Nemesis

I'm still concerned that this game might miss the mark. It has the potential to be huge, but after playing 2142 for most of the day yesterday, then switching over to FFOW for a bit, I found that it really felt....off. Almost too arcadey..though I'm not sure if that's the right word.

I'll be playing, but unless the release version is a lot better than the beta or they patch it within the first 2 weeks, I'm worried the game just won't catch on like we hope.

So here are some of my concerns:

There are still invisible walls which at this point is just a MASSIVE bug. (I've heard these are gone in the retail version, but it makes zero sense to me that it hasn't been tested by players.) The weapons just don't feel powerful....or let me clarify, they don't sound powerful. The audio effects in the game are just terrible and that goes a long way for me in making weapons and effects match the visuals.

No VOIP. (again, supposed to be patched in. But for a squad based shooter, it is a cardinal sin anymore to not have VOIP as part of the basic game design.) The squad system and commands seem to be lacking as well.

Except for the death effects, (which are great) character animations aren't very smooth. Red Star weapons are insanely overpowered compared to Western Co. This is another one that really worries me. If one side is just better regardless of player skill, it just adds to the frustration levels.

I can't think of another game that has frustrated me more than this one yet I still want to play it. Which I think is the problem. This game is right on the verge of being great, yet it could quickly fall apart if at least some of this stuff isn't addressed in the retail version or soon thereafter.

I have hope and I'm not posting this because I hate the game or want people to not play. Just the opposite actually. I really want it to reach its potential and be a game I'd have no problem sitting down with for hours at a time. But I'm worried.

Am I off base in my concerns?

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Bommando

Yeah, this should have been tested, but we're told it's fixed.

The sounds have been hugely improved for retail. Listen to the sounds in the XBox 360 Demo. That's what to expect.

Agree with all. Needs much improvement and VOIP is a must in the patch.

I haven't noticed this.

There is imbalance, but I don't believe it's the weapons. I think it's some of the role abilities and on Streets, it's the map design.

It can get frustrating, but we can only hope they patch it soon afterwards. They claim pretty much all of the issues raised will be addressed in the patch. We'll have to hope.

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Nemesis

Just watched the demo again and you're right, the game sounds do seem to be much improved. Didn't have my speakers on the first time I watched it so I wasn't able to tell.

The character run animations just seemed blocky. Not your own character, but watching other's run around. For a game that is trying to have a realistic feel, something about the models when they move just isn't right. But I can admit that it could just be my unique impression.

You may be right about it being mostly contained within the roles, ala the fuel bomb vs the helio strafe. But it does feel like I'm able to kill a lot faster with the Red Star assault rifle than the Western one. Either way, it can be a game turner and frustrating as hell to get the drop on someone, lay half a clip into them and find yourself dead after they turn and kill you in no time.

Anyone else notice that there is zero weapon recoil in the XBOX demo? I wonder if that's been taken out due to the use of a controller?

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Hidus

The VOIP issue is the only one that really concerns me. To be honest as far as the invisible walls go once you know where they are you can pretty much avoid them which makes them far less frustrating.

I agree with you on the assault rifle sounds. They have always struck me as wimpy. I hope the 360 footage is a good indication of what the PC ver will sound like. On the other hand, I LOVE some of the other sound effects like the fuel bomb: WHOOOOOOSH > BOOOOOOOOM!

WC has a few advantages over red star. The heli has stealth and is a lot more annoying to try to bring down. I also don't think we have seen the full devastating potential of the gunship yet as Street is not really a good map for it.

Zoraster

a big concern is that they really sort of developed this for smaller numbers. The maps themselves may be plenty large (like oil fields), but the game mode forces you to fight over just two points and the more people you bring in, the more people are constantly dropping air strikes on everyone's heads. That just doesn't make for a fun environment. I wish some of the air strikes would only let a squad leader with a certain number of players in his squad to drop the air strikes.

The VOIP thing is certainly the most troubling thing though. All that said, there's not much left but to wait and see what happens. If there were two games coming out right about now that we were excited about, I'd say we could afford to give this one a miss, but there's really nothing in the pipeline in the near future that I know about, and if we show a little patience, this game could turn out to be top-notch.

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Hidus

The airstrikes thing is only really an issue on pub servers where people don't use their roles or counter effectively. It's like the walker in 2142 - on a pub you can walk around solo and go 50 - 0 with that thing but on a teamplay server you will be dead in 30 seconds without some infantry support.

Nemesis

I think the problem with the EMP counter to the airstrikes is that, as it stands now, it takes way to long to get to level 3. (supposed to have switched 2 and 3 in retail, so that's good...)

Once a team get's on a roll and can have level 3 airstrikes to start a map like Street, you have almost no chance to gain enough kills/points to build up your EMP. We have to really work on breakout tactics once we're pinned. Having your last spawn constantly Fuel/Carpet bombed every time you spawn in, makes for a very bad round.

This is where the lack of a Commander and VOIP will hurt the game. People don't like feeling helpless when playing, and that is a big one. If they can't communicate and tell each other where they're going or what kits are needed, it's easier for most to just quit than deal with that kind of frustration.

I think the VOIP issue is going to be the main hurdle in getting this game off the ground, here. Not really in populating it, but in showing how we're different from every other Pub server around.

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Hidus

Another thing about the airstrikes. You start to develop a knack for dodging them after a while. People generally put them in the same places and you can also visually see when they have their laser spotter equipped which means they are marking a strike so gtfo of there. Sure you still get nailed by them but I would say I dodge as many as I get hit by now.

Zoraster

All i'm saying is that it's an annoyance rather than a fun feature of the game as it stands now.

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Lyramion

LIES PURE LIES!