User Reviews (1 - 11 of 14)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Awesome! But some flaws...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I saw this game at a local store for $20 and after looking at the box I had to buy this game.

When I installed this game I was blown away. The graphics are still beautiful despite the age of the game, it is fully 3d, there are destructible environments, tons of weapons, and an rpg element (your characters gain levels and you can choose some skills).

This is a turn based strategy game with some real time parts (when no enemies see you or are near you can walk around freely so that the things move along quickly).

There are a lot of missions which, sadly can be incredibly frustrating at times. There are even random encounters, which are pretty exciting at first. Unfortunately the main missions and the random encounters lose their appeal after a short while.

There is hardly any replay value for this game--even playing as the axis instead of the allies gets boring quickly as some of the levels turn out to be the same--except you are attacking a base instead of defending.

Combat can be pretty fun, although most of the times it seems a little lame (after the initial fun wears off). Why? Usually combat means standing as far away as possible and firing my rifles at enemies who are firing their rifles at me. (I give each of my characters a rifle and a machine gun and grenades of course, which essentially makes them ready for every situation).

I'll admit that being able to destroy everything in this game is fun, but at times it just gets annoying. In some levels there are explosive barrels lying around everywhere and if you hit them or if your character throws a grenade in the wrong place it can seriously screw you over. I'm not talking about dying but finding out after 20+ minutes of playing that the area you need to go to is now inaccessible because of the explosive barrels or grenade blew up the path. This has happened frequently. In one case I had to pick up some scienties lying around somewhere but the grenades had blown up so much of the building I couldn't even reach him. This was after 30 minutes of fighting and sweating. Obviously it isn't fun to restart.

Looting is probably one of the most exciting parts of the game. Picking up new useful weapons from your foes is just as fun as playing an rpg and digging through treasure chests.

One problem involving the loot though, is that when you kill someone and the items fall, it can sometimes take minutes for the items to fall on the ground properly. What I mean is that the item has to travel from the character to the ground. Sometimes this doesn't happen properly. I've seen rifles spinning around on the ground for several minutes (and you have to wait while this happens). I've also seen items fall through the ground and disappear. Strange.

If this game were multiplayer it would probably be the most played game in the world. Sadly it doesn't look like there will ever be a multiplayer version of this game. I would love to play against people online.

One last note: if you are expecting only to use authentic weapons, then you will be disappointed. There are some "experimental" weapons included in this game, such as lazers and battle armor. I think they are intereting weapons and they are fun to use, but wish they hadn't been included.

Overall, this is a great game and you should try it out.

dont buy this game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 32
Date: March 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I tossed this game in the trash can...very boring...silly may be a better word.

Not my favorite

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 20
Date: February 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Silent Storm is a fairly good game but as others have said there's quite a few bugs. I put up with the bugs in Sacred because I loved the game but this Encore game is not my favorite.

Best new turn-based tactical game out there

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Silent Storm is not an innovative game. It borrows all its elements from its predecessors - X-Com, Fall-Out BOS and the late UFO. What makes S2 such a great game is its level of execution. Putting it simply - it's very well done. It is very easy to learn but still has nice depth of play. The AI is nice if not very creative. The verity of environments and equipment is good. But most important, the graphics and sound are superb. This game offers loads of fun to all you frustrated turn-based fans (I know you're out there) and gives new hope to this flickering genre.
You can choose to play either the allies campaign or the axis campaign. The story line is okay but doesn't really matter. This game is about squad based tactics. So if you loved BOS, this game is definitely for you. You manage a squad of up to 6 soldiers with some level of specialization. The game starts real-time and moves to turn based once combat is initiated. Except for your hero, the rest of the squad is replaceable, although this is somewhat problematic as the pool of recruits does not grow (or improve) as you gain experience.
The environment is beautifully detailed and completely destructible (yeah baby!). This feature alone opens a whole new set of possible tactical solutions to some otherwise tight spots. The excellent sound also helps understand what's going on and anticipate enemy activity. These add up to an extremely immersive gaming experience.
The two elements missing from this game are the economic factor (you get all your equipment for free on top of being able to loot the levels) and base building (notice I'm actually wishing for a WWII style x-com...). Nevertheless, this is still a great game and I can't wait for the release of the sequel - Silent Storm Sentinels (S3)

this game has the works

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: July 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

i thought silant storm was a great game, not only were the graphics amazing but the way it is played is great as well.
You can destroy anything i mean anything if a doors locked shoot it if somethings in you'r way shoot it.

you can also make you'r own characters... their faces,voice,body all and all i gave this game a five out of five for great everything.

I wanted to like this game, but...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: July 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I didn't as much as I wanted.

Let me start out by saying that I loved XCOM I and III and Jagged Alliance I and II. Initial impressions of Silent Storm were very similar and there were so many things to like. It ran smoothly, the commands were intuitive, the graphics were great, the game engine was great, each squad member had a personality.

I won't repeat all the good things about the game, because you can read those in the other reviews. However I started to notice AI behavior for certain (not all) enemy troops. They would find a hiding place and wait. You could sit for hours and they would not move.

If you knew where they were, you could toss in a grenade, but often they were on the map and you didn't know where. I would send my best scout crawling through the underbrush ahead of my units. The problem was that they were so well hidden, that he could not see them. He only be a few yards away when they spotted him and opened up - instant dead scout.

It is very much the same as those ships in XCom II where the aliens would wait around a corner and you knew that first man to step around it would die. As near as I can tell - there is nothing you can do about it. I don't mind losing men to bad luck or mistakes, but I hate where a game design "forces" you to lose a man to proceed.

