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The fourth major installment in the futuristic third-person shooter series and the debut of this Xbox-exclusive franchise on an 8th-generation platform. Story-wise, it's not a direct sequel to the original trilogy; instead, we assume control over a completely new pair of protagonists. The gameplay mechanics remained faithful to proved solutions, therefore the game is still a dynamic, linear shooter that emphasizes the use of cover. In addition, the title features a multiplayer mode, including a co-op mode which is one of the series hallmarks. The game's visuals make full use of current graphics capabilities while retaining the grim atmosphere of its predecessors. The humans live in special town-keeps now, which defend them against both dangerous weather conditions and creatures inhabiting the planet. The cover system is more dynamic, which now allows the player mainly to use environmental objects to their advantage in combat (fragments of the ceiling can be dropped on the enemy hiding behind a cover for example). Now, the player can also attack the enemy with a knife thanks to the improved cover system. Most of the new elements concern the in-game weather. Storms raging on the planet fall into four categories and the two last kinds affect the course of battles to a large extent. Heavy winds can increase the range of fire or alter the bullets' flight direction. The heaviest gales force the player to fight for survival, because lightnings begin to fall from the sky for instance, and the player's task is to avoid them. It places as much emphasis on the multiplayer modes as it does on the single-player campaign. The game offers the versus modes, a co-op mode for two-players sitting next to each other and more. |
