Playability is reduced by the games system requirements, which are grossly understated. I found after a few hours of gameplay it was taking my CPU up to five minutes just to remember to keep track of the time, let alone four squads worth of combat soldiers. But with the range of games available on the market that deliver quality in all departments, SL is worth leaving on the shelf. The graphics are unremarkable. Figure motion is jerky and unrealistic, and vehicles often dance across the screen performing 90 degree manoeuvres before becoming stuck in some invisible gap generated by designer incoherency.
Forest areas are blazingly ugly, although the houses and bunkers view nicely.
Explosions look more like powder puffs than anything threatening, and it often takes soldiers a while to realise that they in fact need to die. The music is reasonable, although does little to aid the flow of play, being a simple loop of various scores. What proves really annoying is the in game voiceovers. SL needs to take a leaf out of LucasArts book, re Medal of Honour, where an enemy s ghostly cry can send a shiver down your spine, and the music both entertains and enlivens. The verbal diatribe that emanates from your platoon members will quickly have you charging them headlong into suicide runs against heavy artillery and weapon emplacements simply to shut them up.