Back at E3 2004, THQ and Pandemic's Full Spectrum Warrior drew a lot of fan fare and for great reason, but the sequel, Ten Hammers, may not be receiving the same amount of attention. It's a decent game, no question, but it's also being released in a time of next generation hoopla and during a month that has seen Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter for Xbox 360. But if you're a fan of the original or just stuck with a lowly Xbox, this game might be worth checking out, especially if the demo is anything to go by.

Ten Hammers isn't your typical war game. A mixture of action and real time strategy, you move groups of soldiers about the world map, and when it comes time to fire you can either instruct your team of four to just start unloading countless rounds upon the enemy, or take control of one soldier and blast an insurgent in the face, and this mixture of gameplay styles is what makes the FSW brand unique.

The sequel builds upon what made the original a smash hit by incorporating some new options, one of the most significant is the ability to enter buildings and position snipers. This proves to be very useful, as you can place one team in position to suppress the enemy, then move the other team upstairs to take out the bad guys from a distance. This leads to the second most notable feature, which is being able to control four different squads including tanks. You can easily switch between Charlie and Delta, or Alpha and Bravo, or whatever the heck they're calling themselves by tapping Y, and you can even break up each group, so in theory, you can send two guys in one direction and two guys in another. There's just a lot more options this time around that make killing enemies a fun experience. However, unlike in the last game, evil doers are generated by spawn points, so the scum bags just keep coming. On one hand it's a cheap system, but on the other, it encourages players to think a bit differently when it comes to completing objectives.

I also like how I can select individual team members using the digital pad, so I can either snipe some idiot in the head, or switch off to a soldier carrying a grenade launcher and "smoke them out of their holes", to speak. But be warned! There are a lot of controls to remember in this game and it's easy to get confused even during the tutorial, so stay frosty!

When I first saw FSW a few years ago I thought it was one of the greatest looking games that I had ever seen. Fast forward to 2006 and Ten Hammers just doesn't evoke that same sense of amazement. This is no fault of THQ or Pandemic, just the harsh reality of living in a world that is rapidly converging on next generation technology. But Ten Hammers looks good considering the hardware it's being developed on.

Although I'm having fun with the demo, there are some issues that I hope will be fixed before the game is released beginning with the camera. I like being able to do a 360 pan using the right analog stick, but sometimes it gets stuck, especially when entering small buildings. Furthermore, the physics are a little strange. When guys are shot their bodies react in unnatural ways, wildly flailing about, sometimes in mid air for several moments like they're caught in the electric grip of the biggest seizure on record. It's unsightly, but I don't know how up to date this demo is, so for all I know, these problems may have been fixed ages ago.

Lastly, where are the women? It's possible that Pandemic's placed some female soldiers into the game, and by no means is this THQ's cross to bear, but when are publishers going to start including female soldiers in these videogames? I wouldn't be surprised if John Q Public enjoys playing as a battle hardened male, but if you're shooting for realism, which Pandemic seems to be, then why not mix female soldiers in with the men? It's about time the world is brought up to speed on our nation's military.

There are probably lots of minute details about releasing videogames that I don't know about, but like most things in life, I'm willing to bet that timing plays a big role. With that being said, it's going to be interesting to see how Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers is received by the press and the gaming community, as it is truly one of the last big Xbox games, but also one that's coming out when lots of people are jumping onto the next generation band wagon. My brother, for example, who absolutely loves the original FSW, came into my room a couple days ago and refused to play the demo simply because it's available for the Xbox and not the 360. That's not exactly the most intelligent of reasons to not play a videogame, but it'll do serious harm to THQ and Pandemic's efforts if thousands of consumers feel the exact same way. But don't be ignorant, as this could very well be one of the best games of 2006. We'll have an in depth review shortly after Ten Hammers' March 27 release.