Played this as a kid on the N64. It was ass then and it's ass now. Controls suck man.
No idea why this got the luck to be translated in italian alongside Mario Party 2 and the majority of the Pokémon games for N64 lmao
Anyways: if you get used with the controls it's a pretty fun third-person shooting experience!
Anyways: if you get used with the controls it's a pretty fun third-person shooting experience!
Not sure why people call it the 64's Metal Gear, it's mostly a pretty straightforward shooter rather than a stealth game. And the ancestor to all cover shooters at that. Get it if you want to shoot bad guys with a cheesy and fun plotline.
I have no idea how else to word this: this game is premiere world-class schlock, and I mean that in a good way. Innovative, a lil batshit insane, and also inexplicably difficult in a way that feels like this game was maybe supposed to be some sort of arcade lightgun shooter game.
When I was a young boy, I was addicted to this game. It was so impressive to me that you can hide behind walls and shoot with a press of a button, and the fact that you had such open space to navigate/move around. I love the cutscenes, and I love the mystery of trying to find all your comrades. The Hud/presentation of this game is nothing short of badass.
However, every level is built like a damn maze. You have no clue where you're going whatsoever. Did I go back inside that house already? Oops, yeah I did. Did I open that door-- Yup, I did.
Also, get used to the random blue lasers that instantly kill you if you aren't paying too much attention.
At least the bosses and gunplay was fun! Multiplayer was a blast too.
However, every level is built like a damn maze. You have no clue where you're going whatsoever. Did I go back inside that house already? Oops, yeah I did. Did I open that door-- Yup, I did.
Also, get used to the random blue lasers that instantly kill you if you aren't paying too much attention.
At least the bosses and gunplay was fun! Multiplayer was a blast too.
Jean-Luc Cougar of SCAT wanders through a bland complex of grey and brown, the magnets in his back allowing him to stick to walls as if he were a spider, while his team of many men are killed off one by one. Can be so annoying to play due to odd controls, but for some reason the sound effects have stuck in my head for years after playing it.
If you want some dumb fun with friends then i highly recommend. Golden Eye is prob better
when they say first cover-based shooter they fucking mean it
What’s most impressive in Winback’s design is it’s dedication to it’s groundbreaking ideas. For being the first third-person cover-based shooter, it’s extremely confident in a gameplay philosophy that has never been attempted. All the combat is no-frills cover shooting, and it exceeds at it better than any game since. The third-person cover-shooter genre was pioneered and simultaneously peaked at the exact same time; the absolute zenith of the genre.
Yes, Winback: Covert Operations is that good.
Pulling off consecutive headshots in Winback is a state of gaming euphoria only matched by the Issen in Onimusha or counter launchers in God Hand; A technique that requires finesse over such a simple mechanic. You can either try subtlety adjusting the thumbstick with precise movements, or just hold up and time your shots exactly depending on the cover you are exiting from. Either way, it’s immensely satisfying. Enemies can eat more than half a clip from your handgun if you don’t hit the head. Standing out of cover while dumping bullets down range is a recipe for taking heavy damage. You die quickly in Winback. You will not survive in the long-term if you run out of cover and dive around like Max Payne.
One of my favorite things a game can do is incentivize the best way to play. The most fun way to play should also be the most effective way, and this is certainly the case with Winback. Not only does Winback reward extra points for headshots (known as “lethal hits”) at the end of each level, but it’s also the most effective way to ensure your survival through each stage. Staying in cover, meticulously popping off quick headshots, limiting your exposure to enemies, choosing the most effective weaponry for the situation and positioning yourself in a preeminent line of sight in the level geometry is not only paramount to survival, but also the most rewarding way to play.
Another impressive aspect of Winback is the classic Japanese-style level design that they have flawlessly intertwined with the addicting combat. While not being a confusing game, the level design isn’t a linear batch of corridors filled with chest-high walls like you might expect. Winback has puzzles, backtracking, and smart level layouts that keep the experience from becoming stagnant. Reoccurring mechanics such as destructible boxes, switches, and laser traps combine together to create some fun little brain teasers in between the encounters. I cannot stress enough how brilliantly paced Winback is. While the game never changes substantially, it does continue to combine its’ gameplay elements, as sparse as they are, in new and engaging ways.
