Let's keep this one short and sweet, ladies and gentlemen. Perhaps you are reading this having missed the Beta and want quick hits as to how it feels or maybe you want to compare notes with me before the Beta closes.
With that said, here's five things that four hours of hands on time with the Beta taught me:
1. Battlefront is going to be a quick moving game. You feel light, and very quick on the battlefield. Movement is crisp and aiming is snappy.
Laser shots tear around you in the open plains of Hoth, but it feels very right.
This is not a sluggish, cumbersome shooter. It's quick and has an almost arcadey feel, which I mean in the most satisfying way.
2. Flying vehicles feels like it could use some work.
I only had a couple chances to fly on Hoth, but both times, I felt like I was controlling an Oldsmobile on a solid sheet of ice.
Maybe it's because I'm trash at flying, but I didn't feel very confident in my ability to do much of anything aside from slam into the snowy ground.
Again, it could be that I'm rubbish at flying and need more time with it, but first impressions feel a little bit strange.
3. Hero power-ups feel powerful, but I wonder about the balance.
My first time as Darth Vader was met with a quick end. I was less than an hour into the game, so when given control of the infamous Vader, I proceeded to flounder about like an idiot in Hoth's open snowscapes, throwing my lightsaber around like a moron and taking down one rebel before I was gunned down.
The second time, I brought havoc. Charging into a group of seven rebels, I forced choked one and proceeded to slice him with my lightsaber, and repeated that process on two more rebels before throwing my lightsaber to cut down two more and cut one down with a basic lightsaber slash.
It all felt really good, but I saw a couple of Luke Skywalker's get gunned down pretty easily. It seems like the heroes might move too slowly- or at least, that's what I feel like.
Granted, Vader moves pretty slowly, sure. But I couldn't help but feel like he should have more health to compensate. It will be very interesting to see not only which heroes we get in this game, but also, how, if at all, their abilities are altered to allow for discernible differences in how they play.
4. This will be a different breed of online shooter. And I love that.
This game feels nothing like COD, Halo or even Battlefield.
It feels uniquely Battlefront. Sure, as a Dice product, there is some vague deja vu if you've played a Battlefield game lately, but even still, the game is its own. It has its own set of rules and techniques that you likely haven't used in any other online shooter.
I'm still working on grasping all of these nuances, but this game could have easily felt like COD on Star Wars planets, and I can gleefully tell you this is not the case.
5. It's a Star Wars fan's dream.
Isn't it, though? Haven't all of us Star Wars fans dreamed of one day fighting as the desperate Rebel Alliance on Hoth, fighting with all of their might to stop the mighty and horrifying AT-AT's from destroying the shield generator at the end of the slow, churning march forward?
We get only two planets and modes in the Beta, and only a little taste of the options but you have to believe the full game will be full of fan service.
Hoth feels authentic. The graphics are gorgeous in this game and the snow on Hoth feels as if it could give off a cold all its own.
Even things down to how the storm troopers and rebels fall over like sacks of potatoes when shot feel truly authentic.
This is how things would go in the movies, you will continue telling yourself.
As I marched forward with a group of nine fellow stormtroopers on Hoth clad in our winter outfits, we were startled as a TIE Fighter slammed into the ground yards away, creating a huge explosion among the desolate, peaceful snow.
An announcement is made that the Rebels have brought down our AT-AT shields, and we watch droves of them run into the open beside the giant, hulking walkers and open fire on them.
I pull out a thermal detonator and toss it into the mix, killing some rebels and wounding others. As I spray the area with blaster rifle fire and cut them down as they focus on the walkers, I realize this is the Star Wars game I've always wanted.
As a fan of the series, this is what we have longed for.
This game has through the roof potential. If you miss the Beta, don't worry. We don't have much longer to wait and man, it's going to be worth it.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Why micro-transactions piss us off
Micro-transactions are the scourge of the gaming industry.
They are, in my eyes, what separate console games from uninspired, smart phone fodder like Candy Crush (sorry, Facebook family).
