Just a quick primer for those that don't know; Battlefield Play4Free is a Free-To-Play title, which means it doesn't cost anything to join in, but you can purchase weapons, armor, clothing and other items for Real Money. In this game, you do so by purchasing "Play4Free Funds" that you can then use in the in-game Store. There is also a nice feature offered where you can win 'prizes' (weapons, armor, clothing, etc) from a game called The Daily Draw at the main Battlefield Play4Free website. You can play once every day, choosing a card from a random draw of eight and the card you choose will be an item 'underneath'.
The items possible to win range from temporary one-day-use-only weapons and clothing, to seven-day-use ones, to permanent items your character (Soldier) can use in the game forever (for example, a scope that can be attached to a gun for that soldier for all time). This is great for those who can't afford to purchase many in-game items, as it not only offers the possibility of getting some great gear 'forever', it also gives a nice preview of a weapon, mod or clothing, so that you can see what it will look like/feel like, if you decide to splurge and purchase it for yourself (supporting the game and developers as well) sometime in the future. The Daily Draw also gives a chance to win 'Boosts', where you can earn extra Credits [for instance], as seen in the screenshot below:
The AEK-971 Assault Rifle
I recently won the AEK-971 in The Daily Draw on my Assault class soldier and thought I'd try it out and see how it felt and quickly write a post about it [I call these 'PlayTests']. Now, I am not a gun expert or know a lot about the statistics of the guns, so I will mainly be discussing briefly here how the gun 'feels' and 'plays', especially compared to the default G3A4 Assault Rifle.
The AEK-971 unlocks nice and early at Soldier Level 3, but the main reason for this seems to be that it isn't supposed to be very different from the Default Assault Class Rifle. As you can see from the comparison above, which is the main Store/Inventory screen information for the weapons, the only real difference is the amount of damage it can do. It has the same accuracy rating as the G3A4, the same range, and the same amount of ammo in the mags. After winning it in The Daily Draw, I played a few rounds with AEK-971 and originally recorded a couple of full matches. Here is one full match, shared unedited for you [a 'Raw Gameplay' video], testing out the AEK-971:
I was also testing out the Trial of CyberLink's PowerDirector 12 for editing.
A Review article about that application - with Tips - Coming Soon™!
Despite not being listed as any more accurate than the G3, I felt more 'capable' with the AEK (as though I could 'put up a fight' a lot better), probably due to the increased damage. It feels a little more accurate too, even though it isn't really supposed to be, according to the Store/Inventory info for the gun. So, I figured this is a great time to do some testing![Yay, tests! lol]
AEK-971 Accuracy Analysis
I did some basic analysis on the recoil pattern of this rifle and it is indeed similar to the default assault rifle, but the AEK is ever-so-slightly more accurate, in my opinion. Here is an example of a test I did, a screenshot of the spread patterns, collecting the bullet markings, below:
Coloured spray paint marking the AEK-971's Bullet Spread, on average
(Click to see Full Size)
The left side is the spread while 'shooting from the hip', not using the sights, just standing there holding down the trigger [the spray painted arrow is red-coloured as in, 'try not to do this at all if you can, unless in very close quarters combat']
The right side is the spread while 'zoomed in', that is, using the sights on the gun (it would use a scope if there was one), still just standing there holding down the trigger [the spray painted arrow is yellow-coloured as in, 'try to avoid this']
In the middle is the spread while zoomed in/using the sights, crouching down, still holding down the trigger though - but also now compensating for the recoil of the gun (attempting to contain the spread into a small area) - in this case, slowly pulling DOWN the mouse while firing since the recoil of this gun pulls the barrel UP [the spray painted box is green-coloured as in, it is recommended to do this (even better if you can tap the trigger instead of holding it down)]
As you can see, even though the rated accuracy for this gun is "Low", you can get a pretty decent containment of the spread, by kneeling down, using the sights, and compensating for the recoil by moving the mouse accordingly [this little tip helps with all guns].
In most games, you can try to compensate for the recoil of a gun by slowly moving the mouse in the opposing direction to where the barrel travels. For instance, if the recoil pulls the barrel of the gun left, when shooting, moving the mouse to the right then, will cancel out some of the recoil and make for a smaller spread of bullets and easier/faster repositioning for the next shot. Try to remember that each gun will be different in it's recoil and which direction you should compensate, when using each weapon though. [Note that due to game programmers making bullets 'miss' (no matter what), in an attempt to imitate reality (which has imperfections in the gun and bullets, air changes, etc), it will never be possible to fully compensate/correct for the 'spread' of bullets in a gun (this goes for most games)].
In my tests, the Assault Default G3A4 seemed to pull up and away to the left slightly, when shooting it. Holding down the trigger longer, the gun climbs way up into the sky easily (hence the "Low" Accuracy rating, I assume). For the AEK-971, it does still pull up, but it does not pull to the left in the same way as the G3A4, especially when using the sights. It sort of does a light 'stepping' to the left and then to the right, somewhat randomly [whatever the algorithm is in the programming]. This, to me, makes it ever-so-slightly more accurate in the 'feel' of the gun, because while it still 'goes all over the place' when shooting, it sort of compensates for itself just a bit, and the end result is more of a direct climb up in the recoil, something that felt, to me, easier to compensate for than with the Assault default G3. (I assume this very slight change in the spread/recoil is not enough to win this gun a "Medium" rating in Accuracy, but it is enough to make you have to Level to 3 in order to be able to purchase it..).