However, I do believe that Winback could have benefited from a bit more variety. What's here is near flawless, blasting through a dynamic array of ever-changing combat encounters, escalating puzzles, and the occasional boss battle, but that is all there is to the game. Winback manages to avoid becoming boring or tedious; in fact, it remains far from it. However, the game is surprisingly long, clocking in at over 12 hours. Winback could have been further enriched with the inclusion of another puzzle element to add to the mix, some sort of reoccurring mini-game, or even a few player-influenced set-pieces.
While the environments here lean on the drab side, with office buildings, factories, and sewers sharing a generic and similar color pallet, the arcade aesthetic shines through to dampen the environment’s shortcomings. Enemies are color coordinated and act differently depending on the color. Some might have different weapons while others may be more aggressive and rush you. Additionally, where you shoot enemies dictates the color of the hit effect. Even the UI is arcadey, with individual bullets representing your ammo count. Its all obviously inspired by rail gun shooters at the time, such as Time Crisis and Virtua Cop. In a lot of ways, Winback is Time Crisis in third-person form.
Winback is still the best cover-based shooter because it avoids all the pitfalls that made all the 7th generation chaff so uninteresting – no waiting around in cover for regenerating health to come back, no tedious encounters that feel identical to the last, and no uninvolved scripted events. It maintained player agency and effective level-design, establishing itself as the pinnacle of a genre yet to be fully realized.
Also, please don’t play the PS2 version. Now that I’ve played the N64 version, I realize how brutal some of the changes are. The AI is terrible for the level design and achieving headshots has had all the skill stripped out of it. The PS2 version is really not worth it. Play the N64 version or don’t play it at all.
Yes, Winback: Covert Operations is that good.
Pulling off consecutive headshots in Winback is a state of gaming euphoria only matched by the Issen in Onimusha or counter launchers in God Hand; A technique that requires finesse over such a simple mechanic. You can either try subtlety adjusting the thumbstick with precise movements, or just hold up and time your shots exactly depending on the cover you are exiting from. Either way, it’s immensely satisfying. Enemies can eat more than half a clip from your handgun if you don’t hit the head. Standing out of cover while dumping bullets down range is a recipe for taking heavy damage. You die quickly in Winback. You will not survive in the long-term if you run out of cover and dive around like Max Payne.
One of my favorite things a game can do is incentivize the best way to play. The most fun way to play should also be the most effective way, and this is certainly the case with Winback. Not only does Winback reward extra points for headshots (known as “lethal hits”) at the end of each level, but it’s also the most effective way to ensure your survival through each stage. Staying in cover, meticulously popping off quick headshots, limiting your exposure to enemies, choosing the most effective weaponry for the situation and positioning yourself in a preeminent line of sight in the level geometry is not only paramount to survival, but also the most rewarding way to play.
Another impressive aspect of Winback is the classic Japanese-style level design that they have flawlessly intertwined with the addicting combat. While not being a confusing game, the level design isn’t a linear batch of corridors filled with chest-high walls like you might expect. Winback has puzzles, backtracking, and smart level layouts that keep the experience from becoming stagnant. Reoccurring mechanics such as destructible boxes, switches, and laser traps combine together to create some fun little brain teasers in between the encounters. I cannot stress enough how brilliantly paced Winback is. While the game never changes substantially, it does continue to combine its’ gameplay elements, as sparse as they are, in new and engaging ways.
However, I do believe that Winback could have benefited from a bit more variety. What's here is near flawless, blasting through a dynamic array of ever-changing combat encounters, escalating puzzles, and the occasional boss battle, but that is all there is to the game. Winback manages to avoid becoming boring or tedious; in fact, it remains far from it. However, the game is surprisingly long, clocking in at over 12 hours. Winback could have been further enriched with the inclusion of another puzzle element to add to the mix, some sort of reoccurring mini-game, or even a few player-influenced set-pieces.
While the environments here lean on the drab side, with office buildings, factories, and sewers sharing a generic and similar color pallet, the arcade aesthetic shines through to dampen the environment’s shortcomings. Enemies are color coordinated and act differently depending on the color. Some might have different weapons while others may be more aggressive and rush you. Additionally, where you shoot enemies dictates the color of the hit effect. Even the UI is arcadey, with individual bullets representing your ammo count. Its all obviously inspired by rail gun shooters at the time, such as Time Crisis and Virtua Cop. In a lot of ways, Winback is Time Crisis in third-person form.
