Star Wars: Battlefront

[Lynx7725]

I think FPS on consoles sucks, I need a Keyboard and Mouse to play them right.

It's just a matter of getting used to the controller. I personally think the Keyboard-and-Mouse approach isn't the best (it's really counter-intuitive), and some controllers can be better.

[Chuey]

Can't wait for this game.

Are they using the BF1942 Engine for this Game?

I can't wait for Republic commando either.

He He , I'll see you at end of the barrel of an imperial E-11.

[Abombz!!]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I have absolutely no interest in playing online PC FPS games against 64 people I'll probably never meet.

I'd much rather play a console game against 2-3 friends in the comfort of my sitting room on my wide screen TV with lots of beer and pizza involved.

Graham

You managed to nail the exact reason why I dislike online games.

[Wabbit]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I have absolutely no interest in playing online PC FPS games against 64 people I'll probably never meet.

I'd much rather play a console game against 2-3 friends in the comfort of my sitting room on my wide screen TV with lots of beer and pizza involved.

Graham

It's the anonimity that does encourage cheaters, campers, TK's and other skill-less players with no honour. I see that a lot in BF1942:DC. But at least every player has his/her own screen to watch on, rather than playing splitscreen on the tv.

And playing with 64 other players is massive...

Lag.

[Akilae]

For some reason, KOTOR seems to run just peachy on my comp... then again, I don't have anything wierd running on it, other than my RD-RAM....

Granted, I haven't seen the Xbox version, but if nobody told me, I wouldn't think it was a... ahem.. co-developed product. The mouse control is a tad bit clunky, but not too far off. Graphics are up to par for PC, although a bit bland in terms of textures (then again, the Jedi Knight series also suffered from that...). Gameplay is great, although there are some places where you can't help but feel either 1) There's already an expansion coming or 2) A LOT was cut from the final product. All the in-game talk about upgrading swoop bikes and the interactions with the kolto distribution officer on Manaan come to mind as tantalizing leads but don't go anywhere.

On the other hand, we have such co-developed disasters such as Deus Ex: Invisible War (the story is wonderful, but you can't help but feel you're playing a bad console PORT, instead of a co-developed product, and the controls are even clunkier), Secret Weapons over Normandy, etc..

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we have to wait and see. But so far, aside from KOTOR, Lucasarts hasn't churned out anything in the recent years that has managed to get the blood pumping. TIE Fighter is still the best

Actually, any word on who's doing the development? We'll have a better idea of what to expect... right now I'll grab up anything from Bioware, while Totally Games is on my caution list

[JsARCLIGHT]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I have absolutely no interest in playing online PC FPS games against 64 people I'll probably never meet.

I'm with Graham. Online massive multiplayer shooters and FPS games suck. LAN is the only way to play. Games are meant to be enjoyed with friends, not played over the net against faceless people... to me, the fun of multiplayer is being near the people you are playing against and joking around or having fun as a group.

IMHO internet gaming has ruined games, now everything has to be "internet multiplayer compatible" and it has come at the sacrifice of story, design and single player depth. There are a lot of times that I do not want to play against a bunch of braggarts, the occasional cheater, slow connections, the "I ownz" people and kindergarteners on the internet. I'm really hoping that HL2 and Doom 3 usher in a new age of the development of the single player story based game.

Seriously, how many different ways can you play "get a gun and shoot the other guy before he shoots you" before you get sick of it? Guess what... I'm sick of it.

[yellowlightman]

IMHO internet gaming has ruined games, now everything has to be "internet multiplayer compatible" and it has come at the sacrifice of story, design and single player depth. There are a lot of times that I do not want to play against a bunch of braggarts, the occasional cheater, slow connections, the "I ownz" people and kindergarteners on the internet. I'm really hoping that HL2 and Doom 3 usher in a new age of the development of the single player story based game.

Definately, strong single player games on the PC are a rarity and that's a bit troubling. Personally I think online gaming has it's place but the amount of emphasis placed on it nowadays is ridiculous.

That said video games go through cycles, and I'm sure in a few years we won't see nearly the same level of focus on onlien games... I hope.

[bsu legato]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I have absolutely no interest in playing online PC FPS games against 64 people I'll probably never meet.

I'm with Graham. Online massive multiplayer shooters and FPS games suck.

