CCCToad on 27/10/2009 at 01:54

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This game looks pretty good, but one question for those that played it.

How bad is the content in this game, and what is potentially objectionable?

catbarf on 27/10/2009 at 02:22

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Three of my close friends preordered so I figured I'd join in on a four-pack. The UI isn't bad in terms of how it presents information, but how you manipulate it- obviously designed for consoles.

The content is pretty standard FPS, not very much blood at all. That said, there is a small explosion of gore when you headshot someone. But the style of the game is not Saving Private Ryan, so while perhaps not suitable entertainment for a six-year-old, it's probably alright to play in the living room.

I was quite surprised by the atmosphere, actually. It is much more immersive and far less arcade-y than the trailer led me to believe, and the areas you can explore are pretty big. The line-shader isn't particularly harsh either, so it really doesn't look like Crackdown or Team Fortress 2.

There are a ton of guns, but the sounds are all pretty generic as are the animations, so it really does come down to numbers.

Every class can use every gun, and using a gun improves your skill in its class. This means that even the sniper/gunslinger class that I'm playing can take rocket launchers and assault rifles, I just don't have abilities that benefit them. Later in the game, I imagine it'll be more important, but for now I can use anything.

The guns are not terribly common as drops, usually enemies drop ammo or money, and most gun drops are shitty pistols. Although I'm level 13 and so haven't gotten too far yet, it might change. But the wonderful smash-and-grab incentive of Diablo 2 is very much alive and kicking.

Performance-wise, it runs well maxed out on an 8800 GTX. I can't give exact framerates as Fraps doesn't seem to cooperate with it, but it never drops below 40.

The game does include a little bit of autoaim by default. I left it on, since it only seems to really be noticeable when an enemy leaps past, and it doesn't interfere with the all-important task of scoring headshots with my incendiary sniper rifle.

Healing is handled nicely. Instead of health regen like we're used to in shooters, you have shields and health a la Halo. Lose the shields, health takes damage. The shields do require a significantly long time of not getting hit to recharge, so I find that taking cover to heal really isn't part of the gameplay. To get back health, you buy or find medkits. There are different kinds of shield you can equip, which is a nice touch. Some have lots of hit points, some regen quickly, some give bonuses to health or let it regenerate (slowly) over time.

Getting multiplayer to work was a hassle because the ports they give aren't all of them. I went through my router traffic logs and opened ones that had been blocked until my friends could connect. Other people have had success using a DMZ, but... it's a DMZ. Not a long-term solution.

All in all: It's an RPG that plays like a shooter, and it feels good in both aspects. The world is open and vehicles let you get around, the style is a break from most games, and the basic mechanics work.

If you've got any more questions feel free to ask.

june gloom on 27/10/2009 at 05:51

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If catbarf likes it, and mothra doesn't, I guess that means it's worth checking out.

WingedKagouti on 27/10/2009 at 13:03

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It's been on the shelves here in Denmark for the last week or so...

Not that I want to pay what those stores demand.

EvaUnit02 on 27/10/2009 at 13:35

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Yeah, the console versions came out a week earlier than the PC release in most places.