Winback is still the best cover-based shooter because it avoids all the pitfalls that made all the 7th generation chaff so uninteresting – no waiting around in cover for regenerating health to come back, no tedious encounters that feel identical to the last, and no uninvolved scripted events. It maintained player agency and effective level-design, establishing itself as the pinnacle of a genre yet to be fully realized.
Also, please don’t play the PS2 version. Now that I’ve played the N64 version, I realize how brutal some of the changes are. The AI is terrible for the level design and achieving headshots has had all the skill stripped out of it. The PS2 version is really not worth it. Play the N64 version or don’t play it at all.
I'm being very generous with this 9/10. It's a forward thinking, ahead of the curve cover shooter that frankly does it better than every single other one despite being the first real one. Amazing action movie schlock, great soundtrack, very cool vibes though the environments are drab. The basic core gameplay and feedback is great. The encounters keep putting new twists on things, and the game is very long. I like it a lot, also apparently a big involved multiplayer mode I won't bother with.
Except... the last like third of the game is a total slog and is basically built around ignoring or outright breaking all the systems of the game and making you play antithetical to how you were playing before, and basically forcing you to become hyper aware of spawn points and metagaming them. A lot of shootouts in tight hallways with like 5 guys that is just a grind with zero skill, or you walk into a room and a cutscene happens and five guys spawn behind you. I wouldn't mind this if these were bonus hard mode missions and I kinda suspect they were made that way originally, but got shoved into the main campaign. Out of extreme mercy I am ignoring this and instead judging the game on the first twenty or so missions.
It's a visionary game, it influenced just about every thing ever, it's cool, it's fully featured, it is very fun, it keeps pulling out new tricks constantly, ... it's just the last third is a total chore. This rating isn't just about game quality, but its total impact on video gaming in general so I think it deserves it. Give it a shot, you probably will like it.
Except... the last like third of the game is a total slog and is basically built around ignoring or outright breaking all the systems of the game and making you play antithetical to how you were playing before, and basically forcing you to become hyper aware of spawn points and metagaming them. A lot of shootouts in tight hallways with like 5 guys that is just a grind with zero skill, or you walk into a room and a cutscene happens and five guys spawn behind you. I wouldn't mind this if these were bonus hard mode missions and I kinda suspect they were made that way originally, but got shoved into the main campaign. Out of extreme mercy I am ignoring this and instead judging the game on the first twenty or so missions.
It's a visionary game, it influenced just about every thing ever, it's cool, it's fully featured, it is very fun, it keeps pulling out new tricks constantly, ... it's just the last third is a total chore. This rating isn't just about game quality, but its total impact on video gaming in general so I think it deserves it. Give it a shot, you probably will like it.
Impressive for its time, but I couldn't get into it.
WinBack, an unassuming N64 game from 1999, has the distinction of somehow being the most influential game since Mario 64. Okay, Mario wasn't THAT long before Winback, but hey, remember when games were rapidly progressing? Console generations every four years? Those were the days...
Thinking about it, I suppose Halo is the MOST influential since then, but for entirely bad reasons. Regenerating health and 2 weapon limitations are not something to be celebrated.
Anyway, Winback was the original cover shooter (Do not mention Time Crisis to me, that's different). Without it, there would be no Gears of War, no RE4, you name it. What appeared to be a simple MGS ripoff was in fact a Trojan horse to deliver revolutionary game mechanics. You aim using the weapon's laser! Sure, in this, when your aim is close to an enemy or object you get a standard lock-on reticle, as a sort of acquiescence to the primitive-brained sapiens that were playing games on the Nintendo Sixty-Four, but that was crazy at the time!
Kill.Switch would later evolve these mechanics a bit, and take most of the credit, but its only real addition was adding blindfire. WinBack was the progenitor. The Modern Prometheus. It stole ambrosia from the heavens and handed it to us mere mortals, and what did we do with it? We made goddamn Dead Space 3.
The game itself is pretty good too.
Thinking about it, I suppose Halo is the MOST influential since then, but for entirely bad reasons. Regenerating health and 2 weapon limitations are not something to be celebrated.
