Recent reviews by Sir Bruce Forsyth

I've played the game since it was in beta testing and had a lot of fun over time. The theme is unusual in FPS games, the squad setup promotes team-work and some of the maps are genuinely challenging to advance on. There seems to be fairly regular updates, servers are often full and people seem fairly friendly.

But I wouldn't recommend it.

Not if you're after a somewhat realistic-in-feel FPS, that is.

Verdun should be considered an acrade game, and a clunky one at that. Killing enemies is a little too easy (I just went into a server after having not played for a few months - eight kills in a row to no deaths), the key controls are a little awkward, the voice chat so poorly integrated that it's seldom used. Visual effects aren't great and become repetitive quickly, the upgrades are nearly meaningless and voice controls play no real part in the game. You use them for the novelty (as in, "Oh, I haven't got my guy to say something of absolutely no consequence in a while. Let's tell the people standing around me to advance.. even though most of them won't hear it because the game doesn't pick them up very well and doesn't alert those around you that you've given an order").

The graphics, I must be honest, are pretty average. I don't have a high-end computer but on fairly decent settings the sharp edges of each object are apparent; the reflections are just variations of chrome; the further you look the worse it gets; some of the maps are designed to be night time.. which is all well and good except that it severely limits the playability of a map. It might be fun to look around a semi-dark trench for enemies but after a short while it just gets a little tedious. The game just doesn't integrate darkness well.

Crouching and laying down movements aren't smooth and you'll be caught out pressing the wrong button regularly (seriously, why is the default lay key "left ctrl"?); you can't climb over obstacles, either your person can run up an exceptionally steep banking without a fuss or you can't get over something at all. There are several lookout spots (perfect for picking off enemies running toward your trench, right?) that can't be used because if you're standing you're too tall to see through the hole in the wall and if you're crouched you're too low to see through it. Some sort of interaction with the wall, so that you can crouch behind and pop up when you wish, would be good.

There's no friendly fire. What kind of a game of carnage would hold out on friendly fire? I get that it would make it a lot more challenging, but what kind of a game tries to suggests it's even remotely close to real warfare without even having the option of friendly fire? Think there's enemies in your trench but you're not sure if the next thing you shoot at might be a friendly team member? Don't worry, there's no consequence for shooting Hans through the head because you thought he was a Frenchie.

Ambience is lacking. I know, in real life there wouldn't be any background music but there isn't enough action in Verdun to warrant silence but for the sound of your feet, the same chinking noise of what I presume is supposed to be your gear, and the occasional rifle fire. I'm sure you've recognised the hypocricy in my complaining that the lack of friendly fire makes it unrealistic but now I'm campaigning for some background noise - but my point is about enjoyment. Friendly fire would make the game more enjoyable, background audio (distant gunshots, music etc) would make it more immersive.

Verdun could be a good game if it was styled like Red Orchestra - the handling of RO is exceptional compared to Verdun. In all honesty I can't think of a game which has such poor controls as Verdun. It's not that they're necessarily bad, it's just they're clunky and awkward.

Oh, and there's no private servers. All the servers in the game (one per region, with as many games possible at one time as there are maps) are operated by the game developers. So if your connection to the only server in your continent isn't that great, you're pretty much stuck. There's no single player, so you've not got a whole lot of options.

Speaking of servers and maps, there are no custom maps. Community members can't make their own and host them (because, surprise surprise, all the servers are run by the developers). Sure, six maps may sustain a few hours of play initially but after a while people will be interested in new environments. Unfortunately if you want that you'll have to wait for the developers to release another one. Don't get your hopes up with the maps, though, as the best maps were the ones released with the game when it was launched. Every update since then, and every map that's come with it, has gradually made the game less enjoyable.

I was shocked to see this game has been released on Playstation 4. I can't imagine how they managed that. If you're thinking of getting it for PS4 I would recommend holding onto your money and buy something better.