Project IGI was release around two years ago and was one of the most different and engaging games of that year. If offered a different type of game play than so many other first person shooters and although it didn’t stand above the crowd it did give the first person gamer something different. The original was developed by Innerloop and Eidos and suffered from a whole host of game play and graphical issues, not to mention the very poor AI. This time around Codemasters attempt to put these problems right and tap into the unique and challenging game play of the original.

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Game Play

Project IGI 2 plays much as the original did. You play David Jones an IGI agent who undertakes a number of missions to infiltrate enemy bases and to retrieve information or to steel items of national security, for example you have to recover EMP technology in the very first mission. The main objective of each level is not to be spotted, and to infiltrate the bases covertly. Cameras are usually scattered around the bases which have to be avoided. Early missions have cameras that can be taken out with a silenced pistol, but unfortunately later missions have cameras that can’t be destroyed. It makes sense to get into the swing of the game by acting as covertly as possible in the early missions even when it isn’t necessary, just to give you practice for the later harder missions.

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In each mission you start with default mission weapons. You can only carry four weapons, a knife, grenades, a pistol, and a rifle. Weapons can be picked up from dead soldiers but will replace the ones you already carry. The majority of the time you have to use either your knife or silenced pistol otherwise you will alert all the soldiers near by, who will probably also sound the alarm. Usually this will mean game over. IGI 2 tries to be as realisitic as possible, boasting real weapons, and there effects. The heavier the weapons you carry the slower you run and walk. Also it can be difficult to recover once you have a few soldiers firing at you. You can hardly move while being shot by multiple guards.

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Unlike the original Project IGI, you can now save the game. You have a limited number of saves which is determined by the difficulty level. The level design is ok, but not great. Levels can seem highly detailed at first, but buildings are often copied many times, making an enemy base seem bigger. However once you venture into the buildings you often find the furniture and rooms are quite similar. Several of the levels are set in wide open spaces where you have to use you map just to see which direction to go. If you reach the edge of the map the game automatically ends stating you are out of the mission area.

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The sneaking around aspect can be a little hit and miss. Sometimes you can run out into an open area, be only a short distance from some guards and they don’t see you. Other times you can be quite happily sneaking around making no noise what so ever and a guard will come running to see what you’re up to. The AI has been improved upon slightly from the original. Soldiers jump out of the way when being shot at and seem to be more agile than before.

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Project IGI 2 is extremely hard and does require quite a lot of patience and reloading of saved games. It doesn’t really offer any real story line and the levels can feels like they are just bolted together for no apparent reason and in no particular order. I think the idea of making a game less story orientated can make sense in a fun non serious FPS, but in a serious seeking around type of FPS you would expect a small amount of story. Also as one last bad point, you still have to ‘use’ a ladder and drop out of first person and into third person. Bloody annoying!

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IGI 2 while being a sneaking FPS does offer a multiplayer aspect. This is usually missed out in covert sneaking games because the online element can usually turn the game into an arcade shooter, as it does in this case. Playing IGI 2 against people online is good fun none the less, and while not being ground breaking, it does offer some good online fun.

Graphics

The graphics although looking pretty good, seem very dated. So many people seem to feel the lighting effects are good. OK so the level of detail is good, bases do feel like proper military bases, but somehow the graphics style reminds me of half life. The weapons are authentically modelled from real weapons and apparently the developers also recreated the way gun looks when firing as well. The characters look far superior to the original. The AI improvements mean that soldiers will jump out of your way when being shot at, and have a variety of different ways of falling to their death. Scenery can be breathtaking in some of the out door areas.

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Sound

The sound effects are of the same high quality that you come to expect from a Codemasters game. The sound effects of the weapons are authentically recreated. Soldiers seem to run around shooting in foreign languages when you have been spotted too. The levels while looking pretty good, do suffer from a lack of atmosphere. The ambient background noise of a military base seems to have been missed out, or overlooked.

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Overall

While Project IGI 2 is more realisitc than the original it suffers from the same problems. IGI 2 feels like it is a game of sneaking around and being covert. However the poor level design often means you can bumb into a group of soldiers thus turing the game into a normal first person shooter. The game is very challenging, perhaps too challenging at times. The graghics and sound are very good, if lacking in atmosphere. If you liked the original, and are a fan of sneaking around rather than all out blast then this will be the game for you.