Started the game in Marksman difficulty mode, completed the first chapter in about 16 minutes or so and paused it. Most shots fired were headshots barring a few close range shots with the Thompson and the silenced Welrod pistol. The Thompson reminded me of the good ol' RTCW days. The slow-mo kill-cam feels so good and refreshing. More so when it switches to the X-ray mode and shows the internals of the enemy AI before the bullet takes the hit. Piercing through the cranium, the brain and comes out from the other side! That makes me wonder why Infinity Ward or Treyarch cannot implement this feature in their long running franchise for a change. In that process, I ended up blowing a lot of craniums, jaws and a few testicles from long range. The frequency of kill-cam sequences may be adjusted from the in-game options. Bullet ballistics goes real-time with bullet drop due to gravity, wind-drift and the movement of the rifle due to the breathing etc. influencing the trajectory of the fired bullet from the rifle. The game gives you adequate training to ensure that you do it right the first time. A tiny red rhombic crosshair above the regular one appears when the breath control mode is activated giving the player a few seconds to employ your l33t marksmanship skillz, line up and fire that perfect shot.
The gameplay is largely linear and you have to tread along a predefined path with checkpoints for most parts of the game with limited freedom to wander around and explore for ammo. The game features a regenerative health system that ideally wouldn't last too long; and a cover system similar to the Gears of War series. Ammo, land mines and other equipment may be salvaged from dead Nazi soldiers. And before you've realised you have blown up the cover, the Nazis will hunt you down with the previous stances of the player highlighted in short intervals.
A better part of the first level was spent crouch-walking setting up mines, booby-traps (I loved this one in particular!) and laying low above a pile of rubble - tends to be a bit slow but at the same time being cautious and wary of the nearby surroundings. Play the game like you would play Call of Duty or BF3 and get your arse handed over in no time! Then again, this isn't like Metal Gear Solid either but at the same time feels a lot realistic and playing yourself the Vassili Zaitsev in Enemy at the Gates! The visuals look very good and it ran smoothly without any hiccups with all the settings maxed out at Dx11 (system specs on the signature just in case!) and the v-sync ON.
Will continue the rest tonight.
