As a Hidden & Dangerous fan I was very happy to discover Conflict: Desert Storm back in the day. Another tactical shooter where you control four elite soldiers that you can seamlessly switch between and give orders to.
Admittedly C:DS suffers from a variety of issues, at least some of which can be attributed to the game's console origins. The graphics were already mediocre back then, character proportions and animations appear almost comedic, aiming feels very weird, giving orders or exchanging equipment literally couldn't be any worse and the audio quality is a bad joke. The biggest problem is probably the comparably shallow gameplay and infinitely respawning enemies, many of the mechanics are also far more abstract than you'd want them to be in a tactical military shooter.
As such the first impression you get is that C:DS is as mediocre as it gets. However, as I decided to give the game a genuine chance and play it a little longer I ended up beating the whole campaign and had a blast. You get used to all its clunkiness and very "gamey" mechanics and ultimately do discover both a surprisingly tactical and exciting experience. The game often puts a lot of pressure on you with seemingly infinite streams of enemies coming from all directions with some APCs and tanks thrown in and these seemingly hopeless situations are where the game shines. With limited ammo and a small squad success is determined by good positioning of your men and by acting quick and performing decisive strikes. And coordinating attacks of all your men with their different roles and switching between them and saving each others' butts just never gets old. Despite not being as "good" as Hidden & Dangerous ironically C:DS is the far more fun game out of the two. If you're looking for a military simulator stay away but if you want a tactical third person shooter more similar to Freedom Fighters this is a game worth your time. And it's a welcome change from all the CoD-ish war shooters out there.
