The truth of the matter is that Conflict Desert Storm 2 isn't a groundbreaking game. In many ways it is still in the reserves when compared to active-duty heavy hitters like Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six and SOCOM, and it's not going to do anything that you haven't seen before. Instead, it takes the successful elements of squad-based tactical shooters, and waters them down to an arcade level by removing much of the complexity that bogs down the action. That sounds like a put-down, but it's really not. CDS2 is a great middle of the road title-not so damn serious as Ghost Recon, but not nearly as mindless as the god-awful Army Men: Green Rogue. It's a title to pick up and play, not one you have to do countless minutes of preparation for before the action even begins. At the end of the day, CDS2 is just like the original Conflict Desert Storm-same mission structure, same animations, same characters, etc-but it is an amazingly fun game plagued by a few persistent annoying flaws. Mission kill counts breaking triple digits should clue you in on the finer points of gameplay-if it's not you, kill it. It doesn't take long for the action to begin, and when it does, it's intense. The game creates a great feeling of tension throughout, whether you are afraid to peek out a window for fear of being shelled by a tank, or while stripped of weapons and on the run as a POW. At times the action borders dangerously close to ridiculous, but fortunately it never crosses that line. Although CDS2 draws from reality and real life events, the game puts a mildly cartoonish spin on everything. Maybe it's the not-so-realistic graphics. Maybe it's the Rambo III body counts. Or maybe it's the insane inventory stored in your backpack. So while you are adding a few more frag grenades to your arsenal, for a moment consider that just one of your characters is currently packing three different full-sized machine guns, two anti-tank rockets, an air to air missile, 3 claymore mines, binoculars, four smoke grenades, a flare gun, 20 health packs, and survival knife, in some sort of magical CIA backpack. Whether that is done intentionally or not is irrelevant, but the mix of real and surreal works well as a whole. Because each soldier's pack is a bottomless pit of warfare, there is a lot of potential for combat mayhem. Oh and the bodies do pile up quickly! There are no restrictions; any character can have any weapon type. Certain characters do have better skills with different weapon types, but in a pinch your sniper could use an M60 effectively. The weapons are all great fun and feature real meaty sounds and cool tracer effects. You have the freedom to cycle through your men at any point to take advantage of their special weapon skills whenever there is a need. But more often than not you are checking to make sure teammates aren't doing something stupid like standing in an open doorway staring off into space or shooting you in the back accidentally. And this is where the trouble starts. Often your team members have "spells" where they suddenly go retarded, forgetting that they are being riddled with bullets or standing in a very, very bad spot. While relatively self-sufficient and realistic for a majority of the time, teammate AI always seems to go haywire at the worst possible moment. So in the single player mode you'll be cycling through team members constantly just making sure that they aren't about to make a colossal mistake. Enemy troops are still a silly caricature of what a "bad guy" should be. If it wears green khakis, carries a rifle, and has a mustache it must be killed. Most of the time these troops are actively seeking the best way hurl themselves into a hail of bullets. If you can be seen they will run to you, in a Gallipoli inspired death run. They also ignore the carpet of dead bodies at certain bottlenecks. If you've got a great position guarding a door, you can bet that soldier after soldier after soldier will pass thru that door looking for you, stepping over dead comrades to ensure they are next in line to oblivion. So if you are patient enough the bad guys will come to you. The poor AI has been disguised somewhat with the addition of a side-step move that keeps your targeting reticle busy, but the fix is a superficial one. What's worse, during intense battles you can find yourself, literally, standing next to Iraq's finest and they'll never see you. You could chalk it up to the fog of war, but it doesn't seem appropriate here given the other AI bumbles. But oddly some enemies seem super-aware of every move you make-unseen enemies trying to shoot you through doors, tanks knowing exactly where to aim although you are hidden, etc-and it can cause major aggravation. The fact that most of the events in CDS are scripted damages both the enjoyment and replayability of the game to some extent. If you see a tank at a certain point and at a certain time, you'll always see that tank at the same place. Enemy soldiers also have annoying habit of appearing from nowhere to attack your backside even though you cleared every possible room in the areas that preceded it. Where did they come from? Remember those suspicious looking closed doors? Apparently there was an entire army of soldiers in that janitor's closet just waiting for the right moment to attack. So once you know what happens and when to expect it, the game becomes an exercise in trial and error, which is a major hiccup for the immersion and tension that the game works so hard to maintain. But while you stumble upon numerous "quirks" like these in the game, you may not even care. The action works amazingly well within the framework developed by SCI. Issuing commands is simple, combat is thrilling, and the sounds of battle are really a treat. The sound of your men calling out each and every kill is something straight out of Rambo III. "Target down! Target down!" Generic military scores are present on the soundtrack, but you'll either want to turn it off or better yet, burn some tracks to your Xbox hard drive. Nothing beats throwing a frag grenade into an Iraqi barracks while listening to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". So is this a mission worth suiting up for? Although essentially the same game as the original with most of the flaws intact, the new missions, tweaked graphics, and intense arcade action make CDS2 a winner. The suspect AI is the single largest problem with this series, but you may have such a good time that you won't care. If you just want to have a good time fragging caricatures of evil troops, particularly while playing with friends, CDS2 will not disappoint. But if you like a little more realism in your warfare, this game will give you plenty to complain about.