Close-To-Medium Range Kill with the AEK-971 in Myanmar. Even with the 'side-stepping' that the gun does (and the enemy strafed around as he ran out towards me from behind the rock in the center of the screen) I still got the kill, mostly due to the Very High Damage Rating of the weapon
(Click to see Full Size)
In Conclusion
Overall, the AEK-971 was similar to the default Assault class rifle, the G3A4, when playing. To me, it did feel slightly more accurate, but not by much. If you are having a really hard time hitting people with the G3A4, your accuracy won't increase very much at all if you purchased this rifle. However, if you are getting used to the default Assault gun, this one packs a lot more punch, and you'll be getting more kills overall if you upgrade to it. Because I recently won this gun Permanently [during the course of compiling this article, yes it does happen in The Daily Draw! woot] I can't see the current price for this rifle anymore, to purchase it from the in-game Store; but last time checking, it was only 300 Credits to try it out for one full day. It was also listed as [what I call] 'Earnable' because, if you can rack up 45,000 Credits, you won't have to pay for upgrading to this rifle with any Real Money at all (you can just use the Credits). If you did buy some Play4Free Funds and have 1,250 to spare, you can purchase it at anytime (not having to wait until Soldier Level 3), permanently. So in closing, PlayTesting the AEK-971, I found it slightly better than the Default Assault Class Rifle, even if it only 'felt' that way due to the higher damage it does.
Long Range Kill with the AEK-971 in Myanmar. The thin iron sights of the gun (default sights) help a lot with targeting farther away. With the Very High Damage Rating - even though the gun has a Low Accuracy Rating - single-shot/tap shooting can still make it lethal at range, when needed
(Click to see Full Size)
Have fun trying it out for yourself sometime and See You In The Games!
Gameplay Disclaimer: Any gameplay videos or animations uploaded are only one example of one possible path of game play and is not representative of the gameplay experience of the entirety of the game material as it is non-repeatable in exactness (movements, actions, viewpoints, etc) to a high degree of accuracy (especially in regards to online multiplayer play and interactions) and therefore is not a representation of a large portion of the game content (this includes complete Walkthroughs/Playthroughs, Raw Gameplay Footage and Tutorials). All material and content uploaded attempts to respect copyright and is presented for Educational and Entertainment purposes only, utilized under Fair Use and can be construed as Free Advertising. No copyright infringement is intended and cannot be inferred. Any possible representation approaching any infringement, to those seeking infringement action, requires double notification and will be honoured by permanent removal of the infringing material. This information exists for entertainment and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical attention.
[Please note that previous to playing the Beta, I didn't read any information at the website, hadn't been to any of the meetings, or partook of anything that gave me information beforehand. Hearing about the Beta 'late in the game', I just jumped in and wanted to see what was different. Here then, is my reaction/opinions]
An example of the [slightly] upgraded graphics of Battlefield 4. Click to see Full Size
With only one week left until Release, if the Beta was anything to go by, BF4 seems like it will bring in a bunch of new weapons, tools, maps and 'take things vertical' [ugh, that sounds so cheesy] with much more rooftop/height strategy thrown into the mix. You could always get on top of buildings in Battlefield games of course, but in BF4 it feels downright encouraged with open roofs, lots of room to move, things to hide behind and elevators direct to the various building tops.
"I see snipers will be even more annoying with the elevation in BF4". Click to see Full Size
Yes, all of the 'Rooftop Snipers' can get annoying at times, but once you yourself get up there, you can see how addicting it is, what with the quick ability to strategically place yourself, open viewpoints (and nice views), the potential to parachute close the objectives, or 'get the drop' down on the enemy [so many cliches possible with this game already].
View from the Ming tower with one of the weapons that spawn within it. Click to see Full Size
The weapons are modern guns and tools [not being a gun expert, I'll focus more on how they 'felt', looked or sounded]. The models were nice and seemingly complex (good for something that is so close and often in view) and the textures for them looked great, only a few [that loaded wrong?] were blurry, like the C4 remote and a few side panels on some of the guns. Each one still had their differing audio - if you listened carefully, you could tell if that person around the corner was on the other team or not, just by the report that you could hear. Audio wise, in general: Reverb, Doppler Shift and all the other quality 'standard effects that Dice made standard and we expect now' are all there. Great stuff.
Recons (who now carry the C4 explosives in Battlefield 4) will be making elevators very dangerous transports to use
As far as the weapons themselves go, they seemed to all have one thing in common: reduced bullet spread/recoil [versus the previous games]. I could just hold down the trigger and found myself getting kills at a moderate distance most of the time, whereas with earlier Battlefield games I could swear it was a lot worse, and harder to get kills if you did such a thing. Perhaps this is a reflection of the modernity of the hardware or a statement of how a trained soldier actually would handle it, but either way it felt like it left a lot less general frustration in the gunplay - no more 'hold the crosshair on the enemy and never hit them'. While some might not like the somewhat 'easier kills', it seems like a nice change to me.
Hmm.. maybe he really is part cobra.. Click to see Full Size
Some of the new weapons that are based on real-life arms are guns like the XM25 Airburst, where the shell will travel to the enemy and detonate mid-air and 'burst' just beside or above the cover, damaging the enemy that is hiding behind it. A great counter to the increased number of snipers that will be in BF4, the XM25 also seemed to have very little bullet drop. Only at extreme distances did I see the white 'trail' of the shell drop off. A nice little weapon, once you get acquainted with how to actually use it.
