WinBack: Covert Operations
Reviewed by Logan
A group of terrorists has infiltrated the Westham facility deep in
the Westham Mountain range. Soon after they secure the base, they
unleash it's secret weapon, a satellite in orbit with tremendous
firepower, on the U.S. space center. This was the only other facility
with a connection to this weapon. With their link to the satellite
secure, and only a few hours until it's charged and ready to fire again,
they make one demand, the independence of their homeland. Their will
be no negotiations. Under the circumstances, the government has deployed
S.C.A.T (your group). Their mission: enter the facility and regain control
of the Westham facility and the satellite. If they cannot, they must
make sure the satellite can never be fired again by destroying the base.
Graphics: 87 out of 100
The graphics aren't something to get excited over. Most rooms are one
color walls with little or no background scenery and nothing much in
terms of being visually stunning. Nothing looks wrong though, just not the best.
Game Play-Fun: 95 out of 100
It sure took long enough for this title to come out. Like most N64 titles,
it's release date was delayed and delayed until we were sure it wasn't
coming out at all. But I guess it was worth the wait. This is a challenging
game. For the week and a half I had it rented I kept it on easy and still
found it a good challenge. There will be be enough to keep your palms
sweaty: snipers, crack shot terrorists with shotguns and semi-autos,
anti-air turrets, exploding barrels, sensor alarms, laser beam traps
that kill with one touch, oh and the occasional boss here and there.
And the AI isn't stupid with just a simple "CHARGE" mode. Most of
them will duck behind crates and barrels waiting for you to pop back out.
Replayability: 70 out of 100
Once you beat it, the story mode is way too boring and the multi player
feels like it was thrown in at the last moment so it has nothing going
for the game.
Features: 79 out of 100
They're aren't many weapons in the game for you to use, I got far in to
the game (level 27 with about 20 of them being large) and the most
weapons I got to use was 5. Ammo is also pretty scarce so you'll find
yourself using the standard pistol which has unlimited ammo. Oh and if
you're wondering the 5 weapons were: a standard pistol, a pistol with a
scliencer, a machine gun, a shotgun and a rocket launcher. The controls
are awkward at first, but you learn them pretty quickly. There's a tutorial
that will show you what you need to know. I did get a good try of the
multi player, but if you want real action, stick with the Goldeneye
multi player. WinBack's multi has an even bigger problem when it comes
to the camera system.
Other stuff
WinBack feels a lot like a Metal-Gear Solid for the N64. A similar story,
lots of going from room to room, the main characters even look the same.
But however much it looks like MGS, the more it's different. The first thing
I have to complain about is the camera system. It's not 1st person like
Goldeneye and it doesn't move smoothly like in Zelda. The camera always
has that feeling of not being where you want it. Instead of having one
button to automatically shift it behind you, you have to pan it yourself.
This was just a little to slow for me. There is an option to have it pan
on it's own behind you when you're walking, but if you make a quick 180
in the other direction, it takes too long for it to recover and this could
lead to an early death. There is one camera feature I do find interesting
though, the "capture camera" feature. This locks the camera on one particular
baddie to make sure your gun stays pointing at him. Very useful!
Overall: 83 out of 100
I'd say that if you're interested in WinBack, rent it.