Conflict: Desert Storm

Conflict: Desert Storm transports the player to the setting of the Gulf War in the early 1990s and offers a tactical shooter from the perspective of a four-member team of elite soldiers. During a mission, the player can switch between the individual squad members, each of whom has their own specialty – sniper, heavy machine gunner, demolitions expert, and all-around rifleman. This approach forced players to think about the deployment of forces and make use of each character's strengths while advancing through the terrain.

Missions take place in deserts, urban ruins, and military installations, and place emphasis on taking cover, coordinating fire, and carefully planning each advance, which was relatively unusual for consoles at the time of release – most shooters back then relied mainly on straightforward action. On Xbox, the game could rely on a solid technical execution with decent textures and pleasantly smooth controls that tried to translate the complexity of PC tactical shooters onto a gamepad.

Contemporary reception was mostly positive; the game was praised for the idea of switching between soldiers and for the authenticity of the military setting, although some critics pointed to overly high difficulty and to the behavior of the AI-controlled teammates, who sometimes required more frequent micromanagement than players would expect. Its success led to a number of sequels that further developed the concept of squad tactics in various war conflicts, from Vietnam to more modern battlefields, and cemented the Conflict brand as one of the recognizable military series of its generation.

Today, Conflict: Desert Storm feels like an interesting transitional link between the arcade shooters of the nineties and the later, more elaborate tactical games like Rainbow Six or Ghost Recon. For fans of military shooters with an emphasis on teamwork, it remains a pleasant and still playable experience that, even after all these years, can deliver the tension that comes from having to cooperate and carefully plan every advance through military terrain full of lurking enemies.

Why play: For fans of team-based military shooters with an emphasis on tactics and cooperation, it remains a playable transitional link today between nineties arcade action and the later Rainbow Six or Ghost Recon.