The XM25 requires an extra step to use, compared to the other guns in the game: Place the 'crosshairs' of the un-zoomed reticle on the edge of the wall you are going to fire around, approximately where the enemy is, then zoom-in (use the scope) and aim slightly to the side/above the wall that is protecting the enemy. Fire and 'fugetaboutit' - unless the enemy runs away quickly, they are now respawning.
Munenushi is warming up his blow-everything-to-hell trigger fingers and will be making another Explosion Montage for BF4
(the BF3 montage is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShibKBskFd4 ). Click to see Full Size
Another change is the medic and support boxes, where instead of starting off with a huge box that heals/resupplies a large number of soldiers at once, you begin with these little packs that only top-up one soldier at a time. Perhaps this is to discourage the old 'pack of Medics making a group invincible' or other pseudo-exploits some people did since Battlefield 2; but I did start to see people with the large Medic/Support Boxes near the end of the Beta, so perhaps it is just something that is unlockable later. That's fine, as the game allows you to throw out a bunch of the little packs right off the bat, at least.
Knife kill on the top floor near the edge of a window. Click to see Full Size
If asked what the gameplay itself was like, I feel like I could now reply: "Good ol' Battfield, son". This game does indeed feel like Good Old Battlefield. The scope of BF1942 is there, the mechanics and variety of BF2 are there, the fluid feeling of BF3 is there, the high level of action of BFBC2 is there [and I think I just solved the secret of how they came up with the formula for BF4!]. With a good mixture of open and enclosed spaces, sections bright as day and parts dark and closed off, plenty of places to hide/camp/recover, and little touches like store alarms going off after you pass through the doors with a weapon, the only negative thing I could say about the general gameplay was that it felt...'cramped'.
Boats will be on streets and tanks will be indoors in BF4. Click to see Full Size
Perhaps the change is to draw in some COD players [I apologize for mentioning Call of Duty in a Battlefield article for those that are bothered by that], or perhaps they chose a smaller/city map to show off the destruction while keeping the system resource demand low, but without having access to a wide, open-field, running-for-ten-minutes map - at least coming from playing BF3 - the map felt small and cramped. The action was nice and dense, but on a 64-player Seige server, I felt like I was playing Counter-Strike and not Battlefield, at times. This is not necessarily a bad thing however, as the action was always tight and will no doubt appeal to gamers coming over from Call of Duty and other similar games.
An example of the destructible components of the game, this picture used to have barriers (left edge), walls (right half) and armored vehicles (middle). Click to see Full Size
There are a huge amount of things that are destructable in the game, but even after shattering everything I could shoot, I still felt like there should be.. 'more'. Perhaps I am destined to be forever spoiled by the GEO-MOD™-ing of Red Faction (circa 2001!), where you could literally tunnel from one section of the map to the other; but despite all of the things in BF4 you could explode, cave-in or mangle, I still felt like I wanted more, by the end. I guess the only place where you can make a quick hole in the ground these days (if you are cornered by enemies and want to create a bunker/trench to hold them off) is Minecraft - kind of sad, in a way. [After the Beta was over and I came across developer-touted terms like "Levolution", if I would have read anything like that beforehand, I definitely would have expected more than just a bunch of scripted 'exploding-into-parts-but-still-there' models/meshes, to be honest]
Visuals are one of the things that did not disappoint in the BF4 Beta. Click to see Full Size
Overall, I had a mixture of emotions with the Battlefield 4 Beta... I felt excited, pleased by many things, slightly disappointed by others, sad for BF3 (I feel like I am being pushed from a too-soon-breakup into another woman's arms - but according to what I have read about EA's Sports franchises and frequency of releases, this is an all-too-common feeling among sports gaming fans). Still, all things considered (including the fact that the Beta barely scratched the surface of the game I'm sure), I am excited for Battlefield 4. I will indeed.. See You In The Game!
I finally picked up the latest iteration of the Hitman Series, Hitman: Absolution, starring Agent 47 as the main anti-hero, id est killing the bad guys but never quite [arguably] becoming one of them. Differing from the last couple of Hitman publications, Absolution has an overarching story, connections being made in a chronological manner throughout the various stages and settings. Characters are introduced and developed via cutscenes, as the plot is pushed further by your completing the next mission for a feeling of engagement in the storyline.
I personally liked this approach, as opposed to the last couple of Hitman games, which seemed like mostly 'replays' of old missions from previous games (which in and of itself, isn't a bad thing). While there were similar settings, such as a Chinese Market Square, they were sufficiently changed enough - especially with the graphical improvements and new gameplay interface - to seem varied enough to be enjoyable. There were even updated versions of [personal] 'old favorites' that I waited excitedly for (such as a 'Hotel' stage). Slightly more varied than the old versions, if you include the new "Instinct" game mechanic, these levels felt 'fresh', even if they weren't new.
The "Instinct" game mechanic seems like an effort to simplify the game, making it easier for newcomers and those who had trouble with the complexity and scope of the previous Hitman games. Indeed, I remember reading a lot over the years of people saying the Hitman games were "too big" or "too complex" and that it didn't help the player much at all, as far as where to go and what to do. It "plopped you down in a large area with just a map", they felt. Of course, that was the draw for all of the other people, the complexity and seeming openness of the game was enjoyed, where you had to figure out everything yourself. You could decide what to skip and what to do and could decide for yourself how to do it. The new "Instinct" mechanic of Absolution doesn't take too much away from this (you can turn it 'off' if desired) and it actually adds to the cinematic feel of the game by taking the 'player out of playing', so to speak, which results in more of a feeling that you are 'playing Agent 47', guiding him (and using his innate abilities) through the game, as opposed to 'actually being Agent 47' and figuring everything out yourself heavy-handedly. I suspect this more objective approach has already been a point of contention since the game was released.