Anyway, Winback was the original cover shooter (Do not mention Time Crisis to me, that's different). Without it, there would be no Gears of War, no RE4, you name it. What appeared to be a simple MGS ripoff was in fact a Trojan horse to deliver revolutionary game mechanics. You aim using the weapon's laser! Sure, in this, when your aim is close to an enemy or object you get a standard lock-on reticle, as a sort of acquiescence to the primitive-brained sapiens that were playing games on the Nintendo Sixty-Four, but that was crazy at the time!
Kill.Switch would later evolve these mechanics a bit, and take most of the credit, but its only real addition was adding blindfire. WinBack was the progenitor. The Modern Prometheus. It stole ambrosia from the heavens and handed it to us mere mortals, and what did we do with it? We made goddamn Dead Space 3.
The game itself is pretty good too.
Pros: Who needs Metal Gear Solid, when you've got WinBack!? The star of this game is definitely the cover shooting mechanics. Which are easy to use, easy to understand. Upon taking cover behind the corner of a wall or obstruction, you're given the ability to lock onto enemies or objects you'll want to hit, where then if you let go of the cover button, you'll automatically turn towards your targets locked on to each one-by-one, shooting each with the auto-targeting, or free aim if you so desire, to then warp back to the exact cover position when you're done and ready to rinse and repeat until all targets are destroyed. An extremely satisfying mechanic that just works, and it's the basis for the entire game. It's like a mix between Time Crisis and Metal Gear, as you're still free to roam the areas of the missions, and more often than not, you're playing stealthily, trying to go undetected. And surprisingly, there's even a multiplayer mode, and using these mechanics in multiplayer death matches is pretty fun too! It's a neat game that went under the radar for a long while, but fortunately came back into the limelight thanks to a NSO+ release on Switch.
Cons: I do recall crouching and running a lot, heh, when you are spotted, or if you can't warp to the edge of a wall correctly, it can be a bit of a frustration.
What it means to me: One day, my older brother came home singing the praises of this new game he'd just played with his friend. And that game was Winback of all things, and so, we sought it out! We had to get Winback!! And so we definitely did, and treated it as a hidden gem, and I feel to this day, it is one!
Cons: I do recall crouching and running a lot, heh, when you are spotted, or if you can't warp to the edge of a wall correctly, it can be a bit of a frustration.
What it means to me: One day, my older brother came home singing the praises of this new game he'd just played with his friend. And that game was Winback of all things, and so, we sought it out! We had to get Winback!! And so we definitely did, and treated it as a hidden gem, and I feel to this day, it is one!
Ah yes, The Original Cover Shooter, the one that kickstarted it all. It's really interesting to play this myself, as to me, this felt closer to on-rail shooters like Time Crisis instead of modern cover shooters. There's a certain rhythm to its gameplay: finding cover, locking on to enemies, popping up from cover and gunning them down when it's safe to do so, and so on. This sounds like a typical cover shooter, but the way this game controls has that same kind of step-by-step process like how one would play a Time Crisis cabinet. Stomping on the pedal to take cover, waiting for the red enemies to finish their shot, and so on. This strategic routine is cemented by the fact that you don't just do things instantly, there's a short period before you actually finish your animations, which makes the game more about planning ahead rather than pure reflexes. It definitely takes a while to fully familiarize with the controls, but once it clicks, it's actually pretty fun.
Sadly there's just other aspects of the game that does not hold up at all. The level design is just straight up annoying most of the times, it really feels like you're just mindlessly looking for enemies to kill, and all the other objectives you do are only meaningless obstacles that gets in the way of getting into the next "new" location. I put new in quotations because there's a lot of backtracking here, and this adds to that feeling of not being in sync with what the game wants you to do, because its usually not clear why you're backtracking, but its the only way to progress.
It's a bummer, because the gameplay itself is genuinely fun and interesting, and I find the early 3D era story cutscenes to be charming. I just don't want to go through these dumb-ass levels, man.
Sadly there's just other aspects of the game that does not hold up at all. The level design is just straight up annoying most of the times, it really feels like you're just mindlessly looking for enemies to kill, and all the other objectives you do are only meaningless obstacles that gets in the way of getting into the next "new" location. I put new in quotations because there's a lot of backtracking here, and this adds to that feeling of not being in sync with what the game wants you to do, because its usually not clear why you're backtracking, but its the only way to progress.
It's a bummer, because the gameplay itself is genuinely fun and interesting, and I find the early 3D era story cutscenes to be charming. I just don't want to go through these dumb-ass levels, man.