mrmp3
03-06-2006, 03:29 PM
I've gotten about a good hour and a half play session in so here it goes. Again, I'm not familiar with the intricacies, but I figured I'd let everyone know if it's worth their time or not. This is all off the top of my head and some info might be slightly off so sorry in advance if it's out of order.
There were quite a few games going, though no connections meter oddly enough. Optimatch basically sets the room limit to 8, couldn't find an option to make it lower. However, I ran across only one game that could handle it. My recommendation is use the quickmatch 3 v 3 option. Good amount of mayhem, good connections. Just for those who don't know, 8 players is max. You have a squad of 4 and a choice of 3 (I guess) Generals (basically the guy you control). Each one differs in terms of speed, power of weapons, and leadership (I'm presuming that's what it is cuz this one guy on the Axis has crappy weapons). Each general has a special command executed with right on the D-Pad. It is different for each general and I have no idea what each one does or how to execute cuz it seems to be you can only do at a specific time or looking at something specific. Dunno what exactly. The demo mode uses a territory mode much in the vein of the Battlefield series. The main difference is that certain territories enable you to buy certain things. The one map has 2 radio towers which give you access to call in air strikes and bomb strikes, 1 tank factory which allows you to get some more advanced heavy weaponry, and 1 artillery base which allows you to get better anti-air and turret weapons. When you access the buy menu, you can't control your characters so if you get under attack, just press B and you can duck for cover. Once you select your item, you place it down a la Sims where if its red you can't drop it and if it's green your golden. You can also adjust the angle with the right stick so you can choose what direction you want your turret facing. Vehicle physics kind of suck and when you run over stuff it's kind of pointless cuz it stops you, then it blows up, then you keep going. Iono it just isn't fluid. Artillery strikes can be dropped pretty far away and when you go to place one, it lets you use like a spectator cam to see out pretty far just so you don't blindly drop it in the middle of nowhere. i've noticed AI that hasn't been given a command by a human player seems to know when one is dropped, and moves away from it. Not too far though, you can kill 1 or 2 guys in the squad, but still it's kind of annoying. The axis base had like 3 turrets and 2 squads there, got a air strike on'em and just watch'em get torn apart.
Opinions: This game has bad timing. I'd honestly put it off. This game, though decent, stands no chance to GR:AW or Oblivion. A little more work to things like the animations, vehicle physics, and some better filters online (connection being the big one) would make this more worth it. The way your guy moves, it kinda feels like your controlling like iono G.I. Joe's which is why I fear this game will be overrun with little kids and pre-pube teens. There really isn't headshots, and the rifle takes longer to reload than the shotgun oddly enough. The shotgun also seems useless compared to the flamethrower considering the shotgun takes 2-3 shots to kill someone in close range and the flamethrower the guy throws his gun in the air. So there's some weird weapon balance. Overall, high 7's to low 8's is a good score to give this one. I just feel bad cuz I'd like to see a sequel, but something tells me financially this just isn't gonna work out.
There were quite a few games going, though no connections meter oddly enough. Optimatch basically sets the room limit to 8, couldn't find an option to make it lower. However, I ran across only one game that could handle it. My recommendation is use the quickmatch 3 v 3 option. Good amount of mayhem, good connections. Just for those who don't know, 8 players is max. You have a squad of 4 and a choice of 3 (I guess) Generals (basically the guy you control). Each one differs in terms of speed, power of weapons, and leadership (I'm presuming that's what it is cuz this one guy on the Axis has crappy weapons). Each general has a special command executed with right on the D-Pad. It is different for each general and I have no idea what each one does or how to execute cuz it seems to be you can only do at a specific time or looking at something specific. Dunno what exactly. The demo mode uses a territory mode much in the vein of the Battlefield series. The main difference is that certain territories enable you to buy certain things. The one map has 2 radio towers which give you access to call in air strikes and bomb strikes, 1 tank factory which allows you to get some more advanced heavy weaponry, and 1 artillery base which allows you to get better anti-air and turret weapons. When you access the buy menu, you can't control your characters so if you get under attack, just press B and you can duck for cover. Once you select your item, you place it down a la Sims where if its red you can't drop it and if it's green your golden. You can also adjust the angle with the right stick so you can choose what direction you want your turret facing. Vehicle physics kind of suck and when you run over stuff it's kind of pointless cuz it stops you, then it blows up, then you keep going. Iono it just isn't fluid. Artillery strikes can be dropped pretty far away and when you go to place one, it lets you use like a spectator cam to see out pretty far just so you don't blindly drop it in the middle of nowhere. i've noticed AI that hasn't been given a command by a human player seems to know when one is dropped, and moves away from it. Not too far though, you can kill 1 or 2 guys in the squad, but still it's kind of annoying. The axis base had like 3 turrets and 2 squads there, got a air strike on'em and just watch'em get torn apart.
Opinions: This game has bad timing. I'd honestly put it off. This game, though decent, stands no chance to GR:AW or Oblivion. A little more work to things like the animations, vehicle physics, and some better filters online (connection being the big one) would make this more worth it. The way your guy moves, it kinda feels like your controlling like iono G.I. Joe's which is why I fear this game will be overrun with little kids and pre-pube teens. There really isn't headshots, and the rifle takes longer to reload than the shotgun oddly enough. The shotgun also seems useless compared to the flamethrower considering the shotgun takes 2-3 shots to kill someone in close range and the flamethrower the guy throws his gun in the air. So there's some weird weapon balance. Overall, high 7's to low 8's is a good score to give this one. I just feel bad cuz I'd like to see a sequel, but something tells me financially this just isn't gonna work out.