Turning Point: Fall of Liberty Review - Xbox 360

Reviewers don’t normally consider the developer’s perspective, since we’re only concerned with the end result, not the trials and tribulations of game creation. Still, occasionally developers like to try to remind us that they’re there. Case in point is Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. Recently, the CEO of Spark Unlimited (the game’s developer) decided to try to negate all those bad scores for the game by pointing out that Turning Point is a “high concept title” whose target was “not really the core gamer”.

What If… This game didn’t suck?

You see, no amount of spin doctoring can cover that fact that Turning Point is a terrible game that should be brought up on criminal gaming charges for being $60. Not since Jumper or Soldier of Fortune Payback has a game so thoroughly abused the console pricing structure.

The setup is solid at least. Turning Point is, as usual, a WWII what-if game. What if Churchhill had been killed in 1931? What if the Nazis overran Europe and in the early 50’s attacked the US? What if you were a construction worker who is suddenly tasked with assignments that only specialized military personnel should be undertaking, such as arming bombs, parachuting, blowing up tanks, and single handedly destroying most of the nazi war machine…?

The fact that your character, an untrained civilian, is suddenly tasked by officers to take on every major objective in the game is completely idiotic. It’s just a shooter, right? The game starts in New York City, then rather non- sensically and abruptly jumps to Washington D.C. Then the game just takes a flight overseas to the Europe—thus completely losing the appeal of WWII taking place on US soil.

Mindless Maneuvers

The gameplay, with little exception, is completely by-the-numbers from shooters ten years-old. There are, however, a few interesting tidbits that could be put to better use elsewhere. The grapple move is a nice touch, as it allows you to perform a one-hit kill or use an enemy as a human shield. You can, also, climb obstacles, causing the game to suddenly move into a jarring third-person view. Though there are objects to interact with—doors, switches, bombs, people—the controls are so insensitive that it’s frustrating to find the interactivity sweet spot in too many situations.

Weapons vary wildly. On the plus side, the various guns—ranging from pistols, machine gun, shotguns, and rocket launchers—all manage to have a different feel. Unfortunately, many of the guns are crazily inaccurate, and relying on the auto-aim is almost a necessity. Thankfully, the enemy AI relies on numbers, not tactics, so bad aim doesn’t necessarily doom you. Sniping is especially helpful in the game, as the guards prefer to stay still anyway—even as death rains down upon them.

Allied AI is even worse. Turning Point absolutely has some of the worst cooperative AI ever. Your allies are worthless in firefights, get in the way constantly, and prove to be a hindrance throughout the game. As usual, enemy AI always hones in on you no matter if anyone else is attacking them, and major battles that should be intense just feel ridiculous.

It’s Unreal, but Not in a Good Way

Turning Point is powered by the Unreal Engine, so you’d think the game at least looks great. It doesn’t. Architecture is blocky and unrefined, and the game has an old school look—and not in a good way. Worse, there are frequent bouts of severe slow-down and gameplay-shuddering loading. There’s multiplayer as well, but this too is uninspired and unlikely to entertain anyone.

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty does have a great set-up, and that’s about it. The game tells its story horribly, your character is both improbable and without any personality, the AI is terrible, the gameplay lackluster, and graphics middling. Even as a budget title, which Turning Point is certainly doomed to become, the game is hardly worth the bother. Well, unless you like “high concept titles” of course.

Review by: Jason D'Aprile