Incoming Forces

Publisher: Groove Games

Publisher 2: Hip Interactive

Developer: Rage Software

Category: Action

Release Dates

Intl - 02/22/2002

N Amer - 09/25/2002

Official Game Website

Incoming Forces Review

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When Incoming came onto the scene four years ago, many people rushed out to get it not because it was a decent action game, but as a means to show off their new 3D accelerators, which were only then becoming a standard. Now it’s sequel, Incoming Forces, is released with better graphics, more diverse gameplay, and the ability to play as the bad guys (and who doesn’t like that?). However, bland levels and poor controls hinder the experience and make the game a rather ho-hum endeavor. While better than it’s predecessor, Incoming Forces is strictly average by today’s standards.

Incoming Forces takes place twenty years after the original Incoming. The Human race defeated the Terauman forces that were attacking and threatening the Earth. However, the Earth was in a quite sorry state. In order to prevent such disaster from happening again, the humans constructed a huge armada and destroyed the Terauman home world. As it turns out they now have their sights set on your planet, and it is your job to stop them with the various vehicles at your disposal.

In the game, you have access to a variety of vehicles ranging from hover tanks to aircrafts. They all handle pretty sluggishly and having to hold down the accelerator button whenever you want to go forward is a bit of a pain. The game does however support force feedback, which is a nice touch.

The graphics are another sore spot in the game. While it does boast some nice explosion effects, the overall look of the game is pretty bland. All the levels look pretty much the same, with minute differences every now and then.

The sound is also rather average. The music is sweeping and orchestral, as you would typically find in a PC game, and the sound effects are stock explosions and laser blasts. Voice acting is limited to bizarre alien voices.

A strictly average game, Incoming Forces doesn't boast any single feature that is particularly impressive. While Incoming Forces is all right in short bursts, there is nothing to grab anyone for any extended period of time.

Incoming Forces requires a Pentium II 266 running Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP with 32MB of RAM, a 4x CD-ROM drive, a 16-bit graphic card with 4MB RAM, a Windows compatible sound card and at least 160MB of hard drive space.

Reviewer's Scoring Details

Gameplay: 6.0
The arcade action style of the game is mildly diverting, but it gets boring quick. The levels are too similar to keep anyone truly engaged in the action for any extended period of time, and the stiff controls are likely to frustrate most gamers after too long.

Graphics: 6.5
For a sequel to a game meant to show off 3D accelerators, Incoming Forces has some pretty uninspired graphics. Although there is the occasional nice effect, it not enough to make up for the plain levels and weak vehicle models.

Sound: 6.5
The sound effects consist of standard laser beam sounds, explosions and alien voices. The orchestral music is standard.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 6.5
While it’s always a cool idea to play as the other guys and fight against the human race, Incoming Forces is just too insipid to be the dynamite action arcade title it wants to be.

Multiplayer: 7.0
The game uses Gamespy and supports deathmatch games, but it only has four levels available for online play. Plus, you can’t have tanks and aircrafts in the same game, which would have been cool.

Overall: 6.5
At best, Incoming Forces is an average arcade shooter. However, the game is not at all exciting enough to grab most gamers’ attention for any long period. However, with a relatively cheap price tag, action gamers who require a cheap, quick fix that they don’t plan on playing for any long periods of time, may be somewhat amused.