Shadow Harvest: Phantom Ops

 PC
Metascore
34

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 12
  3. Negative: 10 out of 12
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  1. GameStar
    May 28, 2011
    65
    With Shadow Harvest the developers bit off more than they could chew. Such a porject would have needed more ressources to be successful. The potential for that lies hidden deep inside the game.
  2. GameWatcher
    Apr 26, 2011
    50
    It's not a terrible game, but it is a deeply average one.
  3. PC Games
    May 20, 2011
    49
    Boring and buggy third-person-action-adventure that features two different characters, one action-focus the other one stealthy. But the much too hard difficulty level and the more than stupid AI tear every bit of fun out of Shadow Harvest.
  5. IGN
    Apr 21, 2011
    45
    A ho-hum action game that despite its bang and bluster fails even to achieve mediocrity. It promises what looks like an interesting stealth/shooter mechanic but never lives up to it, settling instead for an approach that's linear and predictably formulaic.
  6. Gaming Nexus
    May 6, 2011
    42
    Sometimes combining disparate elements can result in a product whose value is greater than the sum of the parts. Other times, not so much. Shadow Harvest: Phantom Ops showed promise in the premise but completely fails to fulfill its mission.
  7. Game Over Online
    Apr 20, 2011
    40
    Black Lion, I understand and partially sympathize with your desire to bring some fundamentals back to the shooter genre. I just didn't know you were going to be quite so literal and actually make a game that would have been bad even in 2004.
  8. PC Gamer
    Jul 14, 2011
    25
    It's not even remotely close to being fun, and serves as a fine example of how not to make an action game. [Sept 2011, p.77]
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  9. PC Games (Russia)
    May 6, 2011
    25
    Shadow Harvest will only bring pain and suffering into your life. Avoid it at all costs. [June 2011, p. 102]
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  10. GameSpot
    Apr 11, 2011
    25
    Stupid AI and sluggish performance are just two of the many problems that plague Shadow Harvest: Phantom Ops.
  11. Absolute Games
    Jul 26, 2011
    20
    Black Lion took a bite of something that they could now chew – a tactical stealth action game. And instead of a generic by-the-numbers shooter, they spewed out a piece of garbage, complete with poor graphics, amoeba-like AI and a horrendously dumb story.
  12. GamesRadar+
    Apr 21, 2011
    20
    It's frustrating, derivative, at times nearly unplayable, and frustrating.
  13. PC PowerPlay
    Jun 9, 2011
    10
    A terrible shooter and a terrible stealth game all in one! [July 2011, p.62]
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User Reviews

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User Score
2.3

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 35 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 35
  3. Negative: 29 out of 35
  1. GrandeCardigan
    Apr 6, 2011
    3
    This game seemed to have many things that could have made it great but it stumbles and fails at every turn, which is a shame. The mouseThis game seemed to have many things that could have made it great but it stumbles and fails at every turn, which is a shame. The mouse sensitivity is absolutely horrible, your turning speed is always horribly slow, even with 100% sensitivity, but when you aim, there is no decrease in speed like most shooters so your aimer shoots around like crazy. The cut scenes are unskippable which is brutal because the checkpoints are so far apart that if you die in the beginning of a level you will have to sit through the boring scene again. There were lots of times when playing as the guy that your cover would obstruct an enemy and prevent you from hitting him but not him from hitting you! As the woman, the enemies are some of the biggest idiots, you literally can just run in front of them and they won't catch you (her sections are stealth-based) which is a shame, she has a lot of cool spy/stealth things like distraction bolts for her crossbow and sneaking up op people gives you the option to either finish them off or inject them with 'nanites' on death, turning the body invisible. In some sections stealth is literally forced, in that getting caught instantly ends the mission even if you kill the guy who caught you before he calls out. The enemies are literally hive-mind's, the moment you are caught even if the guy who saw you doesn't say anything, all nearby enemies instantly know where you are. The overall HUD layout is quite nice by comparison, looking at objectives brings up detailed information, and the night vision is quite well done, unfortunately the voice actors for both of the lead characters are absolutely horrible. The man's voice is not suited to the roll and he seems to phone in his performance, dragging down the horrible cut scenes even more. The female voice is a little more suited to her role, but still feels like she doesn't care about the part and is just reading lines. The story is slightly interesting the first time you watch it, however the lack of skippable cut scenes means that there is no replay value. One other strange thing is that playing as the woman, even if you have the weapon, your superior (on the headset naturally) has to 'unlock' everything, as if she couldn't just fire the bolt, or use the pointy claws on her arm. This is part of the tutorial of course but they had so many better ways to explain things then arbitrarily locking things and not making sense. Overall a good concept, and a great new HUD idea, but falls extremely short of that, and creates a huge mess thats not worth even $10… Full Review »
  2. gammavii
    May 18, 2011
    3
    When I got into my first battle in this game I really thought my neighbors lawn mower is stuttering.
    And the graphics is not really better    When I got into my first battle in this game I really thought my neighbors lawn mower is stuttering.
    And the graphics is not really better than the sound. Latest when you entering a building you will desperately try to enable Nanovision.

    I truly like the switch-between-two-characters-idea and the different locations in this game, but the implementation lacks tremendously.
    Though it might be unfair to compare it with a Crysis (the old and the new one and all without DX11!) - it's this kind of game approving why a Crysis deserves maximum ratings.    … Full Review »
  3. Zri
    Apr 14, 2011
    2
    TL;DR - Don't Do It. I was looking forward to a sneaker/action mashup, and all I got was a half-arsed shooter. I would have forgiven thisTL;DR - Don't Do It. I was looking forward to a sneaker/action mashup, and all I got was a half-arsed shooter. I would have forgiven this game if the stealth was any good, but it's just laughable. Enemies have don't see you when you're standing in front of them until their surprise meter runs out. You can stab people in the neck after sneaking up on them with your nano claws, but can't use it in any form of meaningful combat if you get caught in the open. There seems to be all of one line of dialog for enemies you catch off guard.
    The list of inadequacies is a long one. Read the first line - Don't Do It.    … Full Review »
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