An example of Hitman: Absolution's new 'Hitman Instinct' game mechanic, showing how Agent47 can 'sense' enemies in and around the nearby area and estimates where they may be heading.
When utilizing Agent 47's 'Instinct', the game shows where 47 'senses' there are enemies and where they are and shows you on the screen with outlined shapes. It even shows where 47 'calculates' enemies will be moving to, showing you their intended path with a line of flame and where they will stand still with a larger lick of fire. This is where the adrenalin-dipped decision making and primal 'danger' awareness kicks in during the game, as a player can choose to set up an engagement with an enemy, or stealthily avoid these paths and points.
For those who do not like or want the new game mechanic at all, it can be turned off, mainly by choosing a higher difficulty level. There are five to choose from and higher difficulties result in more 'sensitive' or 'aware' enemies, tougher enemies (wearing more body armor one assumes) and more of them. For those who are new to the game or having trouble with it, the difficulty can be lowered as well, with less enemies, enemies with less skill (not as good at aiming) and less awareness (having a bit more 'tunnel-vision') allowing you to sneak around them easier. The option to have this game mechanic off or on, at the players choice, is nice and was no doubt included to appease those who would not like it's hints and guidance. New players (those talking about the games' difficulty in the past) can have it on and still enjoy the action and storyline as well. It feels like an 'attempt to please everybody' - and I assume it will work well in that regard. (I haven't read any Reviews of the game (to avoid exposure to the material within) before I purchased it, but I assume that once I indulge in others' opinions, I will see much disagreement on that last sentence).
View of a hotel cleaning supply room from an air ventilation shaft. Click to see Full Size
The game itself felt atmospheric and cinematic. The music changed as action waxed and waned. Enemies ignored or chased you around winding levels that you had to discover and remember. The graphics were spectacular, with detailed textures, dark and gritty lighting and shading. The core Hitman gameplay was there - even if it wasn't there for very long. This game felt very short to me. Perhaps it was the somewhat simple Television Movie Special plot, perhaps it was the number of missions (although they were split up into sections). Perhaps it was merely enjoying it so much that I wanted more, but just during the course of writing this article off and on, I have completed the game in it's storyline entirety (not counting Challenges and Item Collection) in just over 20 hours. That doesn't seem very long, but I suppose it is to be expected in a game that is more like "Max Payne" and less like "Skyrim" (more Action and less RPG). You could keep playing after finishing the main story, select past levels and retry them, doing them 'cleaner' for a better score or achievement, or look around and discover new weapons and pathways, or just redo any level you wanted to for fun.
An example of how the levels are split up into sections and how you can select past levels to replay them.
An example of the updated game engine, with higher-detailed character models, textures and environments.
Click to see Full Size
Other than the copy-pasted 'general population' mannequin-people utilized in larger crowds (used understandably to keep memory/resource usage of the game down of course - all of the 'main' NPCs have good detail to them), I personally liked the attention paid to smaller details, such as the amount of debris scattered around the levels - things like cups, papers and garbage, all part of the gritty 'lived-in-ness' of the environment, adding to the realism. It's nice to see games that pay more attention to the surroundings/settings these days, as opposed to the stark, clean-floor environments in games of yesteryear.
Overall, Hitman: Absolution was very enjoyable. It was great fun to figure out steps and schemes for the various areas and carry them out with cold calculation. I laughed out loud a few times and grit my teeth in anger at the more difficult parts, playing them over and over again, trying to figure out new ways to accomplish the objectives and complete the contracts. Despite feeling shorter (perhaps just because it was so enjoyable) and despite some changes that others might not entirely like, I still suggest trying it (especially if you are a fan of the previous games in the Hitman series). I personally had a lot of fun with the game - and isn't that the most important thing?
Have fun with Absolution and See You In The Games!
Watch Welcome To San Paro - Our Fan-Created Video Montage of the APB Reloaded Beta!
In One Sentence: I have never had such an experience that is so perfectly balanced with love and hate at the exact same time. That is APB Online (Reloaded Beta), circa 2011.
Don't get me wrong there are GOOD things about this game. FUN things, this game can really be fun as all get out, but the BAD things are very very berry berry bad and left me in hilariously angry moods after playing for a short time. Whether the game sitting was more good or bad didn't matter, APB Online Reloaded Beta is overall f-u-n.
First of all, the game seems to offer so much, the trailer shows amazing, crazy GTAplus-type of gameplay and as you start it all seems so comfortably managable. There's the standard MMO tutorial, the hand-holding instructions and pop-up information, the easy to find NPCs and simple map. It seems that you can be a master of it all in no time and not break a sweat. Then you actually play the game.
Hey you can kill people and drive a car, neat. Darn you died. Oops you died again. Oh that got you, you're dead. Hey, you got that guy, way to go! Ah, now you died. The mission's over. Oh, another mission. You died. What happened there? You're dead. Well, you died. Welp, you're dead again. Hey you got'em. Now, you're dead. Okay, don't go 'Ready' for a while, just roam around. As a criminal you can break into shops and sell the items for cash? Wow! Okay it's been a while, go 'Ready'. Hey you finished the mission. Oh, there was noone opposing you. Well, try another one. Great, you got that guy! Oh, he got you, your're dead. Got him. He got you. You're dead.
