Well, here it is. The mod you've all been waiting for so long. Well, actually, the review you've all been waiting for, since the mod came out about a month ago, and I've only just got off my lazy arse to write this review. However, I assure you it's well worth the wait (the mod, at least, and I hope this review, too!)
Anyways, what is The Third Reich? And why has it been so long in coming? The Third Reich is a World War II total conversion for Unreal Tournament. Development started over a year ago, as far as I can remember, and only now has the first public release been, well, made public!
Well, at first I was skeptical. I mean, how many failed mods have you seen that claimed they were going to be big? Maybe Frontline Assault could have made it if they'd had a good enough PR man, and got some more team members. Oh well.
So, I took the oppertunity to browse around the Third Reich site. And I was astounded by what I saw. Unlike most developing mods, which have at best few measley screenshots to show thier fans, the Third Reich site had a huge screenshot archive, massive forums and a video or two! They also had a few pages with a complete history to the weapons to be used in the mod. They certainly had done their homework! From then on, I realised that they really did mean buisiness.
Speaking of Frontline Assault, I must say that it had potential, and I enjoyed playing it. However, I have heard quite a bit about the early 'relations' between the Frontline Assault team and The Third Reich team, and whilst I am taking no sides, what I have heard does not portray The Third Reich in a very good light. But I'm not being paid (well, put up with) for moaning over who stole what- I'm here to review the finished product. So without futher ado...
The Third Reich is literally astounding. In terms of graphics, the standard is as high as Medal of Honour. In terms of gameplay, it is off the scale. As annoying as it was, being bombarded with screenshots and teasers from the Third Reich Team, whilst you couldn't actually get your grubby mitts on the mod, it sure is worth the wait. Instead of releasing a weak beta, and then patching it up to standard, the Third Reich have keept their releases internal until they really made it into something quality. By definition, this is a beta, though it's certainly not like what you think of as a beta. It's more like something that comes out of a box.
There's no way I can run through all the features- the Third Reich team do a far better job of that than I could in a million years in their online manual. However, here are the basics:
When you start a game, you choose what side you want to play as- Allies or Axis. Then, having chosen your team, you choose what role you want to play in your team. The main difference in roles is the weapons you carry. Every role carries a main weapon, apart from the officer, who simply carries a pistol. He also gets binoculars, though. Most classes also carry grenades. To preserve realism, the most you can carry is a main weapon, a pistol and some grenades. Killed players drop their weapons, and so you can scrounge from them. One gripe I have here is that, unless you were actually holding a grenade when you were killed, you don't drop your grenade.
Your weapon comes with a certain number of magazines, which are also dropped at death. You can't 'top up' these magazines, and there's no way of telling how much ammo you have left in your current clip except by attempting to count. This is all in the interests of realism, and it works quite well. Some weapons have selectable fire modes, and all have aim modes.
The maps are assualt-based- the Allies attack whilst the Axis defend. At present, there are only six maps, but more are planned for future releases. And when you see them, you will have to agree that the quality of them makes up for the quantity. When you play The Longest Day, the beach landing level, you will wonder how DM-Overlord was ever shipped!
There's too many features for me to go on about! Last time I checked, the Third Reich forums were awash with discussions over certain features included in The Third Reich. For instance, many people don't like the way that when you fire your weapon when jogging (crawling on your stomach, crawling, walking, jogging and running are all supported), all your shots go straight to the middle of the screen. Even though there's no crosshair, this is cheating to them. I personally feel that it would be better if you could aim a bit whilst jogging or running. I shoot in real life- I'm a hunter- and I know for a fact that you can obtain some degree of aim whilst running simply by raising your rifle and looking down the barrel. Your view is jogged about a lot, but I can still hit a rabbit when I'm running. However, in the end it's up to the Third Reich team to decide.
As good as it is, The Third Reich is not perfect. But then, nothing can be perfect. There's a few minor bugs to be worked out. Bot support also needs improving. Although the Third Reich claim thier first priority is multiplayer support, they shouldn't forget us with ****ty connections. I did play with some mates on LAN, and we all agreed that it was the most fun we'd ever had. But the bots are pretty retarded. The maps could do with a bit more both paths, and the bot's also need to improve their accuracy. Actually their accuracy is OK. They always seem able to hit you. And that's your own side, too. There is nothing more frustrating than being mown down by your own bot after he saw an enemy 300 yards off, but couldn't aim straight, then having to wait 10 seconds to respawn. I usually find that a well-placed grenade relieves this type of stress, particularly if you can watch your hapless 'comrade' being turned into paste from a safe vantage point.
In short (shouldn't I have said this to begin with, instead of waffling on for pages?), the Third Reich is nothing short of amazing. Everything about it oozes quality, and it's been well worth the wait. Get it now (you'll need to go the the Third Reich site- there's several versions for different OSs), and whilst you're downloading, have a look over their manual. The screenshots on this page should do quite a bit of explaining, too. Sorry this reviews been so messy- it's difficult to pick up on points without explaining about them first. Good job they wrote a manual, then...
Awesome.
-Doobin
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