Hour of Victory

Infobox VG
title = Hour of Victory


developer = N-Fusion Interactive
publisher = Midway Games
designer =
engine = Unreal Engine 3
version =
release = June 25, 2007
genre = First-person shooter
modes = Single-player, Multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: Teen (13+) PEGI: 16+ OFLC: MA15+
OFLC NZ: R16
platforms = Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
media = DVD-DL
requirements =
input = Gamepad

"Hour of Victory" is a World War II-based first-person shooter released for Xbox 360 on June 25, 2007. A playable game demo was released on Xbox Live Marketplace on June 1, 2007. It was the first World War II game to use the Unreal Engine 3.Fact|date=July 2008

Gameplay

The game advertises itself as letting players "fight the famous battles of WWII". The game features multiple settings from Europe and North Africa, such as a nuclear reactor in Berlin, castles, etc. Players can assume the roles of three different soldiers each with different skills: Ross, a British Commando and brute fighter, Bull, an Army Ranger sniper, or Taggert, a stealthy covert operative. Each character also has a special skill: Ross can use his strength to push things out of the way, Bull can climb ropes, and Taggert can pick locks. Players are able to drive any vehicles they find such as Kubelwagens, Sherman tanks, Panzers, and Tiger tanks. A player's health is automatically restored if a player avoids damage for a short while and stands still. A stamina meter also controls how fast a player can run. The single-player campaign lasts approximately five to seven hours. [cite web|url=http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/xbox360/hour_of_victory |title=Hour of Victory review for the XBOX360 |accessdate=2008-03-19 |author=Shawn Sanders |date=2007-09-14 |publisher=Game Revolution]

Multiplayer

There are three modes of multiplayer through System Link or through Xbox Live — Deathmath, Capture the Flag, and Devastation — and supports up to 12 players.

Critical reception

The game received substantially negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator Game Rankings, the game had an average score of 37% based on 37 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/938000.asp |title=Hour of Victory Reviews |accessdate=2008-03-19 |publisher=Game Rankings] On Metacritic, the game had an average score of 37 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/hourofvictory |title=Hour of Victory (xbox360: 2007): Reviews |accessdate=2008-03-19 |publisher=Metacritic]

In IGN's 5.7 review, they criticized the lack of originality, the multiplayer portion, and the graphics, saying, "Hour of Victory" is a mediocre shooter with bad graphics and terrible multiplayer."cite web|url=http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/800/800735p1.html |title=IGN: Hour of Victory Review |accessdate=2008-03-19 |author=Hilary Goldstein |date=2007-06-29 |publisher=IGN]

GameSpot's review was particularly scathing, with Jeff Gerstmann scoring the game just 2 out of 10cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/hourofvictory/review.html |title=Hour of Victory for Xbox 360 Review |accessdate=2008-03-19 |author=Jeff Gerstmann |date=2007-06-30 |publisher=GameSpot] (making it the lowest rated Xbox 360 game on the site to date), saying the game "is practically broken and has no business being on shelves in its current state" and "no one, under any circumstances, should play this game." GameSpot went on to name it the "Flat-Out Worst Game" of 2007. [ [http://www.gamespot.com/best-of/dubioushonors/index.html?page=5 GameSpot's Best of 2007: Flat-Out Worst Game Dubious Honors ] ] The game received the following 9 demerits: Bad Sound Effects, Bad Value, Busted, Broken and Buggy, Derivative, Shallow, Short, Stripped, and Weak Story.

ScrewAttack made it a SAGY nominee for Worst 360 game of the year.

Eurogamer also gave the 2 out of 10, whilst GameCentral marked it even lower, giving it only 1 out of 10. "Maxim" was, however, much more appreciative of the game, giving it 4 out of 5. "Official Xbox Magazine UK" gave the game a rating of 6 out of 10. ["Official Xbox Magazine UK", August 2007, p. 80]

Official Xbox Magazine rated this game a 2.5 out of 10 (a.k.a. Broken) and gave it the "Worst 'Value' of the Year" Award in the OXM 2007 Game of the Year Awards.

PC Version

A PC version is on sale in Australia and the UK as of June 2008, however it is believed to be a limited run due to lack of interest in the game. The same technical issues found in the 360 version appear in the PC version and the game has not been widely received.

ee also

*Video games notable for negative reception

References

External links

* [http://hourofvictory.com/ Official site]