I didn't get into the
alpha from the start so i only got a couple of days too play it,
please remember that. Also remember that what i played was an alpha.
That means it is before Beta and far from done and everything i talk
about here is up for changes if the developer feel like it.
We got to play one
game-mode and that was the rescue the hostage mode. It's the one they
showed at E3. Basically you go in to extract an hostage or you stop
the other team from extracting the hostage. It's a good game-mode but
very safe. Every tactical shooter could have this mode and if you
have played any counter-strike map that starts with cs_(like
cs_office) you will recognize this mode. We got to play on two maps,
one being a plane that looked very much like air force one and the
second being the house level from the E3 show. I think both maps are
good with House being my personal favorite. I don't know why but i
felt that i did better every time i got to play on the House map.
Every round start with a
preparation phase where the defending team use their time too fortify
window and doors, setting up barbed wire and shields and so on. It's
class-based so you will have some different things to put out. One
has stronger door barricades and one have jammers and so on.
Attackers use their preparation phase to drive little drones/RC-cars
with cameras and trying to locate the hostage and too see what they
will meet obstacles. Attacker classes give one a sledgehammer for
tearing down barricades and one have a grenade-launcher that can blow
holes in walls and so on. The class system makes it more balanced so
not everyone just blow up everything. This preparation phase is very
good. The fact that you don't need to run in blind and can be
tactical out of what the situation makes the rounds feel different.
Also, if you see one of those drone you can destroy them so they
can't get the intel.
At the start you also
choose where you want to start. For the defenders they vote where
they will start and they all start there with the hostage in that
room. That means that the hostage can be different places from round
to round. The attackers votes about where everyone will start. I
don't really get why they need to start at the same place. If you
could start at different position wouldn't that make it more
tactical. Maybe it's a balance thing but i don't know, i would really
like to choose to not start with the team for more interesting play.
When the round starts you
will learn really fast that run and gun do not work well. You die
really fast and that's how it's supposed to be. The fact that you can
shoot through walls add to the intensity. You must be quiet and
careful so they don't realize where you are and just kill you through
the wall. If you are defending and don't know where they are coming
from you can get real stressed. It's not enough to just watch a door.
One explosive charge on a wall and you just might have a room full of
attackers but both teams must be careful not to kill the hostage.
This happens a lot.
One of my problems with
this game is the gun-feel. They feel very light and they sound like
BB-guns. It's ok on the silenced weapons but a little more bass on
the other guns would be great. Shotguns are kind of weak. I can't
remember being killed once by a shotgun. Grenades are good enough but
your character can't throw at all.
In the alpha you can't go
into a party or group. This will probably come in the game at a later
date. I mean, it has too. It's a team-based game. What annoyed me the
most is that your mic is always open. You can't shut it of(not that i
found anyway) and you can not use push to talk. This is bad, very
bad. Some people who stream like to talk to their chat, the team
don't care about that. Some people have microphones they bought at a
radioshack in the 90's so there is just a lot of noise. Some have
microphones that pick up every sound around them, like kids crying,
cars going by, the TV and so on. Hopefully we will get an push to
talk option at least.
So what do i think of the
game. I think it has potential. Alpha doesn't really show what the
game is going to be since it's far from finished but we didn't get
things they showed us on E3. You can't deploy on the roof of House,
you don't get the same effect when shooting a wall and the
door-barricades are different. They may have changed it for good
reason, they may have it but not implemented in the alpha. There can
be many reasons that things we saw at E3 are missing. I had a lot of
fun, and i think this might be a great competitive shooter. They got
a lot of feedback on the forums, so the Beta will probably feel
different. The thing that really made me keep going was the
intensity. It gave me a really good feeling. Good alpha, might become
a great game. I am very hopeful and i believe they will do great work
on this. Can't wait for the Beta, hope i get into that.
If you ask me if you
should preorder it now i would say that you should never preorder
anything in alpha since it so far from completion. Wait at least for
the Beta to know what work they have done on it.
TL;DR
Good alpha. Some thing are
missing but that is expected in an alpha. Good maps, hostage mode
work good. Guns feel to weak. Preparation phase is a very good idea.
The game has potential. I would say that you shouldn't buy it since
this is only an alpha, wait to see how the beta work. Intensity is
great.
My question for you:
Do
you think alpha is a good thing to let players play?
Should
developers just wait until they are ready to go for beta and don't do
an alpha?
Do
you think preordering after seeing alpha footage is justifiable?
Please
leave a comment(negative,positive, suggestions or/and answers).
Until
next time, stay fresh.
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my Twitter to know when a new post goes up.
Twitter:
@HarmlessKen
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