I.G.I. 2: Covert Strike

The original Project IGI was a pretty remarkable game that saw you infiltrate an array of enemy compounds set on varied expansive backdrops. The music was amazing, the guns felt punchy and there was an overall incredible atmosphere. The tension was immense as there was no saving and there were several ways to get to your objective. It had some design and technical flaws but it was a title way ahead of its time and a huge surprise in the FPS genre. I.G.I 2 feels so lackluster and a big departure from the first game. Missions feel more linear, enemies are plastered all over the place and the sounds are nowhere near as good. The gameplay just feels off in so many respects and it really diminishes everything about the game. There is still a considerable challenge here despite design frustrations and limitations but fans of the original will mostly be disappointed that the sequel didn't expand or improve and in most cases, go backwards. Worth checking out in a deep sale I guess but it's nothing compared to the iconic original and that is the game I would most love to see on GOG.

I bought the boxed version of IGI2 back in 2003 and got just about halfway through when i found some other game that interested me and exchanged igi for that one... Now, 8 yeras later i bought it from GOG and played through it on hard mode during a long sick leave, and it just blew me away. Yes,it is clumsy at certain points and has a certain amount of repetition and the enemy get stuck in doorways every now and then, but that's about it. The AI is not stupid, just irrational at times. The enemy is not overly accurate and neither are you. The lack of detail in graphics is compensated by vast open landscapes and interesting level design. But most of all its fun. Picking out panicking guards one by one, taking out 2 or even 3 lined up with one single bullet or tossing a greande into a group of eight just to see them all lying dead afterwards is very rewarding. The story is just deep enough to keep you interested but the action never gets too realistic or serious. Plain arcade fun IMO. Made my sick leave.

I've only played the demo for IGI 1 but the demo mission/checking the wiki shows how it frequently rewarded exploration with vital health and weapons. I.G.I 2 simply doesn't do this, infact alot of the game's missions have literally no item pick-ups, at all, beyond what enemies drop, despite frequently featuring optional storage areas that have simply nothing in them. IGI 1 had the Health Syringe healing item appear in most levels, sometimes you even got multiple uses per level, in IGI 2's 19 mission campaign, it appears exactly 3 times, one use each. IGI 2's "difficulty" mostly comes from absurd accuracy enemies and most levels completely lacking any healing, it feels like unfair cheap difficulty due to the levels being rushed to completion. The game also, unlike the first game, only lets you carry one large weapon and a sidearm, most levels do not provide you any enemy sidearms so you're effectively stuck with 1 weapon slot, again, plenty of empty storage areas where finding a few Makarovs could happen. The game also has a bunch of technical issues where you need to open the map screen to revert the camera after it bugs out when restarting a mission/sometimes after cutscenes, the game simply was clearly rushed out the door and it shows, the game is fun stealth action when it works/you're in a level that feels well fleshed out but for every well crafted level, theres' 3-4 ones that feel like they were made in a rush.

IGI 2 is a stealth-focused FPS game that plays kind of like a middle ground between a first-person Splinter Cell and GoldenEye 64. The game consists of 19 missions that play like small stealth sandboxes. Early levels are simple and usually have one obvious optimal path. Later ones can be a lot more complex and are open to many different approaches. For example, different walkthroughs for the last level offer different approaches and there is no consensus on what is the optimal way to beat it. The game has three difficulty options: easy, normal and hard. Easy mode allows the player to role play as John Rambo and blast his way through the game ignoring the stealth entirely. Normal mode limits the number of mid level saves to 4, makes enemies smarter and the player more vulnerable. Hard mode disables mid level saves entirely and makes enemies more aggressive and collectively coordinated, forcing the player to be extra careful about not being noticed by enemies. The best thing about this style of difficulty balancing is enemies are just as vulnerable in every difficulty mode. You can always headshot or even stab your way out of a bad situation. Where IGI 2 gets weird and certainly unique is the way it applies stealth to scenarios where you have to kill a bunch of enemies. You see, there is no pacifist/non-violent route in IGI 2. It's not a game about going unnoticed, it's a game about killing unnoticed. This leads to several situations where you have to take actions that will make the enemies aware of your presence and that doesn't even count as breaking stealth - as long as they don't register your exact position. It's definitely a very different take on stealth and one that may in fact seem confusing at first. However, it quickly becomes clear that manipulating the enemy behavior is in fact part of the game. I had fun with this game and I recommend it to FPS fans that want something a little different.

Admittedly the first may have been better, However, the graphics on this are better and still love this type of shooter. that is, not balls to the wall shooting with continual chaos. Take your time and think as you go though the mission and you will like this game as long as you try not to shoot your way through. Yes, you will have to shoot, but stealth will be a great advantage.