This paragraph is a summary of a typical gameplay sitting with this game. You had some fun, but good thing it's free.
Oh, did I mention that? I didn't play it from Day One, but apparently it was taken over by another company, GamersFirst and Reloaded Productions and they are in Beta (at the time of this post) releasing it as a Free To Play setup with a Cash Shop type of deal (how things mainly are in the East, but in North America, Brick And Mortar Boxed Retail sales rule the land). And it's a good thing this game is free as in beer. Like I said, it's fun, but there is still too much 'wrong' with it to warrant (no pun intended) throwing down fifty bucks or so for it. I don't think it will change to a subscription model anyway, games actually make a lot of money on the Cash Shop model. Those with money buy what they want and those without eek it out over time and (hopefully) can still access the same items, it will just take forever.
Heading downtown in my new car at dusk
You might be asking, So what are some of the things you can do?
After choosing a Faction (Criminals or Enforcers, opposing each other), you create your character, and the creation area is actually pretty good. You can change not only skin and hair color, but there are dozens of template s of each area of hair, eyes, nose, mouth, etc and then you still get to go into an Advanced Mode if you want, and tweak angles of ears and eyes, the length of the nose, weight and muscle size and visibility of muscles and veins (a la bump mapping). The character creation, although still somewhat limited, is definitely one of the things on the Good List.
(A sampling of some of what the Character Creation section can do is in the Welcome To San Paro video montage at the top of this post)
As a Criminal, you can do missions, which are assigned 'quests' that get you to go somewhere, do something like smash a store front, or take a package from A to B. You can also just roam around and steal cars just like in Grand Theft Auto and take them to Chop Shops for selling, as well as bashing into Store Fronts and picking up the items that 'drop' out and take those to a Fence for more money. Money in the game allows you to buy upgraded equipment like guns and cars and clothes and customization for all of that. You get access to the items to buy them by progressing through missions and Ranks, which are basically just a tally of how much you have done in the game, akin to Levelling in other Multiplayer games.
When doing Ram Raids as a Criminal, use your own 'recallable/respawnable' car. That way, Enforcers (and other players) can't steal your car on you while you collect what falls out of shop windows.
As an Enforcer, you can also do missions, which usually have you cleaning up the town's graffiti, trying to take evidence from A to B, basically much of the same as the Criminals get, but you are automatically (if you are Set to 'Ready') pitted against the Criminals in the area trying to do the same things. For instance, if some Criminals are on a quest to get 'packages' from A to B, your Enforcer will get assigned a mission to stop them, intercepting and either guarding the evidence or taking it back to your own drop-off, etc. This of course leads to PvP (Player Versus Player) and that seems to be the largest part of the game (Missions and PvP).
As an Enforcer, you can also just roam around the game (literally On Patrol) and watch for the no-gooders smashing their cars into stores, hijacking cars and after you 'witness' them committing the crime, chase them down and bring them to justice (alive or dead) after you witness such an act. This is a sort of 'World PvP' and although I have witnessed crimes as an Enforcer and done my share of hijacking/mugging/raiding shops in the game as a Criminal, the interaction between players on this level (roaming and finding each other) doesn't happen very often. I have an idea that I'm going to post in the Suggestions game forum about this sometime.
Missions (the 'Quests' of the game) are assigned pretty much automatically no matter where you are in the game (if you have played other MMO games, no more running back to the NPC/QuestVendor for assignments!). If you are 'Ready' then you will get some communication from your Contacts (NPCs in the game) about something to do in the area like spray paint an area to claim dominance (or clean up the spraypaint if you are en Enforcer), steal some items for ransom (or retrieve the stolen goods) and so on. The Missions pop up on their own with a little info (and story) and most of them have multiple parts to them (eg. Steal Something, Take it to a Dropoff) and there are VIP parts sometimes where there is a person you must kill (or protect), similar to what has been seen in Counterstrike and other games.
As you can see, the amount of things you can 'do' in the game isn't large, but it is a decent amount and it feels great doing it all. With the pedestrians around you, running away from your car, getting run over by your car, ducking for cover in a shoot out, making comments like they are calling the Enforcers when you rob a storefront and more, they really add to the engrossment of the game. The automatic assignment against the 'other guys' who are doing many of the same things in the area, makes you feel involved and that you are affecting the environment, even if it's temporary (that building you blew up or fence you rammed though repairs itself, etc) but over time it can get repetitive, but then, you can switch to doing something different (like stopping to fish in other games, stop doing missions and just raid stores and cars for some money build-up) or just take a break.
How's the Driving?
Like everything else in the game, it's another love/hate relationship. Each car does handle different (a big armored security truck moves and turns slow and pushes other cars more easily than a smaller faster car that turns and grips better) but all of them are.. difficult. Well, maybe that's not the right word, you can eventually learn them all and once you get used to how they handle, you'll be drifting around corners and running your enemies down when you want.
Female Criminal Hanging Out At Night With Teammates Downtown
The thing is, like the combat, all movement, in cars or on foot, just feels stinted somehow. I know it's a hard thing to code for and it does a good job really, but if I can compare the animation engine to other games, it's somewhere around City Of Heroes and Medal of Honor. Don't get me wrong it does work and all of the vehicles feel different and have their own stats like acceleration, durability and more. There are a lot of things to the vehicles and driving in the game (I haven't even mentioned the customization yet) it's just that it works, but it's..odd.
