Disparity Of War

WW2 Blood And Sand is a game created by fazzar

WW2 Blood and Sand created by: Fazzar

Mortars and bullets shatter through out the battlefield and with your hands wrapped tightly around the trigger; you begin to blast the enemies apart, ripping them down onto their knees. World War 2 was no joke and in this action packed game, Fazzar guides you through the terror and agony of the brutal war, allowing you to experience the lost and pain as well as some adrenaline, so get pumped as you hop on board.

Within the first couple strides, you are instantaneously nearly torn apart by flying mortars which dramatically obliterate the landscape. Enemy fire is frequent during the entire game along with the numerous bunkers hidden underground, all free and optional to explore. To add, adversaries constantly infest the bunkers, usually turning them into literal death traps to step into. During the majority of the game, you will be sprinting in a linear path, receiving numerous power-ups and encountering a boatload of enemies along the way, many in which you can simply skip just by avoiding the many bunkers laid out across the field. From the bushes to the grave, you will be ambushed countless times, fighting back in order to defend your own life.

Guns and foes are littered all over the landscape; what could one ask for more from a war game? The truth said, despite all of the thrills and feats this game accomplishes, it is just downright linear to the core. In fact, you could skip nearly the entirety of the game just by leaping over enemies and traps, akin to a brainless quest without many ploys other than assassins hiding patiently in bunkers waiting to assassinate you. To counter the straightforwardness, there’s an extremely lengthy tunnel which you will stumble forth as you advance into the game. The tunnel was a nice touch, offering the player numerous passages and was completely free to explore. In the end however, I was left unsatisfied with the game as a whole, most likely due to the long and wearisome levels which I strolled through for the majority of the game.

Puzzles are essentially the meat of every game and in that sense, WW2 Blood and Sand doesn’t contain any meat save for an ant sized bite. The most complex of puzzles that you will encounter is retrieving a key to unlock a door. Unfortunately the key is plainly swinging across your face, making an otherwise mediocre puzzle into a tedious act of easily retrieving the key, one which seemed completely unnecessary.

A fire in a ditch is the most typical of traps in several games. In WW2, the most typical of traps are bunkers. As stated before, the bunkers can very well be explored but the majority will yield no reward save for being hacked down by foes. This makes an expedition into every bunker pointless; why even go inside if it’s devoid of anything that will aid you in your quest? Other than testing some weapons in your arsenal, it’s completely pointless. It was a relief when distinct traps were introduced later during the final levels, namely lava pits, but at that point the game was already winding down to a halt.

Items are similar to candy. You pick them up and they satisfy you. Health packs are essential if your game is packed with foes, same with checkpoints and high-powered guns to ease your quest. WW2 however throws away items like there’s no tomorrow. Lives, health, you name it lurks around every corner which throws away the point of dying or potentially losing the game. As long as you don’t waste time battling the foes, there’s little chance that with your nearly invincible armor that you will fall prey to your adversaries. Even then, with all of your weapons and such, the foes all the sudden become comparable to going to target practice.

There are certain types of enemies that just don’t belong in large numbers. Minions and mercenaries are such due to the large knockback which they inflict when their shots come into contact with you, making them highly aggravating to fight. WW2 has a handful of minions and mercenaries firing at you from all directions. Due to the over proportional amounts of foes in the game, there are bound to be at least some which are positioned at perfect angles but alas, much of them are sealed away under bunkers, many of which you will never meet in the first place.

The design of WW2 is reasonably straight forward. Despite all the linearity, I will have to praise the architectural designs which were put into place. Some of the buildings were just a spectacle to see, allowing you to wonder about the time and sheer effort placed into them. The landscape is also beautifully covered with pleasantly designed trees and statues. Grass effectively covers the sparseness of the game and overall it is nearly inevitable that the player will at least pause and appreciate the amount of work placed in the game.

WW2 is quite a remarkable gem itself. One could very well stare deep into the vast ocean of games and never once catch a glimpse of such a well executed war simulator. In spite of the many flaws that plague this game, WW2 was able to engage and drag the player in with short bursts of excitement and energizing combat. One will simply never forget making a mad dash as mortars threaten to shatter you into piles of rubble. It’s the uniqueness of WW2 that allows the game to be a gem in the lost sea.

I take the time to grasp the loveliness of WW2, from its wild landscape and thrilling action to the massively splendorous design of its architecture. However, due to the massive amounts of enemies and the lack of both puzzles and ingenious traps, this game is not feature worthy. Nevertheless, I shall commend Fazzar for this game which instinctively brings about the terror and loss during World War 2.

Game-play: 2/5

Enemy Choice and Placement: 2/5

Puzzles/Traps: 2/5

Design and Architecture: 5/5

Ingenuity: 5/5

Final Score: 16/25

Written by: Rocketeer