Planetside 2 dubs itself an MMOFPS, and whilst it is not the first game in this genre, it’s certainly the first one to truly earn the title “massive.” Each server supports up to 2000 people at any one time, and whilst that may seem like a low number for MMO’s I can assure you I have never once had a problem logging into my chosen server. It also holds true to it’s title of FPS, whilst contemporaries like Firefall try to exist within the realms of a recognisable MMORPG, Planetside 2 comes at the genre from a completely different angle. Instead, it chose games such as Battlefield 3 as it’s starting point’ and indeed it plays very much like Battlefield 3... if you force-fed the maps steroids.
The story is very basic, and sets up a completely open world MMO where you are not constrained by quests and anything you wish to do may lead to progression. Essentially there are three factions, the Terran Republic, the New Conglomerate, and the Vanu Sovereignty, all vying for control of a resource rich planet whilst trying to work out their personal problems with each other. Many many personal problems. You thought marriage counselling was hopeless? Try getting these guys to get along! Anyway, each faction has it’s own visual style, backstory, motives, and unique weapons and vehicles; and the theatre of war is divided into three continents, each with their own climate, scenery and landscape.
Visually, this game is not on par with the likes of Battlefield 3 or Black Ops 2, however considering the sheer amount of level and players the game is asking your computer to load, I’m fine with the textures not being up to scratch. Believe me when I tell you this, Planetside 2 is one heck of an intensive game. Imagine the last time you had to call a customer services line, think of all the metal power you had to produce to stop yourself going apeshit down the phone so you could get done what you needed to do. Playing this game is like asking your processor to permanently be on the line with Derek from Bradford, India. The first time you run this game you’ll probably have to spend a few minutes fiddling with your graphical settings in an attempt to limit the framerate crash the moment you enter an intense firefight, and yes I’m talking to you cunts with super-beastly computers too. However, once you’ve got the game optimised you’re in for one hell of a wow moment... seriously the action is really smooth and while the framerate still drops in heavy fighting, considering the scale of what this game is trying to do, it's bearable. As long as it stays above 25 count your blessings.
Whilst the graphics may not be top notch (at least on any computer you’ll be able to afford) stylistically this game is pretty sweet. Yes they may not be the highest detailed textures you’ve ever seen but each faction and class has a unique design that has clearly had a lot of care, attention and consistency put into each and every one of them. Likewise the interiors of most vehicles have been created in great detail, even if some of the camera angles cause motion sickness (downward facing gunner on a jet anyone?). Stylistically the game hints at the deep and complex relationship between the factions, and props up each of their backstories, but if you were looking for any more of a story than that, sorry!
One of the biggest gripes I have with this game, and I had to search really hard to find a gripe, is with the mission system. Essentially there isn’t one. Each continent is divided up into hexagons, which form territories, by capturing capture points within each territory (there can be one or three per “hex”) you can turn that territory for your faction and start benefiting from the resources it provides. That’s it, there’s no questing system like in other MMO’s, and each territory is captured in the same way. Some territories only provide resources, which go towards spawning vehicles and buying consumables, whilst bigger bases provide more direct bonuses such as reduced cooldowns or the ability to spawn tanks, but the missions are all the same. At least with the average first person shooter you can switch up the gametype every once in awhile. Of course the game is completely open world, so you can capture territory in any manner you like and team up to hold the enemy advance at bay, but you’re still limited in what you can actually do, and in some regards you’re left to make your own fun. Which, when a sought after base has turned into a meat-grinder for all sides, can get a little dry, especially if your team is on the raw end of the pain.
The scale of this game, if it didn’t make it clear before, is abso-fucking-lutely massive. At any one time there are at least 5 or 6 rolling battles taking place in the world, with territory being won or lost all the time. You can jump in, and within a minute be knee deep in the action on a part of the map you’ve never seen before. You can fight on foot, in one of several types of tanks, in a fighter jet, a bomber or run troop transport and set up mobile spawn points. You can play as light assault with increased speed and jetpacks, heavy assault with a range of cool guns, you can be an infiltrator with snipers, cloaking and movement sensors (perfect for camping). Or you could run support by either being a medic or an engineer, and best of all, you can be a mutha-fucking mech! Seriously the variety of roles, loadouts, and battlefields make this game truly massive in scale.
The one downside of having such a massive game, and such an open ended objective, is that competing armies will very rarely behave like armies, and a lot more like individual players on the same team, like you would see in Call of Duty. That doesn’t work in this game, especially if you’re the attacking force and you’re trying to oust the enemy from a fortified position, it just turns into a massive meat grinder. I’ve seen people get torn apart by large amounts of tanks or planes, and nobody’s clocked that a few people should maybe spawn away from the front line and bring some heavy weaponry of our own, teamwork faction-wide just isn’t there yet. So I would heavily advise you explore the social side of the game, join a squad when you first log in, or join an outfit (another term for guild) and play the objective, move as a team and let the rest just be cannon fodder. Get used to setting objectives if you’re the squad leader, and get used to following orders and working with a team if you’re not, seriously you’ll get so much more out of the game if you do this.
Another gripe about the game is the way they’ve implemented the microtransaction aspect of the game. Don’t believe people when they say it’s pay to win, because it’s not and they’re probably just raging in the chat because they die a lot. However, because the only thing on offer are cosmetic differences, and faster unlocks of weapons and skills, it means if you want to progress in the game by earning experience points to unlock those things, it’s going to take a really long time. On the plus side the weapons you start out with are more than able to get the job done, and most unlocks are either sidegrades or very minuscule upgrades, so you won’t be at a disadvantage at the start of the game, however that makes the unlocks even more unworthy of pursuing. Essentially you dump in a whole lot of effort for very little reward, however I can imagine those extra weapons may extend the lifetime of the game for you before you leave from boredom, in which case they’re still worth saving up to experience, but don’t come crying to me when you sink six hours worth of experience into a gun only to find it’s crap. It doesn’t ruin the game by any means, but it is something that makes me sigh with exasperation and is a necessary evil of the free to play method.
On the whole, Planetside 2 is an engaging experience, full of familiar features mixed with things you’ve never seen before. It really ups the ante in every aspect and while it’s had to sacrifice some things to do so, the core gameplay is a hell of lot of fun and I’m encouraging you to make this a massive use of your time... if it’ll run on your computer. Seriously, make sure you have the processing clout for it, this is mans game and it needs a mans worth of RAM.
I think I broke every bone in my fingers writing that...
Jamie out xoxoxo
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