in mission 5, and it will be carried over - unless it is a particular mission that assigns you entirely different weapons. There are some missions where you find yourself without weapons and recon gear, save for your combat knife! I am so glad this was not a 2 or 3 night blowover. There are no training missions in "I.G.I 2", but those could've been kinda fun.

Enemy AI is alright here, but nothing impressive. Depending upon if you are in their line of sight, they may spot you if you are running or standing. If you crouch or crawl prone, your chances of being spotted are much less. Sound is a factor here as well, and there is an appropriate sound meter in the game's minimal but effective interface. You can often sneak up on guards and slice them with your knife, or even break their neck. When spotted, some enemies may run to sound the alarm, or attack you while other enemies come in to aid. Sometimes alerting them or the alarm will trigger a helicopter to come and unload even more enemies. Sniping is really fun for me, and in many cases when sniping someone, nearby enemies will be looking all around for you, but it may take awhile for them to spot you. Some enemy snipers will spot you immediately, and it's best to find cover - because they can be deadly shots. You can take cover behind trucks, crates and other objects. You can even crawl beneath trucks and hide there for a moment or awhile. Getting around in "I.G.I. 2" you have a few options besides walking, crawling or running. Sometimes there are "zip lines" - typically a power cable that you can grasp with both hands and slide down or ladders. In the first mission, for instance - you can reverse a conveyor belt in order to get inside a factory. One very memorable mission has you playing gunner in a flying helicopter. Here you can really see the game's graphics engine at work and it's very 3D terrain.

Character detail is good, but hands seem to be bigger than normal. Cutscene characters feature more face closeups, which were done alright. You won't find photorealistic character textures here though. Weapon detail is good, with various movable parts, reloading animations, zoom in/out views, etc. Other nice details you'll come across are a rocket launch site, complete with gantry arms accessable via stairs and elevator, a big guarded Chinese temple, outdoor remote locations such as a snowy Russian environment, sandy Middle Eastern town and more.

The game's 19 missions are just enough, but even though I'm satisfied with the mission count, I could always use more. I am just happy the developer's didn't dissapoint us with say, just a handful of missions like other tactical/action shooters have. "I.G.I 2" also features Multiplayer via the internet, or LAN. It is more akin to Counterstrike - with teams and their goals, and buying weapons, earning cash. I have not yet played Multiplayer, so I can't comment on it. I imagine it would be fun though. I've seen this game get bad to OK reviews and was rather unsure of buying it, but when I tried the demo I was convinced. And after completing the game, if this genre is your type of fun - you can't pass this game up. The developer also offers a free map editor, but I've read it is Multiplayer only, which is kind of a letdown. I have not seen any mods for the game either. I am definitely keeping this game though.

Great blend of tactical and action shooting!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Pros: Immense terrain environments, varied weapon selection, good amount of challenging and fun missions.
Cons: Interior environments arent too detailed, AI could be better.