I have to disagree with you here. 5 years ago, my friends and I used to play Half Life extremely hardcore. I'm talking about weekend long LAN games that would run until sunrise, then we'd take a break for brunch and catch a few hours of sleep until we went back at it. But nowadays, due to conflicting job schedules, families and old age, we can't have those massive frag-fests anymore. Furthermore, my interest in pure "deathmatch" games has seriously diminished. To me, that's where online gameplay comes in.

Today, one or two of my old gaming buddies and I play Day of Defeat. Not as hardcore as the old Goldeneye/Half Life days, but we play pretty seriously. Since I lost interest in deathmatches, team-based play is what I crave and only online games offer that. I want to capture the flag, defend objectives and blow stuff up, all while killing the other team. Even if I still played in those old LAN parties, 4 on 4 on a DoD map is just assinine. If you're concerned about cheaters, TK'ers and mouthy l337 kiddies (and I do agree that they are a serious problem) then you really need to find a good server. A good server will have a strong admin presence, who should kick/ban the undersirables posthaste. Believe it or not, there is good teamwork out there online. You just need to find it.

[JsARCLIGHT]

That's the trick... I don't want teamwork or group fun with a bunch of strangers. I want it with the guy sitting next to me so we can bark back and forth about what is going on and what to do next rather than having to use some stupid abreviated command system or by trying to type in "stop shooting me" while being shot by someone on your own team.

I don't like internet gaming sam I am. I not like it with a fox, I do not like it in a box. Give me my single player FPSes with good stories and good action that have LAN capability as a secondary feature (NOT a key element of gameplay like today's games) and I'll be happy.

[bsu legato]

That's the trick... I don't want teamwork or group fun with a bunch of strangers. I want it with the guy sitting next to me so we can bark back and forth about what is going on and what to do next rather than having to use some stupid abreviated command system or by trying to type in "stop shooting me" while being shot by someone on your own team.

I see your point. When I play DoD, I usually have one or two of my buddies there with me at the Cyber Cafe, so I guess I'm getting the best of both worlds. And by the way, DoD has a microphone system built in (Roger Wilco, I believe). It's great for telling the n00bs to "Cover the g*damn right flank!!"

I guess the best game would not only offer LAn and online multiplayer, but would take a lesson from Realtime Strategy games and have different sized maps tailored to the number of players. Large maps for 32-64 players, smaller more intimate maps for 3 or 4 players to frag each other on.

[Commander McBride]

A lot of games are impossible to have fun in with only a few players. BF1942 is a good example. No match is really good with less than 10 or so people. It's kinda fun to mess around on the LAN, but you just can't have an epic battle. And the bots are useless for co-op, cause thay're too stupid to fly helicopters.

[Wabbit]

And the bots are useless for co-op, cause thay're too stupid to fly helicopters.

Some RL players are too..

[Zentrandude]

And the bots are useless for co-op, cause thay're too stupid to fly helicopters.

Some RL players are too..

or crazy. i have a habbit of running over other ships when i drive the enterprise.

[ZorClone]

easy solution to large-player FPS games onlilne: get on voice comms software with your buddies, and play in the same server... it's just like a LAN.

I've been playing with TNT, my TFC clan, since 1999.. we're practically family, though most of us have never met. We know each other so well, however, through our use of voice comm programs like Ventrilo/RW/TeamSpeak. This allows us to laugh and joke just as if we were in the same room together..

[Noyhauser]

I'm also with Graham on this one. some The best fun I ever had playing a computer game was in high school when we used the Autocad LAN to play games. Our favorite was Rise of the Triad, where we would play every which level, and swear across the room late on friday nights. Before that We used doom... so I go waay back.

beside LAN games, playing console games with like 4 friends also were memorable. Playing Bond on the N-64 with friends was almost a right of passage. Or how about Super mario cart... with one balloon left and hes got the red shell... thats the stuff I remember when playing. You can get friends who wouldn't normally play computer games to go nuts on multiplayer console games. Thats waay more fun than playing against a faceless opponent half the world away. We even had a way of settling disputes in my house using Bond, Perfect Dark and Halo... like whose turn it was to do the garbage..."lets settle this through bond"" I declare trial by Bond". Even stupid games bring on a life of their own when you play with friends. Anybody played Super Smash Brothers Melee for GC ? its a riot.

