That's how this review might have started in another world. A world in which Call of Duty 4, Halo 3 and Half Life 2 had never been made. A world in which Turning Point marked a giant leap forward in engaging, fast-paced action gaming. An alternate reality.
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| Nazi's limbo too. It's not all work, work ,work. |
A human shield can be pretty useful. |
Turning Point's main premise is a big 'what if?' What if Winston Churchill had been hit by a car in 1931? Well apart from a hefty repair bill, the result, according to Spark Unlimited, would be a chain of events leading to Hitler conquering half the world. America is next on the list. Turning Point puts the player in control of an NYC construction worker, and apparent mute, Dan Carson, as the Nazi threat looms.
The game begins as Nazi planes and Zeppelins assault New York. Carson is unfortunately halfway up an unfinished skyscraper at the time and must find his way through the chaos to safety. Despite only offering one pretty obvious route, the opening isn't bad and hints at some action to come. There's a simple but nice mel馥 sequence and then the player is rewarded with a gun. I say 'rewarded'...
When the shooting begins, it becomes obvious just how much Spark Unlimited has papered over the cracks. The main issue is the appalling framerate, which makes both movement and aiming an absolute chore. Things get even choppier when you bring up the iron sights with the left trigger for 'precision aiming'. It feels like the player is being punished for wanting accuracy and it's much easier to shoot/mel馥 the hun from close-range. This isn't helped by AI enemies who behave like they've been mainlining heroin for most of the war. Apart from during the odd scripted 'defend this territory' moment, the Nazis are largely content to shoot at you lazily from a distance, occasionally cowering behind a crate and blind-firing while they get another fix. Shooting enemies from range is difficult and feels like a lottery as the dodgy hitpoints come into play. It's not uncommon to spend a few minutes with your sights aiming at the centre of a Nazi's head, firing bullet after bullet as the will to live drains quickly away.
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| New York burns as the Nazis invade. |
Hanging from a girder's pretty exciting, yeah? Nope, tedious. |
The erratic game mechanics are paired with a lack of imagination in level design. Despite the game's high premise of war on the US mainland, there are no stand-out environments or scenarios. The New York sections mainly feature corridors, subways, warehouses and rooftops. It feels like Spark Unlimited has overlooked some potentially thrilling settings for urban warfare like Ellis Island and Central Park. Although later stages involve the Whitehouse and (bizarrely) the Tower of London, they never impress. The levels included are entirely linear, and perhaps the lack of compass and objective markers on the HUD were an attempt to hide it. The player will sometimes need to interact with an object to advance, and this is just as frustrating as most other aspects of the game. The context-sensitive 'use' icon is about as reliable as Amy Winehouse, and it's often necessary to move backwards and forwards (very slowly) in front of ladders and doors until the icon appears. Which, in the context of visceral guerilla warfare, is not ideal.
All of the inconsistencies and bugs add up to make Turning Point feel unfinished. The poor collision detection means player and enemy models will sometimes get stuck in walls/floors/anything that should be solid, causing their animations to repeat. This reviewer also had to reload to the last checkpoint twice in the first half hour of play as super-resistance fighter Dan Carson was unable to pick up a gun. It's sloppy work and serves only to overshadow the few good ideas on offer elsewhere in the game.
There are some positive elements to Turning Point. The simple mel馥 system is actually quite fun, especially the environmental kills and the human shield. The latter switches the camera to third person mode, as Carson grabs an enemy's pistol, using their body as cover. The idea of advanced WW2 weaponry is also appealing. The attack-zeppelins are a nice touch as are the few examples of usable weapons like the Infra Red sniper rifle. However, this is under-explored by the developer much like the storyline. The idea of America being invaded isn't new (see Swayze classic Red Dawn and superior last-gen game Freedom Fighters) but it does offer interesting story options (politics/ destruction/ resistance) that have been under-utilised. Even though we play a named character, we learn nothing about him and there are no real personalities in the game at all. More importantly, there is no feeling of being a small part of a large battle which is something that superior FPS titles on the 360 manage to achieve.
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| Melee options are: human shield, instant kill and environmental kill. |
Punching Nazis in a warehouse. Satisfaction minimal. |
TURNING POINT: FALL OF LIBERTY VERDICT
Despite the odd pleasing moment, Turning Point is never in danger of being a good game. Any positive aspects are overshadowed by the sluggish game engine, the last-gen visuals and cheap design decisions. It feels conspicuously padded out, with completely unnecessary platform sections adding a crucial 60 seconds of play time every now and then. And yet for a game that can be finished in about 5 hours, it manages to feel endless. Despite Turning Point being based around alternate realities, the only ‘what if?’ the player will ask is ‘what if I’d spent the money on something else?’.
TOP GAME MOMENT
Putting a Nazi’s head through a television.
