When it came to Planetside 2 I entered with mixed emotions, Will this game live up to the hype that’s been brewing since its beta release. Yet again this is a game which has excited me while at the same time irritated me by the amount of bugs.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer in Planetside 2 is pretty much Player Vs Player (PvP) and is divided into 3 fractions, The Reds (totalbiscuit), The Blues (SeaNanners) and the Purple (Tobuscus!)…
(Yes this is what i thought when i heard there was purple…)
When we spawned onto the world it was a snow land, We rushed to the first capture point eagerly awaiting instructions only to be roadkill from the team tanks. Yes you have to be very careful whom you decide to attack due to the factor of friendlies being on, If you continue to do this you get a message telling you your account will be locked, For newbs this is going to set them back a bit, Yes the progression is also steap being a game which makes you grind for a simple upgrade. The noob items you get bearly scratch the surface and as frustrating as it is you consider spending £8 on a in-game item. In addition progression can also be brought and there are premium accounts (which pretty much makes this game a pay to win.) I’m not saying that this affects the fun you will experience when playing this game for hours but ultimately it does make you consider did that guy level up or did he buy in? I guess this is the free to play model in general. The game did bring back some awesome memories of older battlefield games, The Aircraft handling requires you to think constantly its a learning curb but over time its something you can master.
+Gripping Multiplayer Action
+Excellent PvP Design (feels like a battlefeild MMO.)
-Grinding Progression
-Pay To Win
Story
The story of the game is simply this, Capture points. Take over the map. Win. Simply put this story isn’t so riveting as other mmos however this doesn’t really put down a major loss when the gameplay mechanics work. When it comes to a background we really don’t know much about each of the fractions with the exception of knowing there colours. Yes That’s all we know..
-Bad Story Line
Graphics
The graphics of the game are really a mixed bag, When it comes to the HUD and vehicle textures, these are done perfectly with the exception of a major issue. The Map and Item textures look like the compression rate has been set to high, Ultimately you need to consider why was this done? I considered this and decided it was due to the amount of space needed to make these textures look nicer, I did consider a nice solution, a HD texture pack as a additonal download would be nice to keep the game looking and feeling upto what it should be, The tree design in the game is amazing, The surroundings and atmosphere is spot on with the era of gameplay.
+Nice Vehicle and HUD textures
+Nice tree designs
-Poor Map Textures
Audio
The Audio Design is an interesting thing, the overall voices seem to have been recorded with care, The soundtrack is smooth and reacts when your getting nearer to an objective. Due to this Design we can see a better atmosphere inside the game providing a more 3D and realistic feeling. The only issue we could find is everyone has the same voice on the same team meaning your limited to hearing your voice around 30+ times a minute.
+Great Sound Effects
+Great Music
-Poor Voice Acting?
Bugs
We noticed when playing the game that physics via the in-game engine where alittle off onto one side when in the Air. We started to notice this quite alot and hopefully its something that will be addressed in the future, We also noticed a couple of preformance issues which we found other users have been experience since the game came out of BETA, Hopefully these issues will be fixed but as of yet no one has contacted the forums to inform the users of anything posative around this issue.
-Crashes
-Bad Physics Engine
Overall
If you like battlefield 3 or any sort of FPS you shall certainly like Planetside 2, The MMOFPS is a great step forward however it is alittle shy of greatness due to Poor Textures, Poor Voice Acting and Bugs. If your up for the grind or can bring friends into the game it makes it far more interesting and exicitng. We saw parts of Planetside 2 which shon thought but the rest of the issues let this game down.
We have decided to give Planetside 2 a 4/5.
