Signal Ops Reviews

Neat stealth puzzle game with 3 player co-op. It can be a little slow in single-player, because you have to control every member of your squad manually, but in multiplayer this problem doesn’t exist. I can’t think of a better co-op game for exactly 3 players. The writing and voice acting are great, so is the visual style. The levels are open-ended with enough room for multiple tactical approaches and a lot of secrets to find. The are optional side missions and multiple ways to complete objectives. You can choose to go competely non-lethal or just kill all the enemies (which is quite hard). The one thing I don’t like is that you have to play in a small square window. I would prefer an option to go full screen with small windows for other characters in the corner. The only reason I’ve played only 8 hours of this game is because I had a hard time convincing my friends to continue after a long break. Still, looking forward to complete it one day, maybe with a different group.

Its a great coop expirience and solo, a new concept of controlling multiple operatives over multiple screens. Unique art style. Aswell as being in a second person game genre. Game has about 10 missions some were bad but some were also good. Going after achievements was fun but sometimes some wouldn't pop. Really unique and hidden gem.

I wanted to like this game. If only because it's from an independent deveoper who obviously embraces out of the box thinking but this game just falls apart. The graphcis are in a word, "dated." The controls are bizarre and the gameplay punishing. While the concept is interesting (controlling multiple characters) the controls are a confusing mess and the interface can be buggy often locking up or reacting in unexpected ways. The pace is rather slow and there's just not enough there to get invested in the game Too many distractions from the game's interface and mechanics. I found myself aggravated after a few hours of play. Games are supposed to be fun not cause to raise my blood pressure.

Probably one of my favorite games, but it's not for everyone. It's in its own unique niche in terms of skill, so nothing you learned from other games carries over really. Infact this game reminded me what it was like when I first started playing video games, because it was so out there. It pretty much took me until 3/4ths into the game before I felt completely comfortable with the controls and gameplay, and the missions are very replayable both in design (large various paths) and with the fact that you can use different combination of agents. I feel though that anyone saying it's badly designed and clunky isn't really justified. This game relies a ton on strategy and positioning, so the most I would say is if you get caught completely out of position with your pants down it can [i]feel[/i] clunky because you have to on the spot deal with pressure which is difficult when you have 2-3 sometimes 4 units in first person perspective. So being caught off guard can be really punishing at first when you're adjusting to the micromanaging, although it is a strategic game so it's fair. Combat is kind of a non-option in this game unless your idea of combat is flanking enemies and not having an open firefight. A lot of the guns aren't really effective on more than one guard (minus sniper and shield), however it is extremely forgiving defensive wise as your agents have a lot of health and you are given ~10-11 lives per level. Dying can be a pain though as the new agent is parachuted in at a certain point with nothing but a melee weapon, so you need to retrieve your items or just leave them and steal a guards guns (as long as you didn't lose a valuable item like the radio) All in all, this game is 95% positioning and tactics 5% shooter, and it makes it really interesting and fun to play after you get use to having to micro 4 first person cameras.

Do you enjoy stealth? Do you enjoy strategy? Do you enjoy a game that gives you the option to kill no one and still complete your objective? Do you enjoy dark comedy? If you answered yes, well my steam friend you will enjoy this. From the graphics of paintbrush textures, To the multiple different missions. If you consider yourself a gaming connoisseur then you owe it to yourself for the unique experience alone.

Signal Ops is a game by independent developers Space Bullet Dynamics. Set in a retro-futuristic 1940s, this bureaucratic society is governed by two feuding organisation, the military and the church. You play as an agent of the church, tasked with carrying out missions involving spying and espionage. However your character never actually enters combat but instead issues commands via video and radio links to the operatives in the field. The game is a first person shooter and you control 3 operatives, at the same time, via these links in single player or cooperatively. This concept is very original but is also the games greatest achievement and weakness. The controls can be frustrating and take time to master. They require lots of patience, organisation and multitasking to pull off, even minor mistakes can lead to panic and mission failure. The gameplay mechanics are also very retro and rather basic when compared to more mainstream tactical espionage games. However, once you are accustomed with the basics this charming game, with it's stylized oil painting graphics, simple plot, humorous narrative and nods to cult film classic "Brazil", combine to form a really interesting tactical espionage action sandbox where objectives can be tackled in any number of ways, alone or with friends. 7/10

If you want to see an innovative idea for a game, then please give Signal Ops a whirl. However, beyond exploring creative game ideas Signal Ops pretty much falls flat. Hmmmm... I'm thinking that if you're a developer you absolutely must check this game out... but if you're a player, w/o interest in dev, skip this one...

This game is hard, doesn't hold your hand, and makes you think.. a lot. But that is far from being a bad thing. I find those things a refreshing change from much of today's popular releases! This game oozes originality, from its painted textures to its unique multi screen character control. It plays like nothing i've ever played before and I'm loving every minute of it!! Do your selves a favor and check this titile out!! It is well worth your time!

Great art direction and great writing stuck with a terrible gameplay. You'll really want to like this game, but eventually you'll throw in the towel in frustration. 1. The central game concept, having to move the radio throughout the level, becomes tedious fast. They've since added in a difficulty slider to either compromise or completely remove the feature. 2. Much like it's genre predecessors, HIdden and Dangerous and Rainbow Six, when stealth fails, you need to play it like an FPS. Unfortunately, this is a terrible FPS, especially by modern standards. 3. The stealth system is underdeveloped. Supposedly there's a shadow and line of sight system. However the art direction is so stylized it's hard to tell what's effective concealment. For what's ultimately a stealth game, this is a pretty critical flaw. I really loved the art and writing in this game, it's just a shame it's so painful to play.

A unique squad based game where you control multiple agents at your secret base through multiple monitors in their first person POV. However, you won't be able to move much in the mission unless you let you crucial radio operator agent "Bolt" haul his clunky radio backpack through various power sources and attaching signal extenders. The radio however loses power as you carry it, forcing you to relocate to another power source quickly before his monitor turns all static. Incase of such accidents you can control another agent who can give commands for bolt to move back to a targeted spot. Finding power sources and clearing them out of enemies is a rather tedious part of the game for me, making the game feel much more slower than it needs to be. The enemy is easily controllable by pointing the gun at their heads behind them and "interacting" with them, causing them to just stand there hands up in surrender. This makes the game rather comical because the AI is too cowardly to shoot back even if you stopped pointing your gun on them. By utilizing the spy's ability to beckon the enemy to you, you can herd all the enemies to a secluded party where everyone's hands are in the air. Most enemies are oblivious to the spy in his gentleman outfit even while he strolls along military restricted zones in all of the missions, rendering him invincible due to the flawed AI. You'd be picking this old man most of the time because he can easily scout out power sources for Bolt to take the safest route in to extend the signal. There is absolutely no point for running and gunning in the earlier missions. You really dont want to alert whole patrols of guards with the loud gunshots. Most enemies in the game are rather durable to gunshots even if you aim for the head, which deters any need of shootouts unless needed. On the otherhand melee just wrecks everything in your sight, that is if the enemy don't force your agents to surrender mid swing for bringing a knife to a gun fight. The missions are nice and varied but sometimes leave very little leg room for stealth without arresting or killing guards. One puzzle I hated in the game was the pipe puzzle in the second mission. Even with a diagram in the room to help out I couldn't figure out which levers to pull with how clumped up most of the pipes are. Another thing I hated was respawning rebels in the later in the game which spawned like an army of them even after thinning out so much with a couple of bombardments and shootouts. For an indie game it has done a pretty good job, but the game needs extra polishing up on making missions more enjoyable and squashing multiple bugs that I've come across along the way.