so, Breach & Clear.
it's a team-based tactical game (very similar to Frozen Synapse, in its basic concept of combat, but with less options in controlling your characters), where you're placed in charge of a team of special operations guys (Rangers, SEALs, SF, SAS, even KSK and Spetznaz).
The combat is simple yet challenging at times. you give out orders to each of your soldiers; each soldier then acts for a set amount of time, then the game stops and waits for your new orders. the soldier can move at fast or tactical pace, hold position, use a perk or throw a grenade during his action phase. this is a lot less than what you could do in FS (for example, the ability to wait for a second or two at a waypoint would be welcome, as would the ability to ignore enemies spotted in certain sectors).
you can set multiple waypoints and set where the soldier should be looking at any given moment. there's also a cover system that determines how hard it is to hit the target behind cover.
the AI moves simultaneously with your soldiers, and you get to see each phase play out in real time. and I can't tell you how satisfying it is when you storm a room full of bad guys only to have your team wipe them out in a matter of seconds thanks to tactical advantage and use of flashbangs.
this is where similarities with FS end, though, as this is a strictly single-player game, that has a lengthy campaign (it has 6 locations, each with 3 game modes (types of objectives), each with 5 missions to get through (it's all one mission, divided into 5 parts, because there is no saving feature, and each part could take up to an hour).
you also have the ability to equip your team, the amount of options is overwhelming at first, but since most bonuses from this equipment can be easily split into two categories (armor and speed), there are only a few noteworthy items. it's still fun to play around with different vests and helmets, weapon attachments and camo patterns.
your team has abilities that you can improve with skill points they get for leveling up. unfortunately, you can't choose perks, they are given to each soldier depending on his class, and some perks are clearly more useful than others.
the game also has 4 difficulty settings and a perma-death mode.
now for my gripes with it (most of which stem from it being for mobile devices)
it has no ballistics (meaning no penetration whatsoever), you can shoot at a target behind a cardboard box, and he will remain unharmed, as long as there are no direct hits).
the AI is rather poor. its behavior seems to be tied to how much noise your team makes, but I rarely see them come from adjacent rooms to the sounds of gunfire, most of the time they just stay in their positions, oblivious to what's happening just across the hallway. and even if they do spot your team and flee, after losing sight of you they just take cover behind a nearest object without any regard to your team's position (often they just expose their backs to you, making them just free kills).
I don't like how the gear is implemented. it feels very superficial. especially since body armor is only an extension of your health. also, I can only roll my eyes at things like flashlights adding accuracy to a weapon, or holographic sights providing more accuracy than optical sights. overall, it's just a way to make your progress meaningful, without much consideration of how it works in real life.
still, you can see a lot of work went into this game, and even though the interface wasn't reworked for mouse and keyboard, you can still use them, and they have most functions present in other similar games (scrolling the screen, rotating your view, zooming in and out).
anyway, if you own a tablet I would definitely recommend picking this up, as you will get dozens of hours worth of entertainment out of it. or wait for a it to pop up at a reduced price and grab it for PC
I did post Miss Georgia back a couple of pages, I believe
