Shadow Harvest: Phantom Ops
- April 15, 2011
- Viva Media
Get on SteamIn Shadow Harvest: Phantom Ops, players control two operatives with unique abilities as they complete missions in a shadowy world of espionage and combat. With a variety of weapons and equipment to choose from, the game offers a blend of stealth and action gameplay. The story follows the duo's efforts to take down a powerful arms dealer, leading to encounters with dangerous enemies and complex moral dilemmas.
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game has an interesting story and character switching mechanics that can provide some fun gameplay.
- Some players find enjoyment in the game's over-the-top action and humor, making it a 'so bad it's good' experience.
- For those who enjoy challenging gameplay, the game can be rewarding, especially on higher difficulties.
- The controls are poorly designed, making character movement and aiming frustrating and inconsistent.
- The graphics and performance are subpar, with issues like excessive bloom, dark environments, and low frame rates.
- The checkpoint system is inconsistent, often forcing players to replay long sections of the game after dying.
- story21 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it above-average and engaging, while others criticize it for being unoriginal and poorly executed. Many reviewers noted that the characters lack depth, making it difficult to connect with their struggles, and some felt the narrative was rushed or incomplete. Overall, while there are positive elements to the story, such as interesting settings and an unexpected ending, the execution often detracts from the overall experience.
“It feels like a game from the PS2 era, but with better graphics and its story is solid enough.”
“I recommend this game, since the story is quite good; the gameplay is okay, and the stealth is also okay.”
“The game is still fun, has a great story and an unexpected ending.”
“From visuals and sound to gameplay and story, it will let you down at every turn and you can easily sense that in the first five minutes of playing.”
“The story is okay, but feels like it should have been longer--almost like they just had to get the product out the door and kind of wrapped up all the loose ends in a nice bow rather than finishing it properly.”
“The gameplay has a few good ideas but everything is executed poorly and you will not care for the story.”
- gameplay20 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received largely negative feedback, with users criticizing the inconsistent checkpoint system, poor mechanics, and unoptimized performance. While some players found a few interesting mechanics and appreciated the stealth elements, the overall experience is marred by frustrating controls, lackluster graphics, and a general sense of dissatisfaction. Despite a decent story, many reviewers felt that the gameplay was not engaging enough to warrant a positive recommendation.
“There are some interesting gameplay mechanics and it does a very good job of changing the pace up.”
“Both have their uses in each mission, but the stealth character is by far the more fun of the two for gameplay.”
“I recommend this game, since the story is quite good, the gameplay is okay, the stealth is also okay.”
“The absolute inconsistent checkpoint system is frustrating; sometimes it's fair, and other times you get one-shotted by a sniper, forcing you to redo 5-10 minutes of gameplay, which is especially aggravating during stealth sequences.”
“From visuals and sound to gameplay and story, it will let you down at every turn, and you can easily sense that in the first five minutes of playing.”
“The mechanics include running into cover to activate the cover system, which is annoying; the AI is odd, and the choice of weapons in the game is poor.”
- graphics20 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received largely negative feedback, with many users describing them as outdated and reminiscent of earlier console generations, despite some modern touches. Common complaints include poor lighting, excessive bloom effects, and performance issues such as frame rate drops and screen tearing. Overall, while some players found the visuals acceptable, the general consensus is that the graphics are a significant drawback, detracting from the overall experience.
“It feels like a game from the PS2 era, but with better graphics and its story is solid enough.”
“Graphics are still nice, even when it has over-the-top bloom or being brownish when you turn bloom off.”
“I also had some graphical problems at the beginning, with my framerate jumping between 30 and 60 (and this on a 4790k and GTX 970), but after some tweaking in NVIDIA's control panel, it sat at 60 all the way through.”
“From visuals and sound to gameplay and story, it will let you down at every turn and you can easily sense that in the first five minutes of playing.”
“The graphics are nothing to write home about, but the biggest offender is its lighting and bloom; luckily the game is short, otherwise prepare for some intense cataracts.”
“Just about everything about this game is frustrating: the jerky movement, blurry graphics that are constantly in and out of focus and give you a massive headache (seriously hard on the eyes), no indication you have been hit, laughable voice acting, stupid controls.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting significant performance issues even on high-end hardware like an i7 and GTX 1080. Complaints include poor graphics, problematic UI, and gameplay mechanics that detract from the overall experience, leading to a lack of enjoyment. Overall, the optimization is deemed subpar, with many players feeling it is not worth purchasing due to these issues.
“Overall, the graphics, performance, and gameplay were a major turn-off for me.”
“It has a myriad of problems too numerous and painful to justify buying, from performance issues, save/load checkpoints, health and ammo, and a useless bullet-time mode which was not introduced or known about until 3 hours into the game when misclicking during a fight. So much more... so much...”
“The game's optimization is mediocre, and the bloom effect (or maybe the lighting) is a little bit off-putting.”
“The main issue is the UI and graphics, performance, and the gameplay.”
- music3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The music and sound design in the game are criticized for being bland and uninspired, with inconsistent volume levels and a lack of separate controls for different audio elements. Players express disappointment over the inability to turn off the music, suggesting a low-budget production quality.
“The sound department is on a very low budget; at least I hope that was the reason. The music, voice acting, and sound effects are all bland and uninspired, and they are at different volumes from one another.”
“There are no separate volume controls for voices, background sounds, and music.”
“You can't turn the music off.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its slapstick elements, such as the comical ragdoll physics of enemies when shot and the ease with which they can be defeated. While some players find these moments amusing, others critique the humor for being overly simplistic or reminiscent of poorly executed third-person shooters. Overall, the humor adds a lighthearted tone, though opinions on its effectiveness vary.
“The ragdolls when getting shot are pretty funny, and enemies die super easily, which adds to the humor.”
“Some people complain about hilarious things like the over-the-top antics of the characters.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game experiences a number of glitches, indicating that stability may be an issue for players.
“The game has its fair share of glitches.”
“I frequently encounter crashes that disrupt my gameplay.”
“The stability issues make it hard to enjoy the game.”
