The Xbox version of Full Spectrum Warrior came out almost 10 months before this PS2 version. In the intervening time not much has changed with the game package beyond a brand new PS2-only level and a price drop to only $19.99. Unfortunately what has changed is the presentation and responsiveness of Full Spectrum Warrior running on the technically-inferior PS2 hardware. The game does not look as good and there is some noticeable chugging going on that makes the game a little less responsive. Full Spectrum Warrior breaks new ground as a different type of strategy game that has the player command, in real time, a squad of infantry consisting of two fire teams. Command is from eye level rather than the usual overhead perspective. It looks like a first-person shooter, but the player’s character doesn’t get a rifle. The squad is his weapon. On the ground with his troops, the player must make decisions from their perspective and issue orders quickly to succeed in his mission and bring his men home alive. Losing a man is to lose the fight.

Full Spectrum Warrior started life as a game commissioned from Pandemic Studios by the US Army as a training aid for infantry squad leaders. This simulator was intended to teach squad leaders to command their two fireteams without expending ammo, individual training time or lives. As the project progressed, Pandemic realized they had an almost complete consumer product if they added a little to it. THQ saw the potential with the Gulf War raging and took up the publishing rights. Full Spectrum Warrior takes place in the Middle Easternesque country of Zekistan. Zekistan is ruled by the ruthless Mohammad Jabbour Al Afad. In order to depose Al Afad the UN mounts an invasion of Zekistan and your squad is at the point of the spearhead.

The troops you command are dismounted light infantry. Dismounted means you walk to where you are going. (If you wanted to ride you should have joined the armor corps.) Your squad is equipped with standard infantry weapons like assault rifles, grenade launchers and light machineguns. Counting yourself, there are nine members of your squad: you as commander and two four-man fireteams. Learning to command the Alpha and Bravo fireteams of his squad is the most important thing the player will do. The tutorial is a little long but pretty much essential. Once these basics have been mastered the game really does not throw anything new at you. Any situation encountered for the rest of the game will use those basic tools. The player does not have to be concerned that some new element will crop up that will require experimentation to learn. Properly applying the fundamental lessons of squad command will allow him to accomplish his objectives.

Movement is the key to successfully engaging the enemy. Knowing when, where and how to move is essential to bringing all your men back alive. Finding and using cover, terrain features that will keep bullets off your men, is most important. The player must use the two teams cooperatively to advance into hostile territory. The most basic strategy is one team watching for enemies while the other moves forward to the next spot they can use for cover and then the watching squad moves forward while the team that moved first takes its turn to watch for the bad guys. Of course if an enemy location is discovered, one team can pin it with fire while the other team maneuvers for its flanks by moving from one piece of cover to another until they can get a good shot at where the enemy is hiding.

Fire direction is second only to movement in importance. Your teams each have three rifles of the M-16 family, one M249 light machinegun, one M203 grenade launcher attached to one of the M-16s, and thrown fragmentation and smoke grenades. Generally the team fires their rifles and machine guns when given the point fire or suppression fire orders. Point fire is fire directed at a specific target with the hope of destroying it. Suppression fire is fire directed at an area with the goal of keeping the enemy’s head down. This gives the other team a chance to flank and destroy the enemy. All fire expends the squad’s limited ammo supply, but suppression fire doubles the expenditure of ordinance. If an enemy is particularly well covered and flanking is not an option, it’s time to use the very limited supply of grenades the team carries. The M203 grenade launcher has light armor piercing capabilities and a longer range than a thrown grenade. Thrown fragmentation grenades pack a nice explosive power and kill radius but don’t go very far. Either will dig out an enemy that has ensconced himself behind a solid piece of cover. Smoke grenades are used as temporary cover when your squad finds it necessary to cross open ground that has no natural cover. It won’t stop a bullet, but hides your movement so the enemy can’t shoot effectively. Fire and maneuver makes up the bulk of the game, but there are a couple more things to do. The player has a Global Positioning Satellite unit that serves as the map. The GPS unit is updated at intervals with new intelligence and objectives. The radio allows your squad to keep in contact with its lieutenant platoon leader. He is the man with a view of the overall situation. In some missions the player may also call for additional aerial reconnaissance to spot enemy positions and for indirect fire from off-screen mortars or air strikes to reduce a particularly troublesome strongpoint or vehicle.

Missions are a lot of what you’d expect: attack, defend, secure, rescue, etc. In addition to having to complete the assigned objectives, the player must not lose any men. There are no “acceptable losses.” If one of your men gets wounded, he must be given first aid and carried back to a casualty evacuation point. These CASEVACs are also where your squad can fill up on ammo. The wounded man will be patched up and returned to his team.

Full Spectrum Warrior for the PS2 is playable cooperatively online with one other person if you have a broadband service. In this mode two players can individually command the two teams and cooperate to complete the missions. There is no competitive multiplayer mode. Beyond its innovative gameplay, one of the things that made Full Spectrum Warrior for the Xbox a critically-acclaimed game was its presentation. Sadly a bit of that had to be sacrificed to bring this game to the PlayStation 2. There is a small but noticeable loss in graphics quality and the frame rate definitely slows at times. During these slowdowns the ability to quickly command your squad is also impaired. But the game graphics still look pretty good and the sound is very good with both standout sound effects and voice acting.

The gamers who have criticized Full Spectrum Warrior in the past usually cite the inability to directly effect the outcome of an action, such as by wielding a weapon to fire at specific targets, as one reason they don’t like it. True, it can be maddening at times not having direct control. But if you want a game that strikes a more happy medium between direct involvement and squad command, I can highly recommend Star Wars Republic Commando. Full Spectrum Warrior is about small-unit tactics and using strategy to win the day. It is not for every gamer, but it is definitely a unique gaming experience that has now made its way to the PS2 at a price that almost any player can afford.