The Sum Of All Fears Author: Drew Lanclos   Publisher: Ubi Soft   Developer: Red Storm Entertainment Date Posted: August 27th, 2002 SLRating: Bottom Line: It's not the bee's knees, but it'll definitely do in a pinch. Article Navigation Introduction/Background Gameplay Graphics/Sound Multiplayer Conclusion/Pros & Cons Rating Breakdown Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> Discuss This Article

Graphics/Sound

The graphics for Sum of All Fears are very similar to what you'd see with Half-Life, but with more detailed environments. The best place I can possibly convey this impression is on the bank raid mission, where you actually have to storm a bank and comb through its offices looking for resistance while accomplishing your objectives. Offices feature a realistic complement of desks and chairs and computers, and lighting is good for the rooms based on their function (a meeting room, for instance, has more deco lighting than a regular office). The prison mission has industrial-sized laundry equipment and guard towers. It all feels well put together.

Even with all that in mind, though, the geometry and model complexity still seems a bit low in other areas. It's not too bad, though. Running the game at 1024x768 in 32-bit color with all options cranked, the game never hiccuped or anything. It ran smooth as silk, likely thanks to optimizations made possible by the simple room brushes.

The music is pretty similar to prior Rainbow Six titles. Dramatic, but not overpowering either…almost like what you'd find in an action movie during a dramatic fight sequence (Fancy that…). The voice acting, while mostly restricted to mission briefings and details by Clark, is pretty good too. Sound effects are the star of the show here, though. Especially when using EAX, voices and bullet ricochets sound wonderfully behind wooden doors or brick walls. This is one of the best games to demonstrate the features of Creative's environmental audio API, since the game takes place in a variety of different environments and areas (underground cave, cluttered small buildings, outdoors, hallways, a mansion). Other than that, there's ultimately not a whole lot to say here either.

Multiplayer

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Article Navigation Introduction/Background Gameplay Graphics/Sound Multiplayer Conclusion/Pros & Cons Rating Breakdown

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