IGI 2: Covert Strike

PUBLISHER: CODEMASTERS

DEVELOPER: INNERLOOP

GENRE: IDIOT SAS COMMANDO SIMULATOR

ESRB RATING: MATURE; BLOOD, VIOLENCE

PRICE: $39.99

REQUIREMENTS: PENTIUM III 700, 128MB RAM, 1.9GB HARD DRIVE SPACE

RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS: PENTIUM 4 1.2 GHZ, 512MB RAM

MULTIPLAYER SUPPORT: LAN, INTERNET (2-16 PLAYERS)

Traditionally, people watch movies or play games about super-spies or Special Forces agents because, well, the agents are badasses. The fact that ex-SAS/current-IGI-agent David Jones gets constantly surprised by third-rate terrorists and inscrutable Chinese troops goes beyond suspending disbelief, and is just one of the litany of annoyances that plague IGI 2: Covert Strike.

To say the A.I. is inconsistent is an understatement; the more apt description would be ��sharpshooting idiots.�� In IGI 2��s world, terrorist training camps crank out minions who have amazing pitching arms, eagle eyes, and walnut-sized brains. How else could one explain how these guys can throw the perfect grenade toss, no matter the distance? Or shoot you in the head five times with an AK-47 from 200 meters away? These amazing shooters and throwers also tend to do things like throw grenades from inside a building when they hear you outside, ignoring the fact that they��re in while you��re out. Or run single-file into a room, even when seeing a buddy gunned down in front. Or have a hard time aiming at you when you��re lying prone at their feet.

The enemies aren��t the only fellows who failed school. Apparently, Innerloop missed the game design memo that informed people ��Yanking all the weapons away from the player is now clich��d, don��t do it anymore,�� because that situation happens twice: once in a limp-wristed Behind Enemy Lines imitation, and again when you��re in a prison. And there are missions where you have to protect friendly A.I. idiots from getting shot over and over again. Several times, you��re advised about the value of stealth, but really, you��re much better off running and gunning (except in missions where pulling an alarm is instant failure).

The save system is pretty atrocious. On Normal difficulty, you get a whopping three saves, for mission areas that can easily take up to an hour or so each. Here��s a summary of each mission on Normal: run around for five minutes figuring out what to do. Die. Then run around for five minutes again, and when you get into minute six and think you��re safe, save. Then shoot more dorks, and get killed again. Reload your first save, complete some objectives, and then save again, thinking that you��re safe. Find out you��re wrong when a guy hits you from across a hallway with a shotgun, and realize that the second save is useless because you set yourself up to be killed every time, and there are no medical syringes until you get to something like mission number nine. Redo everything you had to do since save one all over again, and spend the rest of the level being paranoid because you don��t want to waste a save game. Nineteen missions become 19-plus hours of tedious task repetition over and over and over due to the save system.

IGI 2 is an example of mediocrity dragged much further downward by sheer ineptitude. It could have been another so-so tactical stealth shooter, but the saves, the idiots, the clich��s, and the crashes shove it into coaster territory. Originally, instead of ��Institute for Geotactical Intelligence,�� IGI stood for ��I��m Going In.�� No, this time, you must stay out at all costs.

VERDICT (1.5): This tactical stealth shooter is more special ed than Special Forces.

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.