From the Archives, Again: Winback: Covert Operations (2001)

And here I thought The Medallion was the end of these things; looks like I forgot to post our old Winback review when we ran this series as part of the summer/fall revival of Code Redd Net. Not much to add, really, except that I completely agree with my original assertions. Sure, the style is a touch annoying, but I'm glad both Chicken Man and myself mentioned the excellent BOT Mode. That was fantastic way to add replay value to an offline multiplayer game, unlike most modern shooters that focus solely on the online multiplayer crowd.

First up, Chicken Man's thoughts:

"This stuff is some pretty tuff crap! It also hasn't much to do with being covert either. The story sucks, the gameplay's fun. It has a huge variety of weapons: .45 ACP Pistol, Silenced Pistol, 12 gauge, SubMachine Gun, and Rocket Launcher. Each conveniently coming with laser sight. Weapon Total: 5. Mostly what the gameplay is is ducking, rolling, putting your back to the wall, and not getting shot. Exclusive to the Playstation 2 version is Bot Mode, which is pretty fun if you gotta buddy. If you first play the game and unlock some characters for Bot Mode: cool. But the bosses in Bot Mode aren't. They're slow and can't take cover, but they at least they have unlimited ammo of their specialty weapon. What's very unique about this game is the ending variations in Story Mode, depending on the time it took you to beat it. At some points the game gets a little frustrating, a little weird, a little stupid. But that's to be expected right? A little strategy: the terrorists are freakin' good shots so take some cover. At the start of the game your squads misplaced because the chopper crashes and your alone. Instead of calling for backup you're going to infiltrate a complex with 4,000 terrorists guarding it. Good luck."

Now for my cogent analysis:

"Jeez Jean-Luc, you scared the hell outta me." One of the many laughable bits of dialogue. Jean-Luc, main character, even tries to lighten the mood with some comic relief: "I thought this was some new kind of group therapy." These script samples are part of Winback's distinguishing trademarks. As you may have guessed, the "dialogue" is laughable, at best. Normally, I would penalize a game for that, but in Winback's case, it's part of the fun. The cast of characters is cliche, with the high strung, sarcastic Jake, ranging to the computer literate Tom. Winback's terrorist villains (known as the "Crying Lions") happen to be cliche as well. Kenneth Coleman (Known to Code Redd Net staff as a twister-loving ladies man, when he's not trying hostile takeover of world politics.), and Cecile, (his right hand man) run the "Crying Lions," avenging a mysterious place known only as "Zarcozia." Gameplay, on the other hand, is incredibly tight. It's duck, jump out, shoot, back to ducking main play mechanic may sound repetitive on paper, but quite the contrary; it never gets old. What does, however, is the music. Ugh. While the story mode is good if not decent, the real winner is multi-play. Whether it's the four-player VS. mode, or the compelling 2-player BOT mode, (in which a total of 8 players can compete; 2 humans and 6 CPU controlled bots) which includes the 1-player, 20-stage Challenge mode, that adds replay. Really though, I doubt I'll ever tire of hearing Jean-Luc and his intelligent questions. "Zarcozian, as in from Zarcozia?"