The game was banned in China, because it "intentionally blackened China and the Chinese army's image".[1] It received generally negative reviews by critics.[2][3]
Missions and Storyline
The game is divided into missions, and the story is presented in cut scenes, shown before and after every mission, with animated characters rendered in real-time and pre-recorded speech. This approach is similar to other games in this genre, which don't rely on video, instead providing a comparable quality of visual and dramatic appeal, reusing the same in-game 3D engine for cut scene rendering.
Missions have objectives that must all be completed before the mission ends.
Straight-forward tactics are not encouraged, with stealthy and covert movement giving the player a better rating, rank and chance of survival, with the highest attainable ranking entitled David Jones.
Multiple paths exist for every mission, with the most obvious and daunting being a noisy gun-fight, because in every mission Jones is outnumbered anywhere from 20-1 up to 50-1. Every mission presents an opportunity for large groups of enemies to be bypassed or sneaked past, undiscovered. Certain missions even require entire operations to be carried out undetected, i.e. without giving enemies a chance to sound the alarm, as the name Covert Strike suggests.
At the start of a new game, a difficulty level can be chosen, changing the number of bullets Jones takes before dying, the intelligence of the enemy and group AI, and the number of save-games available.
Covert Operation
The player can use the available Map computer to recon the mission area, remotely viewing a real-time satellite image of the terrain with structures and outdoor enemies clearly visible, which is also necessary to plan strike routes, after monitoring enemy patrol routes and other strategic information. Using the binoculars and thermal goggles, nearby enemies can be located, sometimes even through walls.
Jones is equipped with lock picks, and safe crackers making him capable of forced entry into any locked room or safe, enabling noiseless and stealthy entry into restricted areas and buildings, and obtaining military secrets or private information, and objects. Remote-controlled CR-4 explosives are also available for use on certain ground targets, meaning large structures can be destroyed safely, from a distance, leaving Jones undetected. Air strikes can be called for on certain missions, using the laser designator to pinpoint ground targets for bombing.
Stealthy Shooting
During gameplay, the player has access to a large arsenal of real world weapons, including handguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, light machine guns and RPGs. Although these cannot be bought, the weapons available in game levels can be exchanged with carried ones.
Players begin missions with certain fixed or carry-over weapons from earlier missions, although additional weapons can be obtained from killed enemies, the player is required to assess future tasks and equip the most suitable weapons, judging based on the cut scene briefing, and the objectives list.
Like its prequel, realism was intended to be paramount in this game, which features more than 30 accurately modeled real-world weapons which look and behave exactly like they do in real life[4], including their rate of fire and loading times.
Silenced weapons, completely unavailable in the prequel, such as the G17-SD and SOCOM handguns, the SMG-2 sub-machine gun, and the PSG-1SD sniping rifle, enable silent and stealthy killing even from great distances, leaving the enemy clueless and Jones completely undetected.
Heavy weapons such as the MP5-A3 and MP5-SD3 sub-machine guns, AK-47 and G36 assault rifles, with faster fire and reloading rates, more range or hitting power are needed for all-out gun-battles, where usage is usually at the cost of being discovered by multiple nearby enemies, and therefore giving Jones less chance of survival.
Balanced weapons such as the SVD Dragunov and M82A1-T sniping rifles, the G11 assault rifle, however, provide a balance of both power and stealth. Emitting noise, yet usable from great distances, means that, if used strategically while under cover, Jones can go undetected while effecting a 1-shot, 1-kill hit rate.
Bullets also perform and penetrate differently, based on their speed, weight and caliber, and target material: wood, steel, plastic or flesh, meaning players will be able to kill multiple targets with one shot or hit targets right through cover.[5] Targets are affected not only by Jones's movement and stance but also the calculated kickback for each weapon.
Only 2 guns can be carried at any given time and the rest have to be left behind, unlike its prequel where Jones could carry any number, promoting critical thinking and weapon understanding, as each weapon has very different strengths and side-effects.[6] In addition to the two chosen weapons, a Combat Knife is carried at all times and always available for use, enabling noiseless kills and hand-to-hand combat when out of ammunition or without guns.
Characters
David Jones: The protagonist of the entire game. He is, in fact, one of the best officers in the IGI headquarters. He is capable of accomplishing difficult tasks and missions without anyone's assistance, and is also pictured as a fearless man who does not hesitate to kill his targets at any spot. David is also described as an officer who does not give up so easily at risky and emergency situations, but stands firm to face and solve the situation calmly.
Robert Quest: Robert appears as one of the antagonists in this game. A strong man in his early fifties, Robert acts as David's temporary veteran pilot, piloting him to every single location in Russia to obtain the chips. Unknown to David, Robert has actually co-operated secretly with David's mission director in order to get the full set of the EMP chips and the blueprints. When David succeeds in getting all the chips, Robert betrays him by threatening that he'll shoot him if he doesn't jump off, the latter of which David chooses. Robert was killed by David in the seaport in Egypt.
Phillip White: The mission director; is actually a good friend of David's. He guides David sincerely throughout all the missions in Russia to recover the stolen EMP chips to obtain the chips for himself and Robert Quest, his close comrade. Both of them infiltrated the IGI for decades and had earned great trust in the agency just to wait for the very moment. After betraying David with Robert, he and Robert escape for sanctuary in China, where they obey the command of General Wu Xing and handed the EMP chips to him. Finally, he was killed by General Wu Xing for accusing the general of killing Robert.
Rebecca Anya: Anya is one of the female officers operating in the IGI agency, although she usually spends most of the time in front of the monitor as David's new mission director after the dreadful incident. She has a typically cool manner of soldiers and does her job well, causing David to succeed in every mission without further dangers or failures.
Jach Priboi: A middle-aged man, Jach is actually an old pal of David's, but had not communicated with him for the past few years. Since the Russian fiasco, Jach had moved his illegal weapons trade to Libya, where he was held captive by the Libyan Intelligence for unknown purposes. While serving close surveillance in Libya, he unexpectedly encounters David who intends to rescue him out. He tries his best to assist David in every way and eventually recovers his important trade documents and also kills Major Zaleb Said in the end, fulfilling his intention and revenge.
Senator Pat Lenehan: Senator Lenehan is the main administrator and founder of the IGI agency, which was created in order to combat the threat of war. Lenehan seems to express great interest in David's missions. He constantly goes to the command center to monitor David's missions together with Anya. An elderly old man, he is pictured as one who cares for the others. Lenehan is also shown organizing large-scale backup troops for one of David's missions.
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