Honestly, which marketing person decided to call Project IGI / I'm Going In two
different (and both rather silly) names in different countries? I live in the UK and I've heard it called both names so many times that I've just given up trying to remember what we're supposed to call it in Europe and instead simply stick to “IGI”. Still, marketing never makes for a good game (just sometimes good sales). What counts is the gameplay, and IGI has at once unrelentingly difficult yet ultimately satisfying gameplay by the bucket load. You play an ex-SAS gun for hire who's employed by an unknown American agency to do a few “tasks” for them. Unlike John Mullins in Soldier of Fortune though, you're far from invulnerable. Two sniper shots will bring you down and if you take on two AK-47 armed guards at once your life expectancy will pretty quickly drop to a few seconds. You have to infiltrate enemy bases using stealth, avoid cameras and make sure that any of your kills don't alert enemies. The enemy AI can be a little weak but then they're good enough at seeing and hearing you and when a few of their shots will take you down you'll rarely notice the AI – you'll either be legging it away from them as fast as you can or be dead on the ground. If you thought the one thing missing from Thief was guns, you'll want this game. You're just as vulnerable and stealth is just as important, and what's more it looks fantastic thanks to a gorgeous terrain engine. Some may criticise the lack of a mid mission save feature, but then the game would be terribly easy to complete if you could save whenever you wanted. Personally, Project IGI/I'm Going In turned out to be one of the surprise hits of the year and if you feel you're up to playing a thoroughly difficult yet rewarding game as a well armed SAS-type, this is it.
- Fantastic graphics
- Great mission design
- Can seem a little too tough at times, especially with the lack of a mid-mission save feature