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The tactical interface
As one would expect in a game of this genre, team control has been treated with great attention. There are two modes of doing this. First, there's the "shout" mode, which works similarly to Spec Ops. You shout a simple order by pressing a key, and if the soldier is within hearing range, he will comply. Some orders require you to look directly at the subject, but this mode doesn't allow complex plans to be transmitted. When you want to plan a coordinated action, it's time for the second control mode : the tactical interface.
Available at the stroke of a key (plus several seconds loading time) during the whole mission (not just at the start, like in Rainbow Six), it gives you control over each of your men's actions over a long period of time, and allows you to examine the terrain. In theory, you could just sit at the start of the mission and plan everything and then let hell loose, but the map only shows those enemies that your men are seeing, so you need to be careful.
Fig. 10. The jeepOf bugs and savesThe tactical planner works much better that it did in the release version of H&D, but it's still not without faults. I don't like the fact that when I order a soldier to "wait for a signal" before performing a certain action, I have to deliver the signal in person. This makes coordinated attacks from different directions more difficult, but not impossible. Going into planner mode and deleting the "wait for signal" icon on all soldiers timetable gets you over this problem. The great thing about the mission design in H&D is that it really helps to "go tactical" and plan your actions. Yes, it is possible to finish some of the missions without going into the planner, but most time using it will save you some save and reload time.
As I mentioned before, the first release of H&D was so full of bugs it could rival with Falcon 4.0. Many persons have shelved the game because they found it to be unplayable. In the meantime Illusion Softworks have released several patches for the game, but I didn't get to check them out until now. With FFF I got the 1.3 version of H&D, and the game has been improved a lot. There are still some bugs left in the game, but most of these only crash the game and do not directly affect gameplay.
Playing H&D is a much more enjoyable experience now than before. I particularly liked the fact that your men won't abandon vehicles when under fire any more. In the previous game, being shot at made your APC gunner very nervous, and instead of returning fire he used to abandon the vehicle. This doesn't happen anymore, allowing you to use vehicles to a greater extent. In many of the missions you will get to use a SAS jeep. Armed with a .50 heavy machine gun and whatever the guys in the back will carry, this baby can get you over the enemy before he knows it. Just don't treat it as a tank.
Fig. 11. Scouting is a must in this gameClosing timeBut, there is the performance issue. FFF, just like H&D, is really hungry for computing power, and I wouldn't recommend playing it on something lower than a 350mhz system. Remember those big, unplayable missions from the first game ? This time, missions that size work slightly better. Provided you have the horsepower, you will see some improvements. On the other hand, mission loading times have increased a lot, and waiting for the game to load for several minutes, just to have it crash seconds after that, can drive a person crazy.
If you haven't tried H&D before, I pity you. You're missing something really big. So, download the two level demo and give it a try. If you like it and have a fast system, get the game, and the V1.3 patch. If you already have the game and liked it, you should really consider FFF. Bearing in mind that the V1.3 patch is available for free, and only some of the missions are really "never before seen", I wouldn't call it a "must buy". It all depends on you, and whether you want or not more in the vein of Hidden & Dangerous.
