Unit 13
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| Unit 13

Unit 13's story is utter rubbish. You control a squad of six generic soldiers who use phrases like “stay frosty” or “silence is my speciality”, entering covert operation missions to kill a bunch of non-white extremists.

A dangerous country has fallen prey to the diabolical schemes of well-funded militants. Cue 45 missions of narratively unjustified killing to the tune of a dozen or so 'hilarious' quips from Butch McBuff (or whatever he's called) and the rest of his team of stereotypes.

You will never grow to like them, let alone empathise with them, such is the lack of character depth. Unit 13's plot is infantile bordering on offensive.

Dummy

Story beats aside, it's a tight military shooter with a portable-centric twist. Each stage is set within confined areas - geometrically dense playgrounds in which to stalk foes and engage in intense cover-based shoot-outs.

Drawing heavily on its work with the SOCOM franchise - though faster-paced and less sim-oriented - Zipper Interactive is keen to give you multiple options with which to complete most levels.

Taking your time, remaining stealthy, and lining up head shots with your silenced pistol is just as viable as going Rambo with grenades and machine guns.

Missions are broken up into different categories: Direct Action, Covert, Deadline, and Elite. Though Direct Action and the tougher Elite accommodate whichever approach works best for you, in Deadline you can't sit back and take cover - it's a race against the clock to clear areas as quickly as possible and reach the next checkpoint.

Covert type challenges also demand a specific form of play-you'll need to check the map layout and plan ahead, removing enemies one by one without setting off alarms.

Enemies are just the right side of dumb: predictable enough that you're not overly punished for making minor mistakes, but smart enough to investigate the source of gun fire and take tactical cover when you're spotted. Unit 13 balances making you feel like a powerful soldier with the fear of being overwhelmed in a small area, making each engagement important.

Since there's less world to render, the game's engine fires out quality visuals and audio with very little fuss. In the rare moments when the screen becomes very busy - especially when explosions get involved - the frame-rate dips, though it's a small price to pay to see your muzzle flare illuminating a nearby battered wall, while dust blows across the urban battlefield.

Audio design is top notch, too - you'll definitely want a pair of headphones in for the experience, as this will allow you to locate surveillance equipment by their beeps, and to pinpoint the direction of bullets as they whistle past.

Rather be ronery

Unfortunately this level of design excellence doesn't extend as far as the online gameplay. Finding games can be a pain, and the game doesn't do a good job of explaining how to set them up in the first place. Once you're in there's very little lag, but when a match is over you'll need to set up a new room again, wait for your friend to join, pick a character, and so on.

As with the single-player, the multiplayer is quite limited in scope. There's no competitive element - just two player co-op. You can only pick missions you already have access to in the offline portion of the game, and completing a level doesn't unlock more, essentially making for a multiplayer repeat of what you've already seen.

The constantly updating leaderboards and arcade-like structure will irk you if you're after a classic SOCOM experience, but Zipper has moved in an interesting new direction with its latest game.

Fans of The Club and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, take note: Unit 13 might not be able to tell a story, but it's the next decent bite-sized shooter of that ilk, and well worth a look.

Unit 13

This isn't SOCOM Vita. The storytelling is abysmal and the online is underdeveloped, but Unit 13 still manages to be a solid military shooter with an arcade edge
Score
Peter Willington
Peter Willington
Die hard Suda 51 fan and professed Cherry Coke addict, freelancer Peter Willington was initially set for a career in showbiz, training for half a decade to walk the boards. Realising that there's no money in acting, he decided instead to make his fortune in writing about video games. Peter never learns from his mistakes.