The Regiment

Format PlayStation 2

Developer Kuju

Publisher Konami

Genre First Person Shooter

First impressions were a bit misleading for this promising shooter. When we initially clapped eyes on it, this looked like a lazy copycat version of the Rainbow Six series with an attention-grabbing title.

A couple of well placed flashbangs later and we've been terrified into submission - The Regiment is coming and it means business. The devil is in the detail here. Yes, Tom Clancy's similarly themed games are clearly an influence, but there are important subtleties in how the game pans out. Simple, obvious things like barricades being moveable and terrorists being crafty buggers should make for a much more realistic experience.

The SAS has had a major input, and their methods have trickled down through every aspect of the game. This includes everything from how the assault team positions itself before clearing a room, to techniques for neutralising only the armed terrorists. But of course, how effective this actually is depends on how the game's characters will play in the finished game. All that hard work won't count for toffee if your squad members start randomly running into walls or disappearing up alleyways. Bearing in mind all the effort the developer has put into getting the other factors right, we're hopeful it'll all hang together properly in the end.

The Regiment already has a chillingly atmospheric feel to it, thanks to its use of familiar landmarks that we've still yet to explore on our PS2s. Even after all the training offered you by the game - and true to life there's a hell of a lot - things will still go wrong, and the potential for quick thinking under pressure is what looks like really setting this game apart from the crowd of terror-busting shooters.

PSW Staff