First off, I’m a little behind with my Pile of Shame series. I’m really enjoying Mass Effect 2, to the point of really wanting to take my time with it, and explore as much of it as I can. Current plan is the complete it this weekend, and then try my best to catch up with Bioshock 1 and 2. I have a week off of college coming up, so I should be to do some catching up there.
Battlefield Bad Company 2
So I’ve been following this game for a while, the early gameplay videos made me quite moist. So I played the beta (read: demo), and I mostly enjoyed it. Playing it on my own on a random server the game was quite fun. It does take some getting used to, especially if you have just come from something like Modern Warfare 2. Guns actually have something called “recoil”, and it can take a fair few hits to down somebody.
The only game mode in the beta is Rush, and it’s something I’ve not seen in a game before until this. It’s a great fast-paced mode, that can really take things right down to the wire, and cause serious frustration if you have an incompetent team. The game starts off with two points on the map, that one team has to defend and the other destroy. Once those two are destroyed, the next section of the map opens up and the same happens again. This happens 4 times in total, and each time it does, the points become more advantageous for the defending team. The attackers have a limited amount of tickets (total number of deaths for the entire team) before they lose, while the defenders have infinite.
This game mode really comes into it’s own when you are playing in a squad with your friends, with voice communication of some kind. You can spawn behind anyone in your squad no matter where they are, and it’s great. If you have 3 or 4 competent players working together, especially when attacking, they can easily win the game for the team. It’s a great feeling when the three of you sneak into the building with the bombsite in it, chuck down a lorries worth of C4, and then, while jumping out of a window, detonating it, causing the bombsite, hell, the entire building, to crumble.
There are a few problems with the game, some of which are just because it’s a beta, some which are obvious design choices but I would personally like to be changed. Not having the ability to prone is a weird one. Seeing a tank coming towards you, and your first instinct, especially if you have played any other Battlefield game, is to prone in a nearby shrubbery. Instead you have to do with just crouching there, which is kind of silly. Actually, that is the only problem I have with it so far… Guess it’s even better than I thought.
So yeah, I’d highly recommend it. It’s free on the Xbox where it is actually called a demo, and for for nothing you do get a crap-load of content. On the PC you have to pre-order it to get a beta key, unless you are clever. So, yeah, go get it.
Global Agenda
A new MMO that came out last weekend, with the early start event starting on Friday, and a beta last a little shorter than a month before that. Firstly, at it’s core it is a third person multiplayer shooter, with different classes, game modes etc. It then also has a PvE side to the game as well, wherein 4 players take on a dungeon. It’s unique selling point though is it’s Conquest mode, in which player created agencies fight over a real-time world, attacking and defending zones.
The Conquest mode I haven’t personally experienced yet, because it wasn’t open for a lot of the time in the beta, and I have not yet put enough time into the game to get into a decent agency, and spend a decent amount of time in the game since it’s official launch – mostly because of Mass Effect 2. Also, this is the part of the game you have to subscribe to take part in, with the regular PvP and PvE been available to everyone just from purchasing the game.
The PvP is the part that I have found the most interesting so far. It’s a nice mix of Unreal Tournament, Team Fortress 2 and a few other inspirations, but it still feels like a unique game. It currently has 3 game modes; Control – control 2/3 points on the map to get points, Payload – push the cart to one end of the map and Capture the Robot – each team have a robot which a player controls and have to reach the other side of the map with it. There is another one similar to Rush in Bad Company 2, but the name escapes me at the moment.
The first 2 work really well, and I’ve had a lot of fun playing them. They require a lot of teamwork, which can be a pain as the maximum group allowed in a premade is 4, it can be quite random as to whether you win or not.
PvE on the other hand is a bit hit and miss. Great for some quick grinding, but the first 2 aren’t particularly inspired. They later ones, of which there are 5 in total, may get a bit more interesting and challenging, but the first 2 are just a case of rush through it as quickly as possible, with nearly any group setup working fine.
Finally, the 4 classes in the game are Assault (heavy), Recon, Medic and Robotic. All pretty self explanatory with the exception of the Robotic. This is the class I am playing now it’s launched, and it is a lot of fun. My play style is relying a lot on turrets, as they can do a lot of damage, and with Control and Payload often forcing players to be in one spot for a long time, turrets can be really affective.
In the beta I tried playing the Recon class as a sniper. I would not recommend it, and find it a frustrating setup to play. The bullets travel extremely slowly, and it takes around 3 shots to kill someone. It seemed to be almost impossible to hit a moving target, unless you were lucky and either they didn’t move, or they moved into it.
Anyways, in summary, I have enjoyed this game, but I don’t see myself really becoming to involved in the subscription side, as I cannot see me wanting to put that much time into the game. Those who are looking for a new MMO to sink their time into, but are bored of clicking abilities and want to shoot a gun, this could be for you.
Right, that’s me done until Monday / Tuesday. Back to Mass Effect 2, woop woop!
Spen
