{"id":92747,"date":"2019-04-29T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/beyond_enemy_lines_covert_operations"},"modified":"2019-04-29T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T19:00:00","slug":"review-beyond-enemy-lines-covert-operations-a-tragic-fps-thats-beyond-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/04\/29\/review-beyond-enemy-lines-covert-operations-a-tragic-fps-thats-beyond-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations &#8211; A Tragic FPS That&#8217;s Beyond Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/beyond_enemy_lines_covert_operations\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/beyond_enemy_lines_covert_operations\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96174\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96174\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>The heart feels a slight flutter every time a new FPS hits the eShop. <em>Is this it?<\/em> Could this be the game that firmly cements the genre on Nintendo Switch? We\u2019ve had some impressive attempts thus far (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/wolfenstein_ii_the_new_colossus\"><strong>Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/doom\"><strong>DOOM<\/strong><\/a>), some decent offerings (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/payday_2\"><strong>Payday 2<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/paladins_-_founders_pack\"><strong>Paladins<\/strong><\/a>) and some average at best results (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/modern_combat_blackout\"><strong>Modern Combat Blackout<\/strong><\/a>). Predictably, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/beyond_enemy_lines_covert_operations\"><strong>Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations<\/strong><\/a> is not the upper echelon that\u2019s going to lead handheld shooters into a bright new dawn. Instead, it manages to dig a new basement in quality that\u2019s more likely to make your ticker tick its last tock than flutter with anything resembling hope.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96172\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96172\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations is the gaming equivalent of the \u2018hold my beer\u2019 meme. A single-player-only shooter so inexplicably bad it makes you long for the days when Nintendo was far more stringent with what appeared on its hardware. It\u2019s so poor it\u2019s surprising it doesn\u2019t turn its silenced pistol on itself the moment a new mission begins, performing a killing blow of mercy that would be far more satisfying than what actually follows. But alas it doesn\u2019t, leaving those brave enough to accept said mission quite the experience to endure. Question is, are you brave enough to pull said trigger?<\/p>\n<p>Simply put, Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations is a sandbox FPS where you need to tactically infiltrate a series of locations, extract certain items or data, then proceed to complete a further objective before making your hasty exit. Sneaking into Russian bases to steal key cards, secrets plans and more? It\u2019s nigh on impossible not to think of <em>the<\/em> shooter that nailed this formula back in 1997. In some ways it\u2019s a little unfair to compare the work of Rare \u2013 one of the greatest studios the UK has ever produced \u2013 to the creation of a single indie developer, but even the 22-year-old <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/n64\/goldeneye_007\"><strong>GoldenEye 007<\/strong><\/a> can still pull off the balance of applicable stealth rules, balanced weapon performance and player movement better than this.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96175\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96175\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations is just a mess. A hot mess of old ideas poorly executed. While you can sprint without end, you&#8217;re forced to move your reticule with all the haste of a heavily-medicated octogenarian. Want to adjust that those settings? Well, let\u2019s just say there aren\u2019t <em>any<\/em> settings for you adjust to you\u2019d better get used to aiming in slow-mo. Mercifully, there is an auto lock-on (which you can\u2019t switch off, obviously) and you can still aim down your iron sights \u2013 kind of. In reality, the screen just zooms in a fraction and your gun never actually moves.<\/p>\n<p>This is a game inspired by the classic days of <strong>Rainbow Six<\/strong>, <strong>Delta Force<\/strong> and <strong>SWAT<\/strong>. The open-ended nature of each map, the selection of weapons on offer and the \u2018choice\u2019 of how to approach each mission and its multiple objectives. But Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations doesn\u2019t possess any of the qualities that made these series so timeless. You can\u2019t customise your loadout before a mission. Gun physics are so vague you can snipe enemies across the map with a pistol. And, if you\u2019re far enough away, enemies being shot simply won\u2019t move as it\u2019s your proximity that activates their AI. Even recoil will systematically cause your aim to shift higher and higher with every shot, unless you\u2019re aiming down your \u2018sights\u2019, in which there is no recoil.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96171\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/96171\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Perhaps it\u2019s possible to \u2018control the recoil\u2019 with a mouse, but there\u2019s simply no support for this when you\u2019re forced to use the analog sticks. There are no settings in place for motion controls either, but then again, there are no \u2018settings\u2019 in general so that shouldn\u2019t be much of a surprise. There\u2019s very little room for saves, either. Taking notes from forgotten tactical shooters such as <strong>Project IGI<\/strong>, you\u2019ll need to learn enemy positions and use map knowledge to complete objectives with a minimum of confrontation.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is when you combine a stealth system you can\u2019t predict, a range of weapons that feel and perform in too similar a fashion and an aiming model that\u2019s so slow you\u2019ll never win a gunfight coming from anywhere other than directly in front of you, you\u2019re left with a shooter that simply isn\u2019t stable enough to warrant any form of tactics. Games such as Delta Force punished you for poor decision making, but the mechanics and physics it employed were solid. Mission failures were the product of human error, not gaming imperfection.<\/p>\n<p>From a visual standpoint, Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations pulls of the homage to early 2000s era PC shooters by looking as primitive as an early 2000s era PC shooter. Guns clip into the side of buildings while balaclavas clip on the faces of your enemies. Something as simple as blades of grass pop in on the ground in environments that would make early Farming Simulators hang their heads in shame. Draw distances are surprisingly decent, but the framerate is so choppy you&#8217;ll barely notice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations is an Early Access game that\u2019s come out of the oven less than half-baked. The good intentions of the developer are clear to see in the open-ended nature of each map and the way you approach each objective in your way by opening locked doors and hacking computers rather than shooting your way into a facility, but none of the mechanics in place ever make these conditions feel reliable or rewarding. It\u2019s a purely single-player experience that really needed more time to work out its considerable number of kinks before enlisting on the eShop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The heart feels a slight flutter every time a new FPS hits the eShop. Is this it? Could this be the game that firmly cements the genre on Nintendo Switch? We\u2019ve had some impressive attempts thus far (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and DOOM), some decent offerings (Payday 2 and Paladins) and some average at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}