Product Reviews

War on Terror isn't a simulation of pushing biometric security or new laws through parliament, but a fictional strategy game set in the near future. So as not to cause offence, you have a choice of three factions to play: the World Force, generic terrorists and, er, China.

While we could forgive the headline-grabbing title, we can't forgive the appalling implementation, which starts with a badly compressed, low-resolution introduction video. Things appear to get better when you're dumped in for your training mission, which is a beautifully detailed replica of Alcatraz. Unfortunately, the graphics were splattered with odd patterns on our test PC

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until we turned on anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering.

There was no getting around the horrible control system. The map doesn't make it clear what's going on, and the mouse is so sensitive it's difficult to get a good view of what's happening. You have a range of movement options for each type of troop, but you may as well use the assault mode and let your men run off killing everything in your way without all that pesky interaction.

The training mission is one of the most difficult we've ever played. First, we came to a point on Alcatraz where we had to blow up the terrorist's VW Camper van - the developers have obviously been taking their cues from Back to the Future - and plant some mines in a poorly marked area. We accidentally put them in slightly the wrong place and so couldn't complete the mission. After doing the mission again, this time correctly, we had to wander the entire island looking for every terrorist to complete the mission, which can take hours if you're unlucky. There's no skipping this section, as you have to complete the training mission before you can progress.

It didn't get better. A simulation of the parliamentary process of passing anti-terror laws suddenly doesn't sound such a bad idea.