ArtyFishal
07-29-2010, 10:54 AM
I was hesitant of buying this game due to the negativity on this forum. I've never understood why people get so emotional about games, and I often feel that the extreme emotions games elicit cloud peoples' abilities to clearly state their opinions. Furthermore, this game's supporters have done a poor job in expressing its positives. I finally purchased this game, because it seemed that neither side was really addressing the gameplay and whether the gameplay( which I feel is most important in a game) is good. Here are my impressions.
Firstly, the game part of this game is great. It has a unique feel( super fast arcade action, yet with realistic damage), great presentation(good visuals, and amazing sound), fun and satisfying gameplay(kills are rewarding, headshots kick ♥♥♥), neat sci-fi theme( the visor and the grenades are endlessly interesting), and a huge customization and level up system. This is a great foundation for a game. In fact, it is a great game.
Unfortunately it is a great game wrapped in a mess of poor choices. Chiefly is peer to peer matchmaking. This game would rock if it had dedicated servers. The main problem with p2p is uncertainty. With dedicated servers you can see how many people are playing and how many games are running at a time and this does several things: It makes you confident in the health of the game- you feel that you are part of a community and know that a match is just a couple of clicks away. There is no uncertainty of the amount of time you need to wait or if others are playing, you can tell when you will have to wait, and what game types are running. A game supporting a large number of modes like this would greatly benefit from dedicated servers. With the matchmaking it has, there are ignored game types, an uncertainty of whether there are players, and an uncertainty of the amount of time you will spend waiting. People hate uncertainty; I know I do.
The second failing is its lack of common PC game features. Greatest is lack of text chat, even in the lobbies. I've had to message people with GFWL to talk to them in a lobby, and that is ridiculous. Next up is the lack of granularity in the options. Though you can modify a lot of the graphics options from the config file, you shouldn't have to do that. The PCs greatest strength is that it is customizable and I should have all that at my finger tips, a simple sliding scale for gfx is not enough. The same applies to mouse look options. Again, you can tweak these via config files, but you shouldn't have to. Mouth smoothing, frame dropping, frame limiting, mouse acceleration, etc. should all be simple toggles or scales in the options' menu. These aren't game breakers, they are just annoyances. The worst however is the iron sights toggle. There is no option whatsoever to make it a hold for sights when using a keyboard/mouse setup. If it can be down with a gamepad, there is no reason that it shouldn't be allowed with a mouse.
The third and most minor failing is Games for Windows Live. To me, this is a very minor annoyance, I already had an account for other games and it is very easy to log in. However it is not necessary, nor is it as elegant and unobtrusive as Steamworks. GFWL is just a useless bit of code, and it is an unfortunate artifact of the developer( who I praise for gameplay, and design, if not delivery) making the game for XBOX live. It isn't really a problem, it just shouldn't be there.
To address some of the other issues that have been mentioned in the forums: I have seen very little if any lag in the game, the accuracy of the guns feels great to me( you would never fire a real gun while moving, and who has good accuracy when shooting from the hip?), and I've never had a problem with keybinding( even exotic keys that some games don't recognize such as the second thumb button on my mouse).
These are the faults I perceive with the game. Configuration issues and GFWL are minor, but P2P matchmaking is its major failing. If this game had dedicated servers it would be amazing, as it is it is good. If I've typed more words about its faults, that is because they need more explanation, the things it does right are sublime and speak for themselves.
:)We can however make it better, maybe make it great. Here's how: Buy it, play it. If the game is saturated with players, the P2P problems go away. So do you part, sit in lobbies, start lobbies, and lets gradually fill up the game modes. I've had great fun playing DM and team DM, but I'd like to try some of the other modes. Right now there is a dearth of players there, but there must be many players. This game sold well on Steam, and on Impulse and I'd guess on Direct2Drive as well. So people have the game, now they just need to play it. For the PC version at least, its fate is in the fans' hands. Let's make it better. I'll do my part, I'll grab a book and sit in lobbies. Please join me.
Firstly, the game part of this game is great. It has a unique feel( super fast arcade action, yet with realistic damage), great presentation(good visuals, and amazing sound), fun and satisfying gameplay(kills are rewarding, headshots kick ♥♥♥), neat sci-fi theme( the visor and the grenades are endlessly interesting), and a huge customization and level up system. This is a great foundation for a game. In fact, it is a great game.
Unfortunately it is a great game wrapped in a mess of poor choices. Chiefly is peer to peer matchmaking. This game would rock if it had dedicated servers. The main problem with p2p is uncertainty. With dedicated servers you can see how many people are playing and how many games are running at a time and this does several things: It makes you confident in the health of the game- you feel that you are part of a community and know that a match is just a couple of clicks away. There is no uncertainty of the amount of time you need to wait or if others are playing, you can tell when you will have to wait, and what game types are running. A game supporting a large number of modes like this would greatly benefit from dedicated servers. With the matchmaking it has, there are ignored game types, an uncertainty of whether there are players, and an uncertainty of the amount of time you will spend waiting. People hate uncertainty; I know I do.
The second failing is its lack of common PC game features. Greatest is lack of text chat, even in the lobbies. I've had to message people with GFWL to talk to them in a lobby, and that is ridiculous. Next up is the lack of granularity in the options. Though you can modify a lot of the graphics options from the config file, you shouldn't have to do that. The PCs greatest strength is that it is customizable and I should have all that at my finger tips, a simple sliding scale for gfx is not enough. The same applies to mouse look options. Again, you can tweak these via config files, but you shouldn't have to. Mouth smoothing, frame dropping, frame limiting, mouse acceleration, etc. should all be simple toggles or scales in the options' menu. These aren't game breakers, they are just annoyances. The worst however is the iron sights toggle. There is no option whatsoever to make it a hold for sights when using a keyboard/mouse setup. If it can be down with a gamepad, there is no reason that it shouldn't be allowed with a mouse.
The third and most minor failing is Games for Windows Live. To me, this is a very minor annoyance, I already had an account for other games and it is very easy to log in. However it is not necessary, nor is it as elegant and unobtrusive as Steamworks. GFWL is just a useless bit of code, and it is an unfortunate artifact of the developer( who I praise for gameplay, and design, if not delivery) making the game for XBOX live. It isn't really a problem, it just shouldn't be there.
To address some of the other issues that have been mentioned in the forums: I have seen very little if any lag in the game, the accuracy of the guns feels great to me( you would never fire a real gun while moving, and who has good accuracy when shooting from the hip?), and I've never had a problem with keybinding( even exotic keys that some games don't recognize such as the second thumb button on my mouse).
These are the faults I perceive with the game. Configuration issues and GFWL are minor, but P2P matchmaking is its major failing. If this game had dedicated servers it would be amazing, as it is it is good. If I've typed more words about its faults, that is because they need more explanation, the things it does right are sublime and speak for themselves.
:)We can however make it better, maybe make it great. Here's how: Buy it, play it. If the game is saturated with players, the P2P problems go away. So do you part, sit in lobbies, start lobbies, and lets gradually fill up the game modes. I've had great fun playing DM and team DM, but I'd like to try some of the other modes. Right now there is a dearth of players there, but there must be many players. This game sold well on Steam, and on Impulse and I'd guess on Direct2Drive as well. So people have the game, now they just need to play it. For the PC version at least, its fate is in the fans' hands. Let's make it better. I'll do my part, I'll grab a book and sit in lobbies. Please join me.