One of the things that is on The Bad List for driving and vehicles is the damage appearance. Bumping into a mailbox, hydrant or wall at a low speed does nothing to the paint or car. A few good solid hits make it look crumpled slightly, then nothing again for a while (especially if you are only looking at your car from behind) until smoke comes out, flames, and then it's boomtime. A few extra steps of appearance changes in between would be nice, some displacement of the parts of the model would be great, especially for seeing damage from the rear view. A buildup of smudged blood from mowing down a multitude of pedestrians (front and back) would be downright awesome. As you can see, like everything in the game there are some good things, some bad.
Update: After purposely hitting some other vehicles and doing some Ram Raids, I see that there is (now?) a nice amount of crumpling going on if you look for it (and I assume have the graphic settings up high enough to see it fully).
My female criminal's car and her driving damage (not a female driving joke)
The same car all fixed up at a GA5
What is the Combat like?
Again, like everything in the game (have I said this enough yet?) there are good points and bad. That's just the way it is with this game, you can't just say "about this, it is good" or "about this, it is all bad", because with APB Online Reloaded, those quotes would not be fully true.
To start with what's good, the combat works surprisingly speedily, compared to most MMO games. You can actually dodge incoming fire just by strafing and you can run away from a grenade that was thrown at you. You can also dodge cars that come speeding towards you if you see them ahead of time. The workings of this seems wondrous to anyone coming from MMORPG games, where you hit TAB to automatically target your enemy, then just mash buttons/keys/numbers to automatically hit them with whatever you learned to use. I have not seen such lock-on targeting in the game so far, it is more like a shooter (Battlefield series of games, Call of Duty, Quake, etc) than anything. Also, each gun has it's own stats such as damage, accuracy, effective range and can be customized with silencers, scopes to help with distance aim, stabilization for the shooting spray and more.
So what's bad about combat? Well for starters, the guns are somewhat inaccurate. Now again, I have only just started to play (I have logged less than 30 hours so far) and you do get a feel for each gun and what situations it would be good for and how you would use it according to your playstyle, but everything I have tried so far has a crazy spread of bullets. Unless you are up close and doing a strafe-dance against someone with the same type of gun, your shots feel like they are going everywhere, despite being motionless and having your cross-hair on your target. This is something that I have little knowledge of, mind you, and later in the game there is no doubt (hopefully) more accurate and powerful guns available for purchase. I am getting better at it, and find that I am even able to shoot over distances with non-sniping weapons, but overall it is difficult for a new player to master.
GameTip: To help your aim, there are many things you can do like looking down the sight more (zooming in), crouching, not running, shooting a lesser amount of shots (single clicking and not holding down the mouse button) and of course, standing still. All of these things however slow you down and make you an easier target. It is up to you how and when to tradeoff any of these to help your accuracy.
How do you get items, like weapons, in the game?
Starting out in the game, you have pretty much one workout outfit, a couple small guns and a car you can call upon at special Stations scattered throughout the game - and that's about it. This is no real surprise however, as compared to say, MMORPG games, you'd also start out with just one set of armor, a couple cheap weapons and maybe a mount if you're lucky. This isn't anything against APB Online, it's pretty much the norm.
My female criminal gets a new weapon, yah!
Unlocking more items is connected to your 'progress' in the game. Money allows you to then buy the unlocked items. Let me explain:
At the beginning, most of everything is Locked. Mousing over items that look like something you like, whether it's guns or clothes or cars, it will tell you what you need/when you will be able to unlock it for purchase. I have seen two kinds of unlocks so far. NPC 'Standing' unlocks and Skill unlocks. I have yet to read any in depth material on the game (I am too busy just playing it and having fun!) but from what I have seen, NPC items are unlocked as you do missions and collect Standing with them. This acts like Experience (or Reputation/Favour) from other games, and as you do missions for NPCs, your Contacts, it goes up (you also get assigned numbers called Ranks - Ranks seem like Levels compared to other types of games, but does not seem to have any use yet, other than an indication of 'how much overall you have done in the game'). NPC item unlocks usually require a certain level of Standing (out of 10 for each Contact NPC) before you can buy a certain type of weapon and items from them. Also, it seems that different NPCs hold different items, so if there's no good sniper weapons at one NPC, find one with the one you want, and they will eventually sell it to you.
There are also Skill Unlocks, where is states Machine Gunner Rank 5 Required, but I have not learned enough about Skill Ranks to state exactly what it is all about yet. I am not sure whether your Skill in a weapon goes up through just using it, or it must be purchased (a la Training) somehow in the game.
So to me, here's how it seems so far: You do Missions (quests), which increase your Standing (reputation/favour) and your overall preogress is kept track of in Ranks (experience/levels) and higher Standing and Ranks allows you access to purchase better items. Neat. Money then, is your own limiter of how many/what items you can purchase. You get in-game money (cash) by doing missions (both factions), hijacking and selling cars to specific spots (Criminals, Enforcers must take the stolen car to Impounds), ramming into storefronts and picking up what comes out (Crinimals, Enforcers collect Evidence and take it to evidence lockers), or just mugging people as a Criminal. Enforcers generally do the opposite of everything the Criminals do (stopping them from doing it) so in essence they get money the same way, but at a slower pace.
