Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Raven Squad is a FPS game with real-time strategy elements that blend in a unique way. You can get access to a tactical view and execute your plans in full FPS control. The blending of the two genres has never been so crucially intertwined that Raven Squad is blazing its own path with a new idea that hinges everything on that one mechanic.

What's Hot
Managing to make RTS and FPS elements blend into one, cohesive thought is an impressive feat. You control two squads of three men that are in the Amazon jungle. Using elements from both genres, you blast your way to safety. Navigating between the FPS and RTS viewpoints is painless and you can switch on the fly anytime you like. There is a co-op mode that you and a friend (must have two copies of the game) can play together as you both plan your squad's tactics to complement one another.



What's Not
The FPS portions of the game a bad. The enemy AI stands out in the open and doesn't even think about taking cover intelligently. Your squad mates are also bricks and will die for doing the stupidest maneuvers. Most FPS games are fueled on adrenaline but you won't get any of that sensation when playing Raven Squad. By the same token, the RTS elements are bad. The "S" should stand for "strategy" but Raven Squad is really devoid of any form of advanced planning. Because you can switch to FPS mode at anytime, you don't need to worry a few steps down the road since you can fix them by assuming ground control and taking back the hairy situation.

Not surprisingly, both the FPS and RTS elements are equally bad and don't compensate for the deficiencies in the other. With both sides of the game in such a state, it augments the poor quality and those faults are what you'll notice for the rest of the game. The noble attempt to bring the two worlds together shows an ugly side that is more pronounced because of the mash-up of the two different genres.

Final Word
Raven Squad is a good idea gone bad. It doesn't help that the story is hopelessly weak and cliché with wooden voice acting to bring down the excitement level of any enemy encounter. The FPS/RTS blending is an idea worth exploring again but maybe not best served as another Raven Squad game.