Übersoldier Review

If you read preview of Übersoldier, you know that I was looking forward to getting the full game. In the preview, there were no voiceovers, which I had assumed they would add (and they did). The single biggest problem I had with the cut-scenes and voiceovers was that the animations are s-l-o-w… Imagine the characters moving as fast as the characters moved in Nintendo 64 games; slowly enough so that they look outdated and unrealistic.

To add to the already lacking cut-scenes, they added some frankly crappy voice acting. It wouldn’t surprise me if they just said “oh crap we forgot to hire voice actors. Ah, oh well, we’ll just use some of these programmers.” On the good side, though, the graphics look rather good in contrast to the animations and sound. Although they do require more system requirements than what I would consider normal for what you get, the textures and environments look gritty and dangerous, setting Übersoldier apart from other games in that aspect.

It has become fairly obvious that gamers are tired of plain old World War II shooters, so games like Cold War and Übersoldier come out, which essentially take a subject that has been overused, and flip it over with a completely new plot. The problem is, the plots are never very compelling. In Übersoldier, the German scientists are taking the dead bodies from the war and reanimating them into superhuman Übersoldiers, having powers like the ability to create a shield in front of them to deflect bullets. The only other unique gameplay mechanic in Übersoldier is the upgrade system, which allows players to get upgrades by either getting 3 headshots in a row, or taking out 3 enemies with your knife in a row. Besides that, it’s really your run of the mill fps, much like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, in that it is a WWII shooter with a strange story, zombies, and now outdated animations and voiceovers.

Quite possibly the only thing Übersoldier has going for it is the sheer fun factor. It’s just fun. It’s hard to explain, but it is. It’s really satisfying to be rewarded for getting headshots, and the graphics add to that satisfaction. The problem with that, however, is that it gets old quickly and is pretty easy, as the enemy AI is not too bright. You can shoot a stationary enemy with your sniper rifle in the shoulder (non-lethal), blood might shoot out, but he won’t move; he won’t even look your way if he’s already busy with something.

All in all, Übersoldier is fun to play but won’t keep your attention long. It has no multiplayer, which could have been a big redeeming quality. It’s a less than premium game with a, thankfully, less than premium price. Nothing too special here, download the demo and try it out for yourself.