20-May-2008 Those terrible Nazis ruin it for everyone again What? The Nazis has kicked our arse and then invaded the USA in 1953 from the air? Scary thought, eh? Well, not as scary as this abomination from Codemasters and the usually reliable devs, Spark.
Frankly, Turning Point is the worst game this writer has had the displeasure of playing in some time. Clunky, frustrating, dire looking and priced at fifty notes - it's got a bloody cheek! If you absolutely must know what exactly Turning Point is, then by all means keep reading. If not, take a glance at the score, absorb the verdict and pray to Christ that you never have to suffer through this endless boring blandness.
What's really, really disappointing about Turning Point is that it's actually a great idea on paper - an alternate time plain where the dastardly Hitler did succeed in his scheme for world domination and we all ended up speaking German. Perhaps it might have worked better as a novel or a comic book, we'll never know.
Shame, because I probably would have bought it. It's by the numbers on a grandiose scale. Run and gun down tight corridors, clear out entrenched enemies before moving on to the next area and every once in a while you'll come across a heavily armoured tank or Zeppelin that begs to be being blown out of the sky via a rocket launcher or requires being wired with explosions. Unfortunately these promising scenarios are played out in a dull-as-dishwater mini-game.
Which generation? Worst of all is the fact that Turning Point is supposed to be powered by Epic's Unreal Engine and at its very best moments it still manages to look like PS2 game. Really, it does. You do get to shoot it out in some interesting locales, a downed Empire Stare Building, the Tower Of London and even the White House.
Spark mixes the combat up with close-quarter kills, taking enemies as shields, shimmying along pipes and up ladders and dispatching bad guys through so-so environmental kills a la The Punisher.
Most of the time, these can be infuriating like the rest of the game. Aiming is askew; enemies are dumb and the level design is bland. Take it online for the usual team and single deathmatch bouts, but with the combat mechanics like this, why bother?
PSW Staff
// Overview
Verdict
A disappointment in every sense of the word but you already know that by now, having been able to play it for over a month. This is the last PS3 game we want to see that looks like a PS2 title.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