Doing/collecting all of these things is not a bad thing, but it seems to go very slow. Mind you, I am a Free Player, using a Free To Play account and your collection of all the things you need to progress in the game (Standing, Ranks, even Money) are handicapped ('nerfed') and the game never fails to remind you after every mission "You earned ______ of _______ but you missed out on ________ of it because you aren't a Premium (subscriber/Pay To Play) Account!". This isn't necessarily a bad thing because for one thing, they have to make money somehow and for another thing, I am pretty much experiencing all the game has to offer (as far as missions, eventual access to items, and overall action) it's just that it will take a Free2Play account a much much much larger amount of time to get to play with the Big Guns, cars and other goodies in the game.
Even with all the above to do, there is still more to the game. Before I talk about the appearance of clothes and car customization, I have to mention the Marketplace (Auction House) and Music Studio. The Marketplace is your basic auction house where you can sell goods (you can't buy goods from your own account, I know people are already thinking of making tons of money on your Crim and then selling an expensive item for nothing to your 'Forcer - apparently you used to be able to send money to your other characters but can't anymore). The Music Studio is an in-game small tracking program (Fruity Loops, ScreamTracker, Cakewalk type of sequencing program) that allows you to make your own music for death sequences,etc. It seems easy to use and you can save your songs and share them, I believe. There is also an in-game music player that plays built-in songs, songs that have come from Last.FM (if it does this anymore) and songs you put in the playlists from your own machine. You can hear them whenever you get into a vehicle (a la GTA).
Speaking of Sound and Audio for a second, the sound is this game seems great so far. It supports the (now standard) Reverb and Echo effects, there is doppler on the car horns, you can hear the gravel getting spit up against the car in alleys and on grass and sidewalks have that repetitive thumping vibration. All the guns I have tried sound different, the vehicles are varied, there seems to be a small bank of sound for ricochets that the game randomly chooses from and a somewhat larger bank of sounds for the peds walking by. It's great to hear their comments as you play the game. One I remember distinctly is running a while on foot as a Criminal and when I rounded a corner and scraped past a pedestrian, he commented, "Hey, didn't I see you on a poster somewhere?". Nice touch.
The music overall is a nice mix of genres, you can pick which set you want to listen to, and it plays whenever you are in a car. If there are songs that the game 'knows' (verified/uploaded... still not sure how this works 100% yet) then you have the same songs on your system that someone else does, and you can hear whatever they listen to in their cars as they drive by or you hitch a ride with them. Neat idea.
Partly because I am just a new player and do not have the resources to fully enjoy it yet, and partly because it's a lesser important part of the game for me, I have yet to mention the immense area of Customization in the game. I have already seen personalized, souped-up cars with special decals and paintjobs, clothes of various styles and models with personalized patterns and more. Heck even without the importing of your own logos and art, there seems to be tons of customization in the game, with tattoos, fashion designs and more, there seems to be so much that I haven't even seen yet.
Just a sample of some of the character customizations found in the game...
It doesn't look too bad. How are the graphics?
Speaking of seeing, the graphics in the game are darn good for a Free To Play game. They are only slightly 'cartoon-y' (as I like to call it), looking more like a full shooter game like Battlefield 2 than a 'cartoonified' MMO such as World of Warcraft. The amount of polygons that comprise the complexity of the models I'd put solidly between Battlefield 2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2. To give an MMO example, the models have more polys than City of Heroes, but less than RIFT. These comparisons make sense since those games are successors to each other, but you get an idea from the examples of the complexity of the models. In the game there have been textures that have downright impressed me at the highest settings and while the main characters and cars have an expectantly good amount of polygons, the environment and pedestrians aren't too shabby either. You will see a lot of the same things reused (it is a city with tall things called buildings and lots of the same cars, after all) and sometimes I run into twin pedestrians, but again, the game does variation and complexity of objects well, especially when you count the money you spent (possibly) on it. Great job, developers.
Female Criminal Looking Towards Ads Downtown
There are a lot of small touches that I am impressed with, like floating papers 'in the breeze' that fly past you, and there is a really good attempt at shadows and both static and dynamic ('painted'/planned/unchanging and shadows that change depending on what is going on in your field of view such as explosions/gunfire/etc.
There seems to be a lot of people having trouble with the game and framerate (smoothness of the display), as seen in the forums. As I work with computer systems for a living, I will do an in-depth article on computer technology and how it affects games and apparent smooth gameplay in the future, but for now, as with all games, all I can do is suggest the standard troubleshooting steps of:
Turn special effects off one by one to see what helps
Tone down the anti-aliasing, filtering and other enhancements
Reduce your resolution (screen size)
Turn off background applications/programs running
Defragment your harddrive
Check for updates on your drivers (system files that talk to the computer hardware) like Video Drivers, Sound Drivers, etc
Purchase dedicated parts that work with the computer to bring the game to life. What I mean by this is, playing with a seperately-purchased and installed Video Card and Sound Card makes a huge, huge difference in playing games on a system, than using the built-in (onboard) chips that came with the average computer. These onboard/builtin components are made for office use (so that companies don't have to spend the extra money to get them seperately) and are not typically manufactured with gaming in mind. They do not have the power/speed/capacity to calculate and do many of the things that modern games need to show and play smoothly.
Upgrade parts of your system to more powerful components (the CPU (main engine of the computer) and the Video Card (that calculates what you display and talks to your monitor) are good choices to start with) or purchase more RAM (memory that the computer uses to do calculations with, showing you the output on the screen)
All of these steps (roughly in that order as well) will help you enjoy APB Online and other modern games much more, and if you can afford any of the purchase/upgrade steps, it is well worth it when you think of the stress you will be relieving and fun you will have.
