Turning Point

2008/02/08

Actually it would be a great day here on the building site. It’s the beginning of the 1960’s, New York is at my feet, the sun is shining... If it weren’t for those damned fighter squadrons in the sky, you could feel really content. When the first explosions become discernible in the distance, it finally becomes clear to me that this is not about to become an idyllic day. Soon thereafter, there is an explosion almost beside me. Steel girders crack under the bomb impacts, workers are targeted by the pilots and fall, fatally wounded, to the ground far below. Let’s get out of here!

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is thrilling, no doubt about it. Its entire environment provides the highest levels of excitement. German paratroopers fall from the skies, things explode everywhere you look, while civilians flee and deadly fighter pilots swoop by barely over the tops of our heads. This is a really convincing production. Unfortunately the quirks are at times still too numerous, too evident and above all, too obvious. Frame drops, glitches, graphics errors and triggered scenes which clash with the game play put an almighty damper on the spectacle. There is plenty to delight you, stylishly done and at the appropriate moment. Unfortunately the game’s graphical appearance mostly looks a little dated and sloppy. The announced facelift focused on the DS, with soil textures visible on the faces of the killed. Many animations are also rather jolty or truncated. Conversely, you will be amazed by the explosions, the dust which rises from the ground, or the poor gent on the ground who looks just like Indiana Jones, complete with plaids and facial features.

Elements which are both fantastic and yet true to life go hand in hand with Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. You get your hands on well-known stalwarts from World War 2 after a few minutes of play. Later on, you come across some of the Nazis’ technological innovations. Here and there, the title struggles badly, but the game nevertheless in many regards is extremely dynamic and offers exciting game play. The straightforward level design is less pleasing for its high level of detail than for its many completely different level sections. At one point you are balanced in the open air on rickety trestles, then you run though ruined staircases and rooms, and in the very next moment you then find yourself in an abandoned backyard and have to ward off a horde of Nazis. The fight sequences seem a little stale, not least because your opponents move about rather stupidly.

One great idea is the use of a hand-to-hand fighting interaction system. When you are close enough to your opponent, you can use this, and make various moves dependent on your environment. Creep up on your opponents and throw them into the depths, use them as a human shield or despatch them some other similar way. Now there’s something to put you in a good mood.