First Person Saturday – Turning Point: Fall of Liberty

I really miss World War II shooters. Sure, they may have grown old, but modern assault rifles and shotguns have nothing on the iconic ping of a M1 Garand, and there are fewer joys in gaming than mowing down hordes of Nazis. So when I heard of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, an alternate history World War II game, I was intrigued.

I quite like the concept for Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. The game is set in an alternate World War II where the Nazi forces steamrolled Europe, and then moved onto America. The game is mostly set in America, but the final act is in a Nazi-occupied London. However, despite the promising setup, the game falls flat in basically every category. But first, the good.

The art style is really nice. Nazis invade in miniature zeppelins, using advanced versions of iconic World War II armaments. Along with the great artstyle is an equally awesome atmosphere. The game starts with New York being bombed to hell and back, and fighting alongside a resistance really gives the game a Red Dawn-esque atmosphere. It only gets better in the Washington D.C. levels, where you see swastikas draping off the columns of the White House. However, as mentioned earlier, it's not all good.

Take, for example, the graphics. As fun as the art style is, it can't disguise the fact that Turning Point: Fall of Liberty looks like your average Playstation 2 game. And for an Unreal Engine 3 game released a good year after Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and the lofty Crysis, that's just unacceptable.

Something else that really bugged me in Turning Point was the awful checkpoint placements. They're not really placed where you'd expect. For example, at the start of the second mission, you have to fight off waves and waves of Nazis. You'd assume that once the assault ended, you'd get a checkpoint, right? Unfortunately, that's just not how the game works, and I found myself having to start over from the very beginning of the mission after being downed by a stray bullet.

Now to focus on the gameplay itself, and believe me, it doesn't win any awards either. It plays a lot like your average Call of Duty, with iron sights, grenade indicators, and a two weapon limit. The only real innovation the game has is their melee options, where you can either oneshot an enemy or take them hostage. While a fun gimmick, it's not very useful and the melee animations aren't any better—although the contextual kills are quite nice.

Despite it's interesting premise and great atmosphere, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is just bogged down by too many glaring issues. From the checkpoints to the animation, very little in this game works. If you want to see a game focused on world-conquering Nazis done right, look no further than Wolfenstein: The New Order. Turning Point can safely be given a pass.