Good luck with it and check back to this site in the future for a more in-depth article on computers and how to get games running better!
So what's so wrong with the game?
If I ignore the aimbotters and hackers (there aren't many that I have seen so far, but I have heard they are around quite a bit), I ignore the stunted driving and combat, I ignore the slow slow level and item unlocking progress (I am a Free To Play player though), there is one system in the game that I am disappointed with and that is the instancing of the world itself.
The way it seems to work is, there are 4-5 Time Zones or areas where you connect to ("pick the one that is closest to you") and in the game there are 3 main regions or maps (called Districts) you can play in (one of them is a Safe Area, consisting mainly of shops and stores and noone can attack anyone there). But these 3 regions/maps are not just the 'Main Playing Areas' for your Timezone/ServiceArea/Server. The 3 regions are further broken down into Instances (versions of the map you chose), meaning if you and your friend log in, pick the same timezone/servers, and even choose the same one out of those 3 regions (let's say The Financial District, a type of 'Downtown' setting), that region is still divided up into instances, so if you both join at the same time, you may get put into different instances (different copies of the same map/region, in this case, different copies of The Financial District). Each instance is isolated from the other versions, so if a player is on another one different from you, you won't see them in your area as you play and drive around.
That's the worst thing about this whole system. Not only are they isolated from each other but each instance of each region/map/district only holds about a hundred people and isn't very big (for those of you that have played GTAIV, a district is about the size of one island, if that). The main problem with that, is that your access to missions (remember they are automatically assigned to you based on players in your area on the other faction doing the same things) depends directly on the people that are in your instance (copy) of the map. What this means is, if you log on to the East Coast, and choose say The Financial District, your version of that map (your instance you go into) may have way more criminals than enforcers in it at that time. This isn't too bad if you want to go on a crime spree, but if you want to progress in the game/items by doing missions as a criminal, there may be so few opponents around that the game can't put together a team to oppose you!
That leads to one thing that the developers did right in this whole system, and that is let the game assign you missions that are just for you, even if there is noone else around or 'Ready' (basically like Soloable Quests in other games). The missions are basically the same (tag an area with paint, pick up some evidence to take to the locker) it's just that there is noone to fight against you, so you walk though the entire thing yourself and get a small amount of reward. Not great, but it is good that they put that in there. You can still 'play the game' even if there are odd settings of players around you at the time (you can also of course not do missions and just do the Roaming activities that build up your money/etc, especially if you are a Criminal).
My low level female criminal mugging an Asian man in front of what looks to be a hotel, judging by the window.
Another thing that the developers included was the ability to change instances. When you sign in and pick a District to go to, like the example above, you get automatically placed into an instance that has 1) similar levelled players to you and 2) an attempt at an even number of players on each faction. This is another Good Thing. Only once, playing so far, have I been put into an area where one side outweighed the other and it was hard to find opposing players to shoot at. Most of the time, the game does well at placing you in an area where there are similar skilled players and numbers of them. I suspect that this system could be exploited once the game goes Public, but for now it works pretty good for getting you in there and shooting up the opposing faction.
GameTip: If you play in one instance in one District too long, players may have been logging in and out and you may find that the player numbers drift toward being too many of one side. If this happens, you can use this ability to change instances to choose a more evenly numbered area, or let the game automatically reassign you to one.
Working with computers, I understand why they did this. It's a form of splitting up the workload among seperate servers into smaller and smaller pieces so that basically the game is always one little instance for a small number of players (about a hundred) and not one huge world or one big server with thousands of players on it. This also cuts down the load and traffic going to that one server (your instance you are playing in), which no doubt plays a part in how well the game responds to actions and updating what is going on around you and the combat and gameplay in general.
That's another Good Thing, by the way. For an MMO (although an entirely instanced one, unlike most other MMO type of games) it is surprisingly responsive. If I drive my car over an opposing player, I see his body knocked over and he no doubt has his screen thrown around at about the same time. In a firefight, getting shot at from one side, I can run forward around a corner and am no longer getting hit, and if I turn around to shoot my pursuer, I can strafe to the side a bit to avoid incoming bullets. The game works surprisingly well in combat for an MMO. I attribute this to how they have everything set up as it is. It's not pretty, but it works.
And once again, that is the summation of APB Online Reloaded Beta for me. It's not great in some areas, but overall it's good. To quote what someone said in game, "It's broken and it's free" is another good term. Sure there are things that are fine. Sure there are things that could be improved, but it is a game still in Beta, and from the looks of the developer's blog, it is lovingly worked on to this day.
(Addendum: I must restate the concept that this IS NOT an MMORPG. It is a Massively Multiplayer Game (although it barely squeaks by on the first M because it is instanced the way it is with limited players you can interact with at once) and it has some RPG elements (the 'Standing' you get from doing Missions for instance, is like Experience/Reputation/Favour, that unlocks items for purchase), but there is no actual 'Character Stats' per se. There are stats on weapons, such as the damage they do, and even stats on cars, but as many people in the game keep saying (perhaps to differentiate themselves on purpose) it is not an Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.)
Regardless of some of the things that are odd in this game, I am having fun playing it - and isn't that the most important thing? See you in there!
(Screenshots and Videos and further comments on the game to come!)
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