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Post Date: 06:48 29-05-2010
Rating: 8
Author: TSamee
Comment: These're just my impressions from CBT1 last month. Can't be too specific, as I'm sure I've agreed to a policy that stops me blurting out info on the game.
Gameplay- Feels very twitchy at the moment, less AVA and more Unreal Tournament. I hate AVA; this is a good thing to me :) The whole 'alternate movement' stuff on their site is basically the ability to dash forward in the air, wall jump and propel yourself across huge distances. All of these moves work well, and the controls for them are easy to use. My only concern here is that snipers will have a huge problem hitting mid to short range classes, as they'll just be able to rush at you before you can get a shot off.
Balance: Didn't try all of the guns extensively, but from what I did test, balance needs a bit of work. Shotguns seem too powerful outside of typical shotgun range, and the energy-based weapons (can't remember the name) seems far overpowered at the moment. Also, sniper damage should be upped or movement like dashing should be nerfed to make sniping viable against other classes. The game's assault rifle is fine, feels a bit like AVA's rifles without iron sights, and the knife is a pure joy to use (it has a short-range alternate attack which can be used to propel you into the air or off a wall, and it's actually a tiny chainsaw.)
Lag: The quality of the servers wasn't too great during the Beta, so I experienced quite a bit of lag. If you're in NA, or in Europe with a good connection, you should be fine, but I'm in the Middle East, using Etisalat (their broadband speed is pathetic), and had some serious lag problems. I actually had lag IN THE LOBBY, where it would take up to five minutes for a button press to respond.
Features: In terms of structure, the game's essentially AVA re-skinned. Fonts are now more sci-fi, but there's still a display of you classes in full equipment in the lobby screen, and all other screens have the same button positions. Still, this isn't a problem, AVA's UI works; so does this.
Graphics: This game is very, very pretty. It looks better than AVA, and the art style is to die for. Weapon models (particularly the sniper) are very detailed, as are characters, and all of the weapons feel really sci-fi. For example, the sniper looks slightly organic and alien, and has a handle to pull on the top instead of a bolt. However, the environments are lacklustre, with the typical warehouses of AVA being the order of the day. The models show what this engine is capable of, I hope the devs apply it to the maps as well.
Overall, it's easily the best free online FPS I've ever played. It's got its own unique features (it's not a counterstrike clone with an item shop), it's fast paced, all of the unique mechanics are fun, and the only things I can really criticise are weapon balance and lag. I'd sign up at IJJI now; CBT2 is right around the corner.
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