14 DAY TRIAL // 
Signal Ops is a unique video game experience created by Space Bullet Dynamics Corporation, which aims to take the first-person shooter mechanics and radically innovate it by giving players a chance to indirectly control a team of four members using monitors and mediated commands.
The official description from the developers says Signal Ops is a multi-perspective shooter that uses elements from such classic games like Deus Ex, Commandos and Syndicate.
The reality is a little more complicated and, while the structure of the game requires some time to fully understand, Space Bullet Dynamics Corporation has managed to craft a video game that will surely get a cult following if not mainstream recognition.
Signal Ops is a game that uses a player’s attention span as a resource, forcing those who want to perform well to explore their environments, be careful about movement, use violence as a last resort and explore the game world through the eyes of all the characters they have available.
The biggest feature to get used to is seeing through the eyes of more than one character at a time, which can create a cognitive overload that takes time to clear up.
Radios, which allow the player to control characters in the field, are crucial and much of the game is based around finding power outlets.
Managing how to best move agents around to flank enemies and avoid actual fights is also crucial for mission success.
There are times when the entire Signal Ops experience can be frustrating and I have often found myself dropping the game, walking away, replaying some events and ideas in my head and only then trying to play again.
But when the plan actually clicks and I manage to move my team in a coordinated and smart way, the pleasure is enhanced by the knowledge that I actually had to think about my actions and plan in order to get a good result.
But it takes a lot of tries to get there, more than it did in the old Commandos games, and to the modern gamer quitting Signal Ops might be more satisfying in the short term than sticking with it through frustration to eventually get that feeling of success.
The story of the game is also interesting, with hints about a wider conspiracy and some nice irony towards the surveillance state and the way bureaucracy conserves itself.
Signal Ops uses a very stylized graphics that makes the entire experience seem drawn by hand and creates an eerie atmosphere that matches the tone of the story.
The game is not actually beautiful and there are some issues, like clipping through some objects and sometimes being spotted at random, but the overall experience is never ruined because of them.
The sound design is also solid, given the universe of the game, with the various characters never moving to the bombastic territory that shooters traditionally inhabit and mostly giving off a British civil servant vibe that’s interesting.
Signal Ops is clearly a game that’s not for everyone, but I kind of wish that every gamer that has ever played a first-person shooter, no matter the name or developer, took a look at it.
The twist is so clever that it can mask the limited resources that the team has used to craft the experience and more players need to understand how important innovation and interesting ideas can be to a genre that’s getting a little tired.
Developers that engage with it might also see how they can refresh the experience they are offering to their audience.
Signal Ops is available for a low price from GOG.com and I encourage all first-person shooter fans to spend a few hours with the game, even if the experience can be annoying at times.
