When I saw the cover of Winback, I got interested and brought it home to play. Somewhere in my brain, I got a feeling that it wouldn't be a good game since I have never heard anything about it. Boy, was I wrong.
GAMEPLAY
A terrorist group, called Crying Eagle, took over a base called Fort Windham along with a US satellite weapon which is capable of destroying anything on Earth with pin-point accuracy. With it, they destroyed the Center for Space Research to prove that they mean bussiness. What the Crying Eagle group wants is an apology from the US for the invasion of their country, a withdrawal of US troops from their country, and an agreement to never interfere with them again. In response, the US deploys the S.C.A.T team to take out the terrorists and regain control of the satellite. Unfortunately while going there via helicopter, they were shot down and the team was seperated. You control one of the S.C.A.T members, Jean-Luc, and your job is to find the rest of the team and complete your mission.
Through out most of the game, you'll hid behind boxes, walls, corners, or anything that might be used for cover to take out the "baddies". Jean-Luc can use a (infinite ammo) pistol, hand to hand combat, a combat shotgun, a M16, C4 explosives, a silencer, and a rocket launcher to complete his mission. Not only do you kill an army of terrorists, but you also have to solve some puzzles mostly involving lethal lasers that block your way. After completing a couple of stages, you'll have to go against crazy bosses that will take all of your military skills to defeat!
That's just story mode. In Winback, you could also go against 1 or 3 other player. You can choose a character from the S.C.A.T team or other characters (Bosses) that must be unlocked first in story mode. This mode was very, very, very fun!
After you beat the game, you can access the Trial mode. Here, you can try to beat each stage at the fastest time. This mode reminds me of Time Crisis.
There're only two minor problems that I had about the gameplay. First of all, is that Winback is very hard. Two or three shots from a shotgun, from behind, or in the head can kill you fast. This game is not for the people that would get frustrated after getting killed and redoing a stage multiple times. Second of all, the later stages in Winback are so repetitive. You'll find yourself going to the places you have already been to except that they have been changed slightly.
GRAPHICS
Winback's graphics are...OK. The characters are well drawn (you could see the details of their faces), but the environment looks very simplistic. Koei should have done better. Also, there's some frame skips, but not as much to annoy you.
SOUND/MUSIC
The sound is pretty good in Winback. The gun shots, explosions, the voices of the enemies, and other sound effects sounds realistic enough. You know, though, when there's a cinema going on, it would have been better if the characters were to actually speak instead of saying stuff in text. The music is OK also from time to time except in some certain situations. It is like the music playing doesn't "fit in". Although, I like the tension music when your life is low.
CONTROL
Winback's control is excellent! You can master all of Jean-Luc's moves such as hiding behind walls, crouching, targeting, or shooting in about two to five minutes. The control in also very responsive. My favorite move of Luc's would be his "hid and shoot" move. To do this move, you first press A next to a wall, crate, or anything that you could put your back to. Then, press the down C button to lock on to an enemy in view. When you want to shoot, hold R button and press A. If you want to hid back again, release the R button. Cool, huh? Winback's controls is so far among the best and the most innovative of N64's games.
CONCLUSION
Winback is probably the closest Metal Gear type game N64 owner's would ever get their hand on. This game is a must buy for people who have the money. You could rent it, but why not keep it?
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Screen shots are from
www.koeigames.com
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"Hide and shoot" move.
(controls)
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Background music doesn't
sound right at times.
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"Surprise! BANG, BANG,
BANG! Hehehe."
-RJ2
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