This isn't the first in the
Secret Service franchise - in fact there were
a couple before the 2008 version but by different
developers. I didn't even know about them, let
alone play them. This game is created by Cauldron
HQ, based in Slovakia. They first came to recognition
with the 2003 shooter Chaser, built on their
own engine, which was a good, underrated effort.
However their History Channel games have received
negative reviews and the third Soldier of Fortune
(Payback) was a messy flop. Secret Service is
no different, in fact worse, than Payback.
The major issue I had in Payback
returns; the bug where my bullets go right through
enemies and I can't kill them. It turns out
this can be fixed by forcing Vsynch on under
the Nvidia control panel. Simple fix - it's
a shame Cauldron couldn't have done something
about this in a patch.
What it meant was that I played
the game in easy, figuring the occasional invisible
enemy is going to cause too much drama if I
keep dying and returning to checkpoints. But
with the problem fixed, I continued on in easy
and the game was probably a little TOO easy
then. I don't think I died from enemy gunfire
in the entire game. It's still fun though, for
your standard realistic shooter with 1000 of
the exact same human enemy. That's where the
positivity ends, because Secret Service fails
just about everywhere else.
The Cauldron engine is looking
pretty average for 2008. It's glossiness attempts
to hide what is a bland looking game. There's
little art direction, the level of detail in
the levels is sparse. While it does attempt
to look modern, at least 2008, there's absolutely
nothing in this game that'll make you think
"that looks cool". It's just boring
indoor settings from an extremely linear Lincoln
Memorial, various areas of the White House and
finishing in the Air Force One in the easiest
boss battle of all time.
Then comes the various gameplay
elements that frustrate - laser tripwire bombs,
machine-gun turrets and the mini-game/challenges
required to hack computers. Challenges where
you're usually given around 60 seconds to complete
a task that takes far longer than this, usually
double. Then if you fail you die instantly and
return to a checkpoint, which is often NOT right
before this mini-game. These are the most annoying
mini-games I've ever experienced, and if it
weren't for a trainer removing the time limit,
there's no way I would have bothered playing
Secret Service any further than the first mini-game
encounter. There's about a dozen throughout
the game.
The story is also a bore with
confusing political non-sense throughout with
zero character building or backstory so you
barely know who anyone even is for most of the
game.
So overall Secret Service is
a below average game. The combat is okay, but
mini-games terrible. If you want to play something
average just go back to Soldier of Fortune:
Payback. It's similar but has a bit more variety
and interest in it's locations. And lasts more
than five hours.
Cauldron have since given up
on PC games to focus on consoles. Not a big
surprise, and they won't be missed with the
sloppy efforts they've put out after Chaser.
