Did you ever play "doctor" when you were a kid? Shame on you! But on the other hand, this experience just might be very helpful if you check out Legacy Interactive's new release: Combat Medic - Special Ops.

Combat Medic is a hybrid between a war sim and medical sim. Legacy Interactive is eminently qualified to produce this title, having sold over 700,000 copies of its award winning Emergency Room series games. In order to provide realism in this release, medical and military Special Forces consultants were employed. It shows!

Combat Medic places you in a Middle Eastern conflict - deep behind enemy lines. Your task is to administer medical aid to your wounded buddies, "off" the enemy troops, and stay alive. The task is challenging, fun and very addictive. Easy? Nope! Shoot, you should see my Purple Heart ribbons (I died a bunch :) ). However, I advanced in rank a bit and received a few honors and medals………I love that part!

The game provides three training scenarios, and ten missions. You must achieve a score of 50 out of a possible 100 in a mission order to progress to the next mission. You may choose one of the offered soldiers - each with differing strengths and weaknesses. You may select the novice, intermediate, or expert level (read: replayability galore). Prior to each mission, you receive a briefing of the tactical situation and your personal objectives. Once you start a mission, you're treated to a very realistic cinematic entrance. Pump up the adrenaline, you're now in a timed sequence in which to complete your objectives. Your most important duty is to administer medical aid to your fallen comrades. In the game's overhead view (2D), you are in a white rectangle, your buddies are in green, the enemy troops are in red, and the wounded are in yellow. Piece a cake. In the novice and intermediate levels, your "backpack" is loaded with the medical equipment you'll need. Expert?.. Pack your own stuff, Sarge. Remember you are also a soldier - the game gives you a pistol, automatic rifle, and grenades (love those!).

Okay, you're on the ground. Look for those yellow rectangles on your mini-map. Those guys need your help. Once you get to the wounded, the game provides a 3D image of the patient. Using the keyboard and mouse, you are able rotate and turn the body over in order to diagnose injuries. Okay, you've got the tools (an amazing array), so get to it! In the levels I played, clues were offered as to which medical devices to use (hey, I'm not an MD! Thanks, Legacy!). Correct application of medical techniques yields you points (remember you need 50 in order to progress to the next mission).

The game interface is very user friendly and provides for moving all your allies to a geographic point, viewing your 3D patient, selecting your medical equipment, dragging and dropping your patient, calling in the medivac choppers, radioing for support, and returning your patient to action. Ten save slots are available.

Hey, this is cool: Legacy has created a secret web site (address and password provided with the game) which provides cheat codes, Easter eggs, "behind the scenes" videos, and more.

Overall, I really enjoyed the game. The game is downright fun, challenging and very addictive. One downer though - when under fire and racing to beat the clock, I sometimes had to "pixel hunt" slowly and carefully, in order to apply the medical equipment to the correct body part. Yikes, I hate slow when I'm being wasted by da bad guyz!

Bottom line: a no-brainer. This game is excellent and the MSRP is very low. It's a bargain. You won't regret the ride!

Final Grade: A-

System Requirements:

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Pentium III or equivalent
128MB RAM
8MB Video card
16X CD_ROM Drive
DirectX 7.0 or higher
IE 5.0 or higher
Sound Card