That is to say there's nothing wrong with smart phone games. Admittedly, this is a different topic for a future blog post.
However, the reason I don't recognize smart phone games as a viable, respectable medium within the industry, largely lies in the fact that their content is generally locked behind a pay wall. And why shouldn't it be? If a game is free, sure, the developer has to make their money somehow. But paying real, green money for fake, game currency rubs me the wrong way and you simply won't convince me otherwise.
This is exactly the type of thing that feeds into the intended audience and believe me when I say, it shows a genius, absolute mastery of marketing and target audience analysis.
Take a moment and ask: who plays Candy Crush? Who plays Farmville or Angry Birds?
Likely not the same people that play Destiny or Fallout, but rather, people who look to pass time on the go and aren't in the gaming "know" enough to be aware of the 3DS or Vita.
A picture comes to your mind when you think of that target audience- likely a parent, playing Candy Crush after hopping on Facebook to check on how Aunt Gertrude in Michigan is doing. Or, a kid who doesn't own a console, playing the only game he/she has ever known on their iPhone.
To these folks, this is the picture of gaming. It's what they've known. They download a free app, and then unlock features as they see fit by paying their way through micro-transactions.
And for them, that's fine.
But please, for the love of all things games, leave them out of my console games.
We've seen micro-transactions in our console games before and the community has generally expressed backlash. It's not uncommon to see things like this cropping up in sports games and the public certainly let 2K know what they thought of the character and weapon skins available for purchase on release day of the four-player monster hunting fest, Evolve earlier this year.
I was troubled to hear that such transactions are actually working their way into a game that has dominated much of my time since its release last year- Destiny.
Emotes, I read, will begin to be sold by a merchant in the social space in Destiny. Check out this bit from Gamespot on it if you haven't seen the news: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-gets-microtransactions/1100-6431167/
What always gets me with these type of announcements is the immediate cowering, whimpering response we get from the developers when such transactions are introduced and backlash ensues: "It won't impact the core game," they cry. "It's simply aesthetic and totally optional."
Optional or part of the core game or not, what you fail to see is that you're missing the point.
The point is, you are knowingly hiding content and locking it behind a pay wall, which is unacceptable on consoles. I don't care if the content is an extra character skin, a bonus level or a special sound that plays when I start the game up- I want it as a part of my $64 investment in your product.
And, actually, in the case of Destiny, it's a bit more for players like myself who have been around since launch. For players like me, we paid $64 for vanilla Destiny in September 2014, $40 for the two year one expansions and recently, $40 for The Taken King.
If my math is correct, I've put nearly $145 dollars and more than 200 hours into Destiny- have I really not earned the option for my guardian to point at another player in social space in a different way?
Listen, the problem I have isn't that I have to spend money on a game. I'm willing to. Clearly, as evident by my DLC purchases in Destiny. But that's just it- I want to purchase DLC. And locking aesthetic items behind in game currency that is only purchasable through real currency, just leaves a bad taste in our mouths as devout gamers.
If a developer comes out with meaningful DLC, I'll pony up $10, $15 even $20 to get more out of my game, but what I refuse to do, is feed the greed that is micro-transactions and trust me, developers, we are smart enough to realize the difference.
A prime example is Rocket League,which took PSN by storm after becoming a free PS Plus game. The crew over there is releasing a free Halloween "expansion".
Shovel Knight, which charmed players like myself with its retro charm, released a free re-skinning of the main character to allow players to go through the game as Plague Knight.
Do we now see how that works? Take care of your players. They will come back and likely sing your praises in the process. No one wants to boot up a game that they spend hard earned money and their free time on to see options locked behind pay walls.
We paid our paywall when we bought your game and we will gladly do so if your package is meaningful and fleshed out.
I have a free emoticon I'd like to extend to companies that want to nickel and dime their player base to the game over screen, but I'll let you fill in the proverbial blanks.
