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Not entirely fair and fun...

This is a decent game, much in the spirit of the original. However - not unlike the original - the game is not always fair, and it is not well balanced. It seems that some of the earlier missions are relatively tough compared to some of the missions middle.

What bugs me about this game is that you can not win it by skill. The game allows you to save anywhere (which is good) and you will have to, because too often it depends on luck whether you will survive the next 10 seconds, or not.

While playing this expansion, I have died 25 times or more at the same spot without having the faintest clue why (while other levels I played through without getting killed even once). I have died because I could not get the elevator controls to work. I have died because a fallen comrad's rifle fell on top of the "Panzerfaust" I needed, so I could not pick it up anymore. I have died because I wasn't able to interrupt the "putting down the MG" animation that takes 10 seconds. I have died because my comrads blocked the way. I have died because my character insisted on reloading all 5 bullets while the enemy solder held his gun 3 inches from my head. I have died being bombed by aircraft while hiding under a train. I have been sniped with a single bullet while running from cover to cover with almost no exposure to the enemy far to often for it to be realistic. I have also died for a lot of reasons real solders die, but that just aren't fun in a game.

I like that I can save anywhere, but I do not like that I never know whether it is safe to save. Will I get killed in the next fraction of a second? Often there is no way to tell. I more than once saved myself into a position that made me die as soon as I reloaded. Does it have to be that way? Of course not! It would be easy to implement a rotating quick-save system. Create 2 or 3 quick save files and always only overwrite the oldest one. This way, if I save myself into a pickle, I can go to the slightly older save game. Or perhaps the developers could have given me half a second of inmortality right after re-load, so I could at least manage to hit the "prone" key before the bullet hits my head.

Overall, this is not a bad game. There are lots of memorable moments and the game has high production values. If it was a bit fairer and really rewarded skill and not luck, this could have been a 5-star game easily. But as it stands, this is an impressive game that just is not a lot of fun. Looking back, finishing the game seems to be more like a dreaded task then entertainment. I guess that means it re-creates war better than most first person shooters...