OtC – Turning Point – Fall of Liberty

This was to be the the first installment of what we are going to call “Off the Couch” but I was too slow and slack. This is open to any of you guys out there in the world of gaming to take a game and review it in short order. You aren’t restricted to the 30 minute trial that we put our games through so feel free to play it to the bitter end. I usually do. Whether you love or hate the game it doesn’t matter, the important thing is that you are honest about it. Anyway enough of my guff on with the review.

Narcolepsy was a common problem amongst German paratroopers

So when the hype around Turning Point began I was interested. A different slant on how the Second World War went down always intrigues me. I didn’t buy Liberty when it first came out, in fact I pretty much ignored it but I saw it for like 15 bucks and thought what the hell. And hell it was. I originally installed it on my pc at work, jacked up the resolution, of which there is only 2 settings, and watched it chug away, loading every 10 seconds.

It’s obvious from the outset that this game is for a console but I don’t recall it getting released on one. Maybe it was and I blocked it out. The language and feel of it solidify it in this realm and so my scepticism grows.  The animation is bad at best. Clunky with terrible moments of stretched textures that look more like they should be in a TAFE project. I press on though, hoping that the action will make up for this short fall. I jump from girder to girder and eventually end up bitch slapping a Nazi off the building site, taking his gun at the same time. This event involves the use of a wrestle mechanic which I truly hated in COD 3 but here I find it ok.

I'll take mine with a twist of lemon please

You can render the guy immobile by snapping his neck or something similar, or use him as a human shield. The latter is kind of fun but where he pulls that pistol from I’m not sure I want to know. So as I plod along through the beginnings of this game I notice a few things.

First, there is specula on things that there should never be specula. Things such as pants shouldn’t shine like that. Bullet time doesn’t magically start when a grenade goes off and Germans are not that stupid. Seriously, why does enemy AI have to be so retarded? As an FPS player I like to be challenged from time to time. My first encounter with a story element is a Bronx sounding Italian telling me to get rid of that German crap. Funnily enough, that German crap is better than the equipment he provides me with so I’m a little pissed when I have to use a Thompson and an M1 garand. I vow to find a replacement as soon as I’m able. So this exchange occurs and I hold very little hope for any significant story. My second sortee into the unknown is to guard a check point to hold off the nasty Nazis. This was a terrible scripted section of game play that a 2 year old could have completed.

Bombing by colours

Now granted you were still learning the ropes but this is ridiculous. I walk through that one easy enough and its on to the next bit of fun, how to blow up a tank. Essentially you just crawl up underneath, click on the flashing red bit then take part in a supremely stupid mini game of match the wire. Whatever fucktard designer thought this was a clever idea needs to have their imagination revoked, permanently. So I connect blue to blue green to green…..AGGGHHHH!!

I manage to persevere through about an hour or so more of gameplay before I give up in disgust. I seriously want to stab myself in the eye with a fork. How the hell this game can get to publish is beyond me. How the hell anyone thought this was a good game is beyond me. If I was part of the dev team that made this travesty I would hide in a small closet and bash myself with a rubber mallet until the memory of this was gone, then wash my soul just to be sure.

Ahh, sure. I'll kill him.

The funniest moment I had with this game is a toss up between 2. The first was when I killed an enemy in a door way and he proceeded to rap dance his way up and down the door frame. Wish I had a screen shot. The second was the introduction to the 4^th mission, where you had to kill the president. A gravelly voice declares, “Get….Fuck I can’t remember his name….to do it. He’s the best shot!” zoom into dudes expressionless pixelated face…….

If there is anything you do this year I beg of you not to buy this game. Save yourself, save humanity and never let this crap see the light of a DVD laser.