Description
Ghosts is the first mission in the upcoming campaign Warzone! As a new pilot aboard the GTD Warlock, you must fend off Shivans as they attempt to invade the GTVA from the Regulus system. But while you fight Shivans, is there something more going on?

Storyline:
If you've played 'Nemesis' by the same author, you'll know the command ship in this mission, the GTD Warlock. This mission is the first from IceFire's highly anticipated Warzone campaign. The storyline of this introductory mission centres on an abandoned science vessel, and is carried off very well with a good Command briefing featuring appropriate animations and a well laid out briefing. The icons all appear to match up, but there are numerous grammatical errors and a few spelling errors too. The in-flight messages are good, but there's little chatter (although it's the same level of talk as you might find in a normal Volition mission) and for some reason the pilots' faces aren't shown. Odd. The ending for this mission throws in some intrigue and opens it up for the full campaign.

Balance:
The level of opposition in this mission is just about right, really, as the GTSC Disen isn't the most resilient of targets and the number of bombers is well chosen. The number of fighters, too, is good, and presents some good dogfighting opportunities. The class of bombers – Nahemas – is good, as these are fast but fragile, and not too hard to stop. Fail to do so, though, and you'll pay dearly quickly. Loadout is also good, allowing you some choice, but not too much.

Design:
Design of this mission is good, featuring a pretty background and ship placement in X, Y, and indeed Z-axes. Send-message-lists are used where appropriate as well. However, I noticed that one directive doesnÂ’t show up in the mission because there's no directive text, and a couple of the directives couldÂ’ve been compressed. However, in general the design of the mission is good, and everything works, so you can't complain, can you?

Gameplay:
The pace of this mission is really very frantic once it gets going and the bombers arrive. I especially like the way they arrive on opposite sides of the Disen and you're left buzzing across it like a maniac intercepting them. This makes it great fun, and though the mission isn't overly long or complex, it doesn't really matter. The mission will make more sense once the rest of the campaign can be played, but it's left me wanting more, and that's what counts.

Other Thoughts:
Oh yes indeedy, I want this campaign quite badly. This mission also gets the privilege of being the 100th mission reviewed! Yay! I also touch-typed this whole review, which is a fairly irrelevant thought...