It is becoming hard to argue that militaristic games aren’t becoming one of the most prevalent genres. With games like Brothers in Arms, America’s Army, far too many Tom Clancy shooters, and strategy/action hybrids like Full Spectrum Warrior, the battlefield has never been closer than it is now. Close Combat: First to Fight, based on a Marine training tool, promised to give us a realistic experience like none other. Instead, Close Combat turned out to be an occasionally enjoyable FPS with some disappointing flaws.

Taking place in the Middle East, Close Combat has you leading a squad of four marines through war-torn streets and bombed-out buildings while engaging Syrians and Lebanese. Don’t expect much in the way of background information or character development because Close Combat is not a story-driven game. The only cutscenes come in the form of fictional news footage in-between each of the six missions.

Not that a plot is necessarily required in a militaristic shooter. All that’s needed are some thrilling firefights, some clever tactics and workable controls. In Close Combat, you control the leader of a small squadron, with three other soldiers who follow your orders. Running and gunning is only effective on the easiest setting, and even then you’ll find yourself failing the mission more often than you’d like. Maneuvering around carefully and ordering your squad to perform effective techniques is the best route to take.

Issuing commands is a breeze with the excellent control scheme. Even though every button on the controller is used, everything can be easily performed. Laying down suppressing fire while flanking the enemy position sounds like a complicated technique, but it can be performed with the touch of a button from the radial menu. Simply clicking the action button brings up several options depending on what you’re aimed at. Providing cover fire, healing a fellow Marine, calling in air support and many other options are readily at your disposal thanks to the intuitive radial menu.

The most exciting tactics are the room takedowns. Opening the radial menu while aiming at closed door will let you take one of two options. You can prepare your squad to simply storm the room, or take the less subtle approach and lob a grenade in the room when the signal is given. As soon as you decide which approach to take, tense music starts as the squad gathers around the door. On your signal, the door busts upon and the planning either pays off with dead hostiles or it flounders with some injured allies due to poor positioning.

Another satisfying tactic is to force the hostile to give up. If you manage to take an enemy’s comrades out, lay down suppressing fire, and so on, then you can use the radial menu to demand that the hostile surrenders. Once in a while they comply and you can cuff ‘em for an improved mission rating, but oftentimes they refuse your order if you haven’t done everything you could to discourage them. Once in a while they even fake the surrender in order to draw you out in the open. It’s an exciting change of pace from simply shooting everything.

As satisfying as clearing a room of hostiles or causing the enemy to surrender is, some of the “tactics” are cheap and come across as unrealistic in a game that proudly advertises its realism. When you’re not going against enemy armor or a turret, you only have to look for an enemy’s arm protruding from his cover to take him out. Far too much of the game has you waiting around corners for the enemy to foolishly reveal part of his body to take a shot, and then repeating this process several more times until he is eliminated.

It’s a shame there’s such an emphasis on gradually picking off foolish enemies, but the problems don’t end there. Initially I was impressed at how intelligent my squadmates were. They’d always form into effective formations and they usually managed to spot an enemy and accurately take him out before I could even see the foe. When the large, outdoor levels would change to cramped buildings, the AI became noticeably poor. Poor AI is the last thing you want in a tactical game. My squadmates would sometimes just stare at the opposing forces even though they’d be right in front of them, and sometimes they’d take the completely wrong path that I wanted them to take. The enemies don’t fare much better. In one instance, my squadron all had their back turned to two enemies who we approaching. Instead of unleashing a barrage of bullets into our unsuspecting backs, the enemies just ran right through us and tried turning around to fire. By the time they turned around they were dead.

Despite the AI flaws, Close Combat’s saving grace lies in the excellent multiplayer. Not only is there 4-player co-op via split screen, system link, or Live, but there are also some excellent 8-player deathmatches to be had. Having to out-think and out-gun the opponent makes for a slow-paced but tense and enjoyable experience. There’s also plethora of different stages, so there’s a satisfying amount of replay value. Despite some minor lag and loading problems, the deathmatch proved to be much more enjoyable than the singleplayer campaign since there was no pesky AI to worry about. Considering that the solo campaign lasts less than ten hours, the long-lasting multiplayer is truly welcome.

Considering the graphics, it appears that Close Combat was rushed. While the game realistically detailed with bullet holes, burned-out buildings and outdated cars scattered at every turn, there are plenty of graphical glitches. People walk through closed doors and other objects. Shadows like to appear through dense walls, causing for some confusing moments. A couple times an enemy would float in the air like an angel after meeting his end. I don’t think it was the developer’s intentions to make the person playing laugh out loud at certain points.

The sound comes across better, but even this department is flawed. Enemies scream out when attacked and your squad mates always say something when given order. The problem is that all of the voices get incredibly repetitive. The mix of militaristic and Middle Eastern music is appropriately sparse, but it effectively cranks up the tension during certain segments.

Close Combat: First to Fight gets some things right, but if the poor AI and numerous glitches were ironed out then it could have been one of the finest tours of duty around. As it stands, it’s an excellent multiplayer game that just can’t compete with some of its rivals. If modern combat and multiplayer are your bag then check Close Combat. Otherwise, Brothers in Arms is much more worthy of your attention.