They are, in my eyes, what separate console games from uninspired, smart phone fodder like Candy Crush (sorry, Facebook family).
That is to say there's nothing wrong with smart phone games. Admittedly, this is a different topic for a future blog post.
However, the reason I don't recognize smart phone games as a viable, respectable medium within the industry, largely lies in the fact that their content is generally locked behind a pay wall. And why shouldn't it be? If a game is free, sure, the developer has to make their money somehow. But paying real, green money for fake, game currency rubs me the wrong way and you simply won't convince me otherwise.
This is exactly the type of thing that feeds into the intended audience and believe me when I say, it shows a genius, absolute mastery of marketing and target audience analysis.
Take a moment and ask: who plays Candy Crush? Who plays Farmville or Angry Birds?
Likely not the same people that play Destiny or Fallout, but rather, people who look to pass time on the go and aren't in the gaming "know" enough to be aware of the 3DS or Vita.
A picture comes to your mind when you think of that target audience- likely a parent, playing Candy Crush after hopping on Facebook to check on how Aunt Gertrude in Michigan is doing. Or, a kid who doesn't own a console, playing the only game he/she has ever known on their iPhone.
To these folks, this is the picture of gaming. It's what they've known. They download a free app, and then unlock features as they see fit by paying their way through micro-transactions.
And for them, that's fine.
But please, for the love of all things games, leave them out of my console games.
We've seen micro-transactions in our console games before and the community has generally expressed backlash. It's not uncommon to see things like this cropping up in sports games and the public certainly let 2K know what they thought of the character and weapon skins available for purchase on release day of the four-player monster hunting fest, Evolve earlier this year.
I was troubled to hear that such transactions are actually working their way into a game that has dominated much of my time since its release last year- Destiny.
Emotes, I read, will begin to be sold by a merchant in the social space in Destiny. Check out this bit from Gamespot on it if you haven't seen the news: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-gets-microtransactions/1100-6431167/
What always gets me with these type of announcements is the immediate cowering, whimpering response we get from the developers when such transactions are introduced and backlash ensues: "It won't impact the core game," they cry. "It's simply aesthetic and totally optional."
Optional or part of the core game or not, what you fail to see is that you're missing the point.
The point is, you are knowingly hiding content and locking it behind a pay wall, which is unacceptable on consoles. I don't care if the content is an extra character skin, a bonus level or a special sound that plays when I start the game up- I want it as a part of my $64 investment in your product.
And, actually, in the case of Destiny, it's a bit more for players like myself who have been around since launch. For players like me, we paid $64 for vanilla Destiny in September 2014, $40 for the two year one expansions and recently, $40 for The Taken King.
If my math is correct, I've put nearly $145 dollars and more than 200 hours into Destiny- have I really not earned the option for my guardian to point at another player in social space in a different way?
Listen, the problem I have isn't that I have to spend money on a game. I'm willing to. Clearly, as evident by my DLC purchases in Destiny. But that's just it- I want to purchase DLC. And locking aesthetic items behind in game currency that is only purchasable through real currency, just leaves a bad taste in our mouths as devout gamers.
If a developer comes out with meaningful DLC, I'll pony up $10, $15 even $20 to get more out of my game, but what I refuse to do, is feed the greed that is micro-transactions and trust me, developers, we are smart enough to realize the difference.
A prime example is Rocket League,which took PSN by storm after becoming a free PS Plus game. The crew over there is releasing a free Halloween "expansion".
Shovel Knight, which charmed players like myself with its retro charm, released a free re-skinning of the main character to allow players to go through the game as Plague Knight.
Do we now see how that works? Take care of your players. They will come back and likely sing your praises in the process. No one wants to boot up a game that they spend hard earned money and their free time on to see options locked behind pay walls.
We paid our paywall when we bought your game and we will gladly do so if your package is meaningful and fleshed out.
I have a free emoticon I'd like to extend to companies that want to nickel and dime their player base to the game over screen, but I'll let you fill in the proverbial blanks.
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