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All three teammates dead, eight percent of life remaining, and six enemies left to kill... things aren't looking good. Now the music fades out as my grip on the controller tightens, like someone grabbed the volume knob in my head and turned it way down. If there were crickets in this game, I would have heard them.
There are only the sounds of approaching enemies.
Off in the forest in the distance, a faint glimmer of movement. Take a breath, switch into first person mode with the rocket launcher armed and ready, but it misses. Too far. Quick switch to the sniper rifle and he's right in my sights, but the first few shots go wide. Have to compensate for movement. The enemy is practically on the other side of the map and the bullets don't get there by magic. They need time. First successful hit and the robot turns to face me, and I know that it knows exactly where I am, standing there a hit or two away from death. Now it's closing in. Bullet to the head for extra damage. Keep shooting it when it's down, only stopping when the reload indicator flashes.
Only stopping when it finally explodes.
Damn. Stayed in first person too long. I've been painted with a targeting laser. Must have been smacked to awareness from the splash damage of the missile earlier. Can't even see it through the foliage. Hello two percent life remaining, for tagging me on the run. Nothing to do but hide while it draws closer, waiting around the corner of a hill, hands tense, throat dry, with handgun ready and already pointing where the robot's head should emerge. Only it doesn't. It's waiting on the other side of the hill. It knows exactly where I am, and has all the time in the world.
I don't. I've got five minutes left.
The developers of Project Minerva love the player in their own twisted way. That's why they give you an infinite box of grenades with a wide grin, like saying "try not to blow yourself up with them," knowing for certain that you will on your first try. I've never been able to hit anything with one of these yet without taking a chunk out of my own life bar in the process, but I can't risk popping out and chancing another flesh wound. It's all or nothing. I mutter a prayer and let that death orb fly...
Close only counts for horseshoes and hand grenades.
To come so near failure yet succeed, to hover on the edge of death yet somehow fail to die. Most games never give you the chance to achieve this zen-like state of complete concentration, where not one murmur from the speakers, nor one pixel of movement on the screen escapes your attention. Most games coddle the player like a well loved son, while others are far more abusive, bashing you until dead or victorious, never allowing time to breathe in the interest of a "challenge."
At first, Project Minerva might seem like the easiest game on the planet. All the enemies give you fair warning before opening fire, either painting you with a laser targeting or giant glowing circles that mark off ground zero. The catch is you can really only see them in third person (handguns let you see a little), and you can only really attack first person (laser swords aren't all that useful). Spend too long blasting away at enemies and end up facing a robotic firing squad, especially if you haven't bothered commanding your teammates, who seem to default to wander around aimlessly and admire the scenery.
The hundred or so missions (most of which are optional) tend to fall into the objectives of killing a certain number of enemies, defending government property until the time runs out, planting or disarming bombs for no adequately explained reason, rescuing people stupid enough to get lost in the kill zone, and unarmed recon where getting spotted means forming a conga line of enemies without so much as a pea shooter to defend yourself with. The defense missions are perhaps the most interesting because they leave you locked in a relatively small area above the action while your teammates are free to move below. Winning is usually a matter of getting them to keep the foot soldiers off your back while you blow the rest of their army into tiny burning bits.
The best way to take down a helicopter is with a handgun. With their high speed and missile target markers, you need the largest field of vision possible. Range doesn't seem to be a factor. This is not Ghost Recon. With infinite ammo and invisible walls surrounding the mission area, Minerva never really attempts to make you forget this is a game. You're playing not because the fate of the world hangs in the balance from the threat of a robotic army, but to unlock that shiny new machine gun or save up for a killer leather outfit. There are only enough cut-scenes and mission details to justify all this mayhem while not getting in its way.
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