Army Ranger: Mogadishu

The Good
Upon starting this game, you'll find yourself in a firing range, which is the perfect way to start with a weapons practice. Progressing through the missions makes newer guns available to try. When you're ready, you're off. Cutscenes and the objectives screen offer sufficient info on what you have to do, mainly killing enemies.

Graphically the game is okay with a variety of scenery and settings with fitting props you can use to take cover. The lighting effects work fine even in the night missions, that you probably won't need to use the night vision goggles you're provided. The accompanying music is okay, but nothing special. The same cannot be said for ambient sounds, which almost non-existent.

Controls for the game are a bit crowded but otherwise serve useful purposes. Thank heavens for quicksave and quickload, because you will need them. The leaning mechanic is pretty hilarious due to the ability to lean into walls when you're up against them. The ability to communicate is a little innovative, but you can manage fine without it.

The Bad
Even though much of the game works as you would expect, the difficulty of the game comes as mean-spirited. Since you can only use what ammo, grenades and portable medpacks you have, you're expected to finish each mission in one go, no joke. This easier said than done with enemies popping out from one direction or another. You can try to cheese your way through the level by letting your squadmates do the legwork since they never run out of ammo, but you still have to cover for them. Not a fun way to play the game.

Weapons in the game are a like a mixed bag with a hole in the bottom. While sniper weapons give a higher kill chance, the M249 LMG is terrible. What is worse than any of the guns is the grenades. When you throw them, the player character throws in an awkward angle oriented to left, that you often end up killing yourself and your men, especially in tight corridors. Why on earth does this left hook grenade throw exist? To add insult to injury, the game is very stingy about accuracy that shooting anything other than a live enemy is considered a miss. Pretty harsh considering that you use mounted automatics for half of the game.

The Bottom Line
The works of the game seem a lot more challenging than the average FPS players may be accustomed to. It's hard to call it a balanced game, because the difficulty often racks up against you. It could've done with less rail shooting sequences. Who would've guessed this centered around a real-life war in Somalia? I guess these City Interactive games are good at using material from conflicts that are otherwise known only to military enthusiasts. Real-life war or not, this one didn't quite reach to the quality and standards of better known FPS franchises, but at least you can say this did have some good modern warfare themes before "Call of Duty 4" went up on stage. Probably worth renting, but not buying since you can just about finish it in a day.