Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising

Written by Phillip Ellis on 6/24/2004 for PC  

Battlefield Vietnam wanted to be this. Battlefield 1942 wanted to be the mother of all multiplayer games. In comparison, they have all failed. Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising, brought to you by the folks at Novalogic who brought us the critically acclaimed Delta Force: Black Hawk Down game, has captured the elements of modern warfare. The game stands alone as allowing the most players ever onto a virtual battlefield, making for some of the most intense firefights ever known to war junkies not enlisted in the service. What’s better than two teams of seventy-five players duking it out in a map over fifty kilometers big? Call it… the Battlefield 1942 killer.

Since EA Game’s release of Battlefield 1942 it has been the talk of the town. It was the big guy on the basketball court that just swiped all shots. EA was determined to keep it that way releasing a series of expansion packs to keep the series alive. For the ones who have stayed true to the game it still does thrive, but EA forgot about the little guy. The guy that cannot fix their computers to run the game. EA refused claims to fix the title, and the problems. Enter Novalogic, and Joint Operations. The forums at Novaworld are buzzing with people. There have been plenty of technical problems, as with all new games. The people at Novaworld have let the little guy know that they are looking into the issues, and they have frequented the forums to better the game.

Joint Operations works off the same types of engine as Black Hawk Down. The graphics have been given an overhaul. Gone are the days of spotting a sniper that is over 300 meters away because you could easily view him. Characters are able to blend in with their surroundings better now, something that was a very welcomed addition to the series. The game plays around the same as other games produced by Novalogic. While the game focuses on realism, there is still the ability for someone online to just go out and shoot everything he pleases before being killed. On the larger games with 150 people, that type of game does not work. There is more strategy involved in it, if you can get your team to listen. Too many times have I seen one idiot on the team decide to take a huge helicopter off by himself, while twenty other people are in need of a ride. The maps are huge, walking to your destination is simply not something you want to do.

The maps are described best in one word, wow. If you have a system that can run the game you have to appreciate the level of detail in them. The ability to blend in and hide in the grass. The way everything looks is just phenomenal. There are maps included with the retail version of the game already exceeding fifty kilometers. This means the game has maps that exceed thirty miles in area. You have to respect the size of the maps. They are a very good size for 150 people to fight it out on a lot of different fronts. However, in the smaller maps there usually will be one place where the fighting is taking place, and getting there quicker than your opponent is key so you can take up a good defensive position.

The amount of weapons in Joint Operations easily surpasses the amount in most games. The game sports over thirty-five weapons. They differ from high-powered sniper rifles, to submachine guns, to your basic assault rifles with 203s attached to them. There is also a calculation at the bottom of your screen when choosing your loadout in the armory that tells you how much your items currently weigh. The weight of what you are carrying with affect the speed at which you are able to run from one place to the other. Sometimes you will need that speed, say, when you are trying to outrun an APC hot on your tracks. It is not likely you will outrun it, but you can sure try. The weapons are all pretty well modeled from their true to life forms, and the bullets and gun power affect the other player’s health on hits pretty realistically. Battlefield 1942’s biggest thing was it offered all forms of vehicles, whereas other games did not. Those days are over now. The people at Novalogic realized this was a huge asset to a true to life war game. They have included a pretty decent variety of vehicles in the retail version. You can expect more in the future with patches as well. You have your variety of helicopters, ranging from small attack helicopters, to gigantic Chinook helicopters. On the battlefield you have your regular Jeep’s, Humvees, and you have APCs. The APC is a good vehicle to take across water since it is an amphibious vehicle. The sea vehicles included in the game include some decent sized patrol boats, inflatable boats, and a hovercraft to quickly move armor across an ocean to your opponent. Because the maps are so large you have to use teamwork to move people and lots of weaponry across vast regions of land quickly. Teamwork is really emphasized in this game, otherwise, you will lose. People who get in the chopper and take off without anybody in them will not last very long when they try to land it behind enemy line themselves. Not that it is a bad thing, teamwork is something that should be emphasized in all war games because if they are striving for realism. The only complaint with vehicles is that there are no real physics. You can drive your vehicle through trees basically, and you will just shoot through them. While it is sort of disappointing that they did not focus on that a little more, it is still nice to be able to just pick it up and play rather than being forced to learn how to fly and mastering the art.

I was playing last night and noticed the sound in Joint Operations is actually pretty good. I just thought it was average, until I heard that helicopter hovering over me. You get the impression of 3D sound and knowing where your opponent is through listening. This is very helpful when a helicopter is firing at you and hovering over head. You will be able to find it quicker, and if you have a stinger missile, you can quickly bring that threat down. If you play the game regularly like I have, you will also be able to pick out the differing gun type sounds.

Overall the game is very solid. It is probably the most complete war game to date. When you look at the other options, as complete, Battlefield 1942 may be about the only competitor. The complete package is a good look at war. The 150 multiplayer games are incredible given your team is experienced and knows how to use teamwork. The game does not include a single player mode, however, so all of the resources are being poured into the multiplayer game. This is a good thing though, because this means Novalogic will work to fix the multiplayer bugs rather than random bugs in a single player version. There are some glaring bugs that are seen by many people. Some games are even struggling to connect due to errors, however, if your machine runs this game, it is simply an amazing game. It is a must own for anyone that enjoys military games.