Still a good game - just not "great."

Excellent gaming

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Remember the days when Turn-Based gaming dominated the scene? Civilization, X-COM, etc. Such great games. Soon, though, Warcraft 2 and Command & Conquer came, displacing turn-based strategy and ushering an era of twitch strategy, gaming that rewarded high-paced multitasking instead of deep thought.

Silent Storm is a throwback to the Turn-Based days, and a very welcome one. Many developers came close to returning, but bowed to the market and instead released unsatisfying games that had "real time with pausing." That's no way to release a squad tactics game.

The first thing you notice about S2 is the engine. It's a beautiful engine, though it requires a bit of horsepower. Rag-doll physics are in full effect, and highlighted as the fatal shots are often zoomed in upon.

The gameplay itself is perfect until the balance is ruined near the end, but you'll have had so much fun getting there that it won't bother you too much. There's also a great deal of time to invest in this game, and a great deal of personality to shine within it.

Not that it's all perfect aside from the ending. The 3D camera can be a problem at times as manipulating it becomes a task. Also, the ground is no longer tile based as the case in Jagged Alliance 2 and X-COM, so taking baby steps can sometimes be a hassle. You'll see perfect cover a short ways away but be unable to position yourself behind it.

If you want a chess-like duel of squads, though, this is the only satisfying fix still on the market, and it's highly recommended. This game will use your brain and your cunning, which is an excellent compliment.

Purchase this game.

Couple bugs stop this from being a masterpiece

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 27 / 27
Date: March 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First and foremost...wow! Rag-doll effects and skeletal animation in a TBS? Get outta here! And when the adverts say you can destroy anything, they ain't kidding. Each surface and material in this game has their individual penetration probability and structural points. Damage a brick wall with enough machine gun fire, you create a hole you can see through. Your teammate on the other side of wall spotted an enemy but ran out of Action Points? Your teammates can shoot thru the wall and nail him! Sniper atop a wooden lookout posts? Destroy the wooden lookout post, and down he comes! Locked door? Shoot it open!

There's so many different way you can accomplish your mission due to this outrageously destructable enviroment. Once you calm down somewhat from the glee of having total destructive power, you also see the developers didn't gimp out on the actual game either. Underneath all the glitz and glamour of the graphical engine lies a very solid TBS game.

There are literally hundreds of weapons you can lay your hands on, from 6 shooters, to the tommy gun, even having advanced futuristic plasma weapon at the second half of the game.

Now that you all are shocked, and some totally outraged by the inclusion of laser weapon, let me post the negatives as I see them.

1) I bought the game thinking this was going to be historically accurate (to a point) game, with weapons, enemies, allies, and situation grounded in World War II era. What I got was laser weapons and mechanized suit of armor in the game. I must say, though, the inclusion of such didn't ruin the game as I have feared wnen I heard of them online.

2) unit skill bugs - this is a game killer for many people, and it's only fair you know it before you purchase it. The game has skills that increase after every use, and also has units (you can have upto 5 hirable units in your squad from 16 available to choose at HQ) you can hire. So you choose your 5, go out on couple mission, increase in skill and level. But the units you didn't hire...their skills are MUCH better then the ones you did. Until about level 6 or so, you won't notice much. But when you come back with your level 10 squad, you'll see that the level 6 (unhirable gain level depending on how far you have gone in the game) units you didn't hire has MUCH, MUCH higher skills then your own. Heck, an unhired sniper had better medical and engineering skill then my medic and engineer! And the gap only widens as the game progresses. Worst of all, since engineering and medical skill is used only rarely, they will NEVER increase to a point of usability. My level 12 medic STILL can't use a damn morphine injection kit (not exact name or description)! And my engineer? Hell, he doesn't even know how to use a wire cutter! And never once did I sucessfully unlock anything with his picklocking.

That bug puts a damper on the game, and you are forced either to ignore the super units at HQ or train (tho you can't really train medical and engineering skill due to limited supply of their items) them to usefulness. I chose the latter as I had a bit more free time then your average person.

There are other minor bugs (as with any other PC game), but if you can somehow get over that skill bug, what you have is the best TBS game out for a long time.

Best TBS Game in Years

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: January 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Any self-respecting fan of X-COM or Jagged Alliance should stop reading reviews on the web right now and just go ahead and buy the game. Trust me, if you like this sort of game, you will love this game in particular.

Why?

Well, the engine, of course. It's fully 3D, with gorgeous amazing multi-level detail. Pretty much everything is destructible.

As I play this game, I am continually impressed by the detail in the environments, and their lack of repetition. Sleepy British villages feel differently than Soviet Weapons Factories or random encounters in the rainy countryside.

There are an overwhelming number of weapons to choose from, with distinguishable sound and shooting characteristics.

The game isn't perfect. The plot is a bit contrived, and there's a sci-fi twist to things. Voice acting is okay, but gets a little old. But none of these distract from the three core elements of this sort of game, however, and those are Gameplay, Gameplay and Gameplay; and Silent Storm has Gameplay to spare.

It's a no-brainer for TBS fans. Still sitting on the fence? Try the demo!

Best strategy game since Jagged Alliance 2 , hands down...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 8
Date: January 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is without a doubt the best tactical strategy/RPG game Ive played since Jagged Alliance 2. You simply owe it to yourself to buy this game, it brings hours of amazing joy...

Review Page: 1 2 Next 

Actions