Moogle Reviews - Planetside 2 (Beta)

[The_DarthMoogle]

The 12:30 Zerg train to Allatum is delayed due to Skyguards on the track.

What you are witnessing here right now is my feeble attempt to sum up what is shaping to be the only game you will ever need to play, if you are like me and only play one MMO at a time. For those of you not in the know, Planetside 2 is 100% an MMOFPS. Yup.

I'll tell you why this is the best kind of FPS. Firstly, the scale. The beta currently lets up to 380 gajazmillion players play one one continent, by the name of Indar. It's sorta a Mojave desert looking deal, with a bit of greenery to frolic about in. It's also bloody enormous. It's made up of around 20 capturable bases, the smallest ones being the size of a large Call of Duty map. No joke. Now, 380 gadbirrion players is a bit of an overstatement. By the time the game rolls out in Christmas, the continental cap will be 2000. Three continents will mean 6000 per server. That's cool no matter how you look at it.

Secondly, the core infantry gameplay. It's beautiful. The weapons are customisable, and we are promised a pretty large selection of them on launch, for each of the six classes - Light Assault, Engineer, Medic, Sniper, Heavy Assault, and MAX. Each class is highly specialised for each role, and an infantry squad is screwed without the inclusion of all of them. Now, MAXs if you were wondering, are hulking frames capable of dual-wielding instruments of megadeath. You know, GMGs, Miniguns, Gauss Shotguns, but they're pretty slow, and rely on engineers to move up the battlefield. Bullets are physical objects in the world, so aim centre of mass and lead your moving targets. The movement and shooting is incredibly fluid even in bug-busting beta stage and is more comparable to ArmA or Battlefield than the more arcadey style of shooting.

Thirdly, vehicular gameplay is fluid, dynamic, and an utter nightmare for commanders, both to control and combat. It's no rare thing to see twenty tanks rolling past you, and even less to see twenty enemy aircraft coming to say hello. They drive much like you would expect from playing Battlefield games, and are very nearly completely balanced (See reference to Skyguard). Both them and infantry are totally useless without each other, making for the ultimate combined arms theatre of war.

Fourth, this game is beautiful. The update of graphics is astonishing, and the fact that hundreds of players, thousands of explosions, and millions of bullets are bouncing across your screen should put other triple-A titles to absolute shame. This game is pure art. Just wait till it's night time and prepare to permajizz.

Finally, the game itself and the attitude of it's players. In this game, 'self' means bugger all. You simply can't just grab a gun and go. You'll get sniped, run over and bump into MAXs more times than you've had hot meals. So get a microphone and team up. Yes that's right, you will actually be expected to team up with random strangers. You can jump into another squad and wait for orders, or grab a couple of loners and lead the charge yourself. Build a friends list, rally behind an organised Outfit and come up with the ultimate strategy. Gone are the days of suggesting 'we cap B' and getting told to stick sharp objects in uncomfortable places. The least you'll get is constructive criticism as to why capping B would suck eggs. Gone are the griefers, gone are the mic spammers. All hail the New Conglomerate.

Freedom!

EDIT : I have two keys available on a first-come-first-served-as-long-as-you-promise-not-to-be-vanu basis. Massage me for info. Keys have now been consumed entirely.

[Adlersch]

Holy Guthix, I jumped when I saw the last bit. Anyways, there really isn't anything I can add to this... I like the Terran Republic better (For the colors and the government, but that's a long-ass-story which can be found on 'Let's talk about how great Planetside 2 is going to be.')

I'm already raring to go and I already know I'll almost always be a medic or engineer unless otherwise needed - I fucking love being the support classes for some reason...

Maybe because if I see people going down I could:

1) Run in, blast maybe a few then go down

2) Blast one and res an ally or two

3) Set down a turret to blast them all and call for help

4) Fix the MAX as it blasts everyone and covers the medics resing the downed troops

[Jay?]

I'll probably putz around with the classes until i realize that i'm still only useful as a sniper.

[The_DarthMoogle]

I'll probably putz around with the classes until i realize that i'm still only useful as a sniper.

I cannot understate how important team play is. Also, the class is called Infiltrator is a reason, it's a stealth/recon class.

Milling around as a lone sniper in the game's current form is pathetic due to the absolute necessity of combined arms combat.

If you haven't got a dozen tanks in front of you, and total air superiority, you can't get away with shooting at an organised squad of infantry.

[warpspeed10]

Looks like I'll be getting this instead of Halo 4. We should form a technic squad.

[The_DarthMoogle]

Looks like I'll be getting this instead of Halo 4. We should form a technic squad.

The only reason I'm not selling my Xbox is for Halo 4. That's actually looking like the game that consoles deserve.

As for the technic squad... dunno. I have a platoon sized outfit (1st British Bulldogs) on EU server 1, but I think that I'll make a thread once the game proper arrives around Christmas.

[warpspeed10]

The only reason I'm not selling my Xbox is for Halo 4. That's actually looking like the game that consoles deserve.

As for the technic squad... dunno. I have a platoon sized outfit (1st British Bulldogs) on EU server 1, but I think that I'll make a thread once the game proper arrives around Christmas.

I dunno, that last Halo book, Glasslands, left a really bad taste in my mouth. I'm not sure I'm liking the direction they are taking the universe.

[Adlersch]

As for the technic squad...

For some reason I doubt we'll all be able to agree on one empire to fight for. However I wouldn't mind teaming up with anyone else here one bit.

[The_DarthMoogle]

I dunno, that last Halo book, Glasslands, left a really bad taste in my mouth. I'm not sure I'm liking the direction they are taking the universe.

Yeah, but that wasn't Greg Bear, it was Karen something.

[warpspeed10]

Yeah, but that wasn't Greg Bear, it was Karen something.

I know that, but she has a reputation of not doing her homework. Every time she writes a book for a pre-existing universe she doesn't learn about the universe she is writing for. She just jumps right in and says "Fuck you!" to the cannon. And knowing that... they still let her write for halo. Not just that, but they contracted her for an entire trilogy.

[Jay?]

I would join a technic squad, but i think my awful gamering would drag everyone into certain ruin.

[warpspeed10]

I would join a technic squad, but i think my awful gamering would drag everyone into certain ruin.

When everyone is a noob, are there really any noobs?

[Adlersch]

I would join a technic squad, but i think my awful gamering would drag everyone into certain ruin.

Oh please. This is a new game that very few (If any) of us have had any extensive experience in. Plus I'm absolutely terrible at FPS games in general - other than medical and engineering applications to support others... So you'd at least fit in with me!

Anyways, back to what I was saying, we'll all improve over time and nobody expects you to be anywhere near perfect at this time (Or ever, honestly. Everyone here is pretty relaxed).