Aurora Watching

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	Aurora Watching
	Developer: Enlight, Producer: Metropolis Software System requirements: CPU 1.4 GHz, 256 MB RAM, 3D Video Card with 64 MB, DirectX 8.1 compatible Game: Gorky Zero: Beyond Honor Genre: Action

Posted by Assassin on 05-Apr-2005 11:14

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Despite having made Archangel and Robo Rumble, Metropolis Software are best known for their Gorky series of games, which started out in 1999 with Gorky 17, a game which was released in the US under the name of Odium. Five years later, a prequel was released, Gorky Zero, which also starred Cole Sullivan as the main hero. Former member of NATO troops, we will also see him in Aurora Watching. His job this time will be to investigate the activities of a certain doctor Jacek Parecki, who apparently has started some very dangerous experiments in the arctic.
Gameplay wise, Aurora Watching is very similar to Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell, so if you’re an adrenaline / action junkie, this game is not for you. You will realize that when you will play the tutorial which is very simple and intuitive, but the female voice accompanying it might not be to everyone’s taste, especially since it seems she’s too bored to teach you the basics of the game.

Even if the “one man against the world” principle still applies, Cole Sullivan (codename White Fox) doesn’t have an impressive arsenal of deadly weaponry at his disposal. So in order to take out large number of enemies, some rules need to be followed. First, you must pay close attention your movement speed, which can be sneaking, walking or running. Each movement speed has a different impact on noise levels, which if loud enough can alert the bad guys. The movement stances can be changed via the mouse wheel, which for someone who hasn’t played Splinter Cell too much (like me) will need some time to get accustomed to. During the first mission (out of a total of 5 included in the preview build we received) I had to repeat certain areas of the level because I accidentally changed the stance at the most inopportune moment. Once I got used to the use of the scroll wheel, everything went smoothly. I found it odd that despite the fact that they can hear your footsteps, the guards don’t react to the sound of a door that’s being opened right next to them, or to a weapon being reloaded by the player. However, this concession had to be made by the producers, in order to give the player a way to silently kill his opponents, without raising the alarm.