Hour of Victory review

The chief gimmick in Midway’s Hour of Victory is that you’ve got a crack three-man squad - sneaky covert operative Taggert, burly commando Ross and sharp-shooting ranger Bull. It’s a concept that was used to reasonable effect in Commandos: Strike Force, where a suspiciously similar trio swanned about in war-torn cities facing missions that required their individual talents.

Sadly, both the inter-squad and environmental interaction during Hour of Victory seems painfully, almost insultingly, linear in comparison. The game desperately tries to convey the impression that you’re part of a crack squad, but the actual orchestration is utterly sterile and by-the-book. At the start you’ll pick your hero and - at key points - you’ll be faced with a locked door, pushable cart or climbable wall. Then it’s simply a matter of pressing X and watching a crusty third-person cutscene before being thrown back into the action. In fact, aside from token crap stealth sections, the only real, discernable difference between the three is that Ross can take more punishment than his pals - making him the obvious choice.