There are no health bars or medipacks that magically heal your wounds in real life. There aren't any in Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers either. This is a videogame that forces you to face up to the harsh realities of war - if you get shot, you die. Or it at least makes a bit of a mess. Either way, you won't be shrugging it off and running along. So deal with it people, because that's the way it is.

There's no room for error at all - you've got to think on your feet, all the time. It makes you sit back and observe what's going on around you before you venture out from cover. The threat to your soldiers' lives is intense and immersive. Bullets whizz past your head and you feel real fear. As your men bolt across a dangerous opening, under fire from distant hostiles, you feel stressed. There aren't many games like this. It's not just a game, it's an experience, and you've got to play it to understand why it's so good.

If you've never played a Full Spectrum Warrior game before, it's important you understand that Ten Hammers doesn't give you direct control over the soldiers. In a similar way to a top-down strategy game, you click where you want your guys to go and they'll go there. You tell them who you want shot at and they'll shoot at him.

Even if you're usually one to favour the more instantaneous nature of a first-person wargame, don't brush this aside. It's a point-and-click-style game that manages to avoid the usual geeky pointing and clicking tediousness. Simple controls and fast Al makes this just as accessible and rewarding as a first-person shooter. In fact, it's even more gratifying when you finally bag a hostile that's had you pinned down for ages, regardless of the fact that it wasn't your finger that pulled the trigger. You took ages to devise a strategy and that corpse is the fruit of your efforts. Twisted? Us? No way.

There was no other game like this when the original Full Spectrum Warrior hit shelves back in July 2004, and there still isn't. The sequel comes with a few additions to enhance the gameplay, too. The previous game took place entirely in the streets, but now there are numerous interiors you can bust into during your missions (especially handy when the weather's as chilly as it is now). There's a whole heap of places where you can kick down the door and make yourself at home, ranging from huge indoor halls to small townhouses. Residents cower in fear as you send your guys storming through their living room and upstairs, to scope out a good sniping position through a high window. There still aren’t many civilians running around the streets, but the addition of building interiors fills out the FSW world, and makes it feel even more real.

You can also control military vehicles in Ten Hammers. After having to tiptoe through a level on foot, it feels great to get your hands on a tank. Large groups of hostiles that would otherwise cause you major grief become like pathetic tiny ants waiting to be squashed. One shot of your hefty cannon will finish them all, and put a smile on your face in the process. And even if the cannon is a little clunky to move around, who cares when it's so satisfying? It's equally as pleasing when you mow down foes with the rapid-fire turret on the back of a Humvee. However, you won't just be able to blast through entire levels with the heavy weaponry. Use is restricted to small areas, which is good because it prevents it from ruining the slow and cautious nature of the original game.

Essentially, Ten Hammers is a more refined version of the same fantastic gameplay we loved in the original. In a nutshell, you are given an objective indicated by a blue arrow that keeps you heading in the correct direction. You spend most of your time ducking from cover to cover on the way, engaging in strategic gun battles as you proceed to your objective.

Your soldiers do what you tell them, but they're not robots. They are smart and act with initiative. When you click the marker near a car, wall or any other significant piece of scenery, they automatically position themselves alongside it, taking cover and watching each others' backs. If you send them near the corner of a wall they first stand with their back to it, then they peep around the corner checking all angles for a threat. They behave like they genuinely value their lives.

Once they've checked their surroundings, they'll shout "Clear!" and you know you can move along. On the other hand, when they spot a hostile the whole game springs to life. The music picks up as your soldiers get down low and raise their weapons, ready for things to kick off. You set their attack parameters in the location of the hostile and they begin the bullet shower.

From that moment on, you don't have to worry about them sticking their heads out and getting killed, or anything like that. As long as they aren't ambushed from a different angle, you could leave them there and they'll just continue to battle that enemy for ages. The soldiers won't fulfil your objectives for you, but they will strive to preserve their lives. This is great because it gives you time to think about how you're going to win the battle. The game never breaks down into a random scramble. You feel totally in control at all times.

This is even the case when you have two teams positioned in two entirely different locations. You don't need to pay constant attention to a team so you are perfectly able to flick between both, issuing an order or two each time with relative ease. Strategy games can often be overly complex - you need to study them for ages to get even a competent grasp of the commands. That's not the case with Ten Hammers. If you're half a gamer you will have no trouble getting your brain around the controls within half an hour. After about an hour's play you'll be flicking from one soldier to another, deploying teams in different directions and issuing multiple orders without giving the controls a second thought.

Despite its highly accessible gameplay and intelligent AI, this is not an easy game to defeat. The enemies are just as smart as your soldiers. They take cover as much as they can. They retreat if overpowered, and frequently change positions to get a better angle on you. They don't give you a second to recover from a bad move either - put a foot wrong and they'll make holes in your chest that God really never intended to be there.

The great thing is, just like in real life, you can never totally predict what is going to happen or what the enemies are going to do. You'll find enemies working in co-operation to take you down. They sometimes appear to be making intelligent decisions, running from one covering position to another, or trying to sneak around you to flank your team. This means that you have to be flexible in your attacks. You have to be able to adapt to what the enemy does, be quick with the commands and think intelligently. This may be a strategy game but it has some serious pace.

But with the intensity of the gun battles comes the slowness and caution of pushing forwards through enemy territory. This is not a game for people without patience. Carefully checking every last corner of an environment can take ages. You will find yourself restarting at checkpoints over and over as you struggle to win a particular battle. And if any one of your team members gets shot, things get even slower as you need to haul their wounded ass to the next checkpoint for first aid. The carrier can't run too fast and can't shoot, so gun battles are even tougher. Believe us when we say you will hate it when one of your men gets shot.

The harsh consequences of such small mistakes force you to think like a real military commander. You will begin to see things differently in the realistic world of Ten Hammers. You will be constantly assessing how effective cars, walls, crates, bins and everything else will serve as cover. Cars are good but are usually placed out in the open. And you'll soon learn that being out in the open is not a good thing.

That's the huge reward with playing Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers. Its intuitive, yet realistically harsh gameplay makes you feel like you could actually be a good soldier in the same way that Colin McRae Rally 2005 made you feel like you could probably drive a rally car.

It may not be hugely different from the original but it's one of the most challenging, intelligent and immersive wargames on Xbox, and even if you've played the first game, it's worth buying. Never found where the ten hammers were, though.

1. An intuitive control system that's easy to learn and allows you to concentrate on strategy rather than studying complex commands.
2. A truly immersive experience considering you're not in direct control of the soldiers. Intense battles will have you ducking in your seat.
3. Realistic gameplay without health bars or magic healing items. You will care for the lives of your soldiers like you do your own.
4. The addition of vehicles and building interiors enhances the gameplay beautifully, adding appeal for fans of the original.

1. Some of the vehicles, particularly the tanks, are awkward to move around tighter spaces - infuriating when you're being shot at.

Though not hugely different to the original, this is intelligent, challenging and accessible, and we love it.