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A sub par effort from the folks at Torus Games. Operation Shadow is a 3D shooter for the N-Gage, an exclusive game in fact, developed by the same folks that designed the well-received Ashen, another N-Gage exclusive. Unfortunately, Torus Games can’t provide the same level of competence in Operation Shadow as the game doesn’t provide much more than gameplay that merely strives for mediocrity.
Operation Shadow throws you in the shoes of Jay, a hard-ass counterterrorist agent with little time for talk but a keen eagerness to destroy some things. Although he is hard to manage, Jay is frequently called as a last result, when there are no better options. As such, the game takes you to diverse locations where you’ll need to pretty much devastate in the name of democracy.
The game has a number of missions, where your primary objective is one thing or another, but rest assured destroying countless enemies or perhaps buildings are necessarily destroyed in the process. Jay is truly a walking tank, complete with an unlimited-ammo-carrying assault rifle, but also some missiles and grenades. In many missions, you’ll be able to use a vehicle to more quickly get through the levels, but for the most part, you’re better off on foot since the vehicles control just as clumsily than the on-foot controls and simply make you a bigger target. The AI, while not particularly intelligent, will not think too long about blowing you to smithereens.
In all honesty, Operation Shadow could have been a decent game if Torus Games took another month or so and polished the game. Many of the game’s missions do not explicitly tell you vital information, resulting in much time wasted and unavoidable mission restarts. Furthermore, the controls simply don’t feel natural. Controlling Jay is a chore because of the diagonal, loose controls. Manning a vehicle makes the task a touch more bearable because you’re in a huge vehicle after all, but for reasons mentioned above its best to deal with the on-foot missions.
To its credit, Operation Shadow includes a pretty functional multiplayer mode. You’re given a number of maps, complete with an abundance of vehicles. Unfortunately, these environments aren’t populated with anything else. Because of the lack of strategy involved in Operation Shadow’s combat mechanics, the addition of multiplayer doesn’t redeem the package.
The game’s visuals are second-rate at best. The environments, though destructible, are stripped of anything resembling detail. Torus Games works with a very low polygon count and it plainly shows when taking a look at the game. Whatever does populate the environment also suffers from some nasty pop-up that serves to further detract from the visuals. The character models and vehicles receive the same, sub par treatment. To its credit, the game maintains a very quick framerate, but that is expected given the low-quality visuals.
Thankfully, the game’s audio is respectable. The sound effects, though ordinary, are pretty accurate in representing the weapons that are being used. The game’s soundtrack is fitting to the game’s atmosphere, made up of a dramatic bassline.
Operation Shadow needed a few more weeks in the oven. The game can be enjoyable once you get over its many flaws but with so many other good games available on the N-Gage there is truly no reason to. Annoying mission objectives, a clunky control scheme, and horrible graphics don’t make for an enjoyable game. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Nov 29, 2004
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