All the stupidness of playing on the net goes away too playing with friends, no BSers, cheaters, hackers, flamers ect. Its your friends, you don't do those things. I still love online games, and probably play them more than I do console games. But when people trashed Game cube because It didn't have "online support"... I shook my head. The game cube has been more fun than any other system (except for the X-Box and halo).

[Max Jenius]

oooh... we're all soooo jaded.

I've had KOTOR crash for me during the final battle, but that's it.

I wish I had time to sit down and play my games, every time I do though, I end up staying up til 3am... sleeping through class...

Seriously, how many different ways can you play "get a gun and shoot the other guy before he shoots you" before you get sick of it? Guess what... I'm sick of it.

Sheesh, you can apply that to any style of game.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Sheesh, you can apply that to any style of game.

That would explain why I am not playing any games right now... I'm "gamed out" for the next few months.

[ZorClone]

Rise of the Triad rocked! lol first FPS were you could only hold one primary and one secondary weapon at a time... crazy blood and guts when people would explode.. there was always an eye flying through the air..

[Max Jenius]

Bond on N64 wasn't really that awesome. It was good, but I was playing Quake at the time and the choppy downright ugly 007 game didn't tickle my pickle.

[Vostok 7]

Goldeneye Multiplayer pwn3z m3.

I have good memories of that game...

Vostok 7

[yellowlightman]

Goldeneye Multiplayer pwn3z m3.

I have good memories of that game...

Yeah, not to mention the fact that the single-player mode was the first advancement in FPS' since Castle Wolfenstein.

My friend's and I still pull it out to play sometimes, hard to beat License to Kill with pistols.

[Graham]

I'm not really an FPS fan or PC game fan, but I don't mind playing a single player FPS console game occasionally, as long as it's got a good story, not just mindless shooting.

I've just finished the PS2 Judge Dredd FPS game by Rebellion, which I really enjoyed as I've been a big fan of the character and reading the comic since 1978 (and yes I agree the Stallone movie which had little to do with the comic sucked).

I've gotta admit, I've never seen the attraction of online FPS games. The few times friends have persuaded me to try games like BF1942 at cyber cafes, it all seemed pretty pointless, just run around for a few minutes shoot a few people and get shot. Ho hum, where's the enjoyment?

Graham

[Abombz!!]

oooh... we're all soooo jaded.

I've had KOTOR crash for me during the final battle, but that's it.

I would like to see your reaction if you lost your entire equipment everytime you tried to fight Malak. <_<

[bsu legato]

I've gotta admit, I've never seen the attraction of online FPS games. The few times friends have persuaded me to try games like BF1942 at cyber cafes, it all seemed pretty pointless, just run around for a few minutes shoot a few people and get shot. Ho hum, where's the enjoyment?

Again, you can make this argument about any game. I don't like RPG games, for example....

[sarcasm]All you do in a RPG is nance about with an ridiculously large sword in some fantasy land with a hodge-podge assembly of silly looking critters and girls in hotpants, all the while collecting the components of some inane mystical talisman that just happens to have been distributed to the four corners of the realm. Combat, when it does actually happen, consists of queing up your attacks (which usually consist of summoning a ludicrously powerful entity from some nether region) and waiting for each attack to unfold one at a time. However, most of your time is spent talking to repetitve townsfolk about which inn to stay at, or tackling some random beastie in the wild for the sole purpose of "experience" points. Ho hum, where's the enjoyment?[/sarcasm]

You see?

Now, as far as online FPS games go, some of us enjoy the competitive aspect of them. As far as games have come, an AI opponent is still not as challenging as a thinking, breathing player behind another PC. If you think about it, even when you crank up the difficulty of a computer opponent all that really does is

- increase the AI's aim to unerring levels

- increase their reaction time beyond human levels

- make them more agressive in locating you with their "radar"

For example, an AI opponent won't enter a building by choice. They enter a building because it's scripted that way. They won't turn and shoot you behind the door because it's an obvious place to hide, but they'll do it because they "know" you're there. A human opponent, however, will think and act differently. No game that I've played to date has fully replicated the feeling of human teammates or opponents. This is where a game's replay value comes from.

Call Of Duty single-player is an awesome game, but the levels still play out the same way because it relies so heavily on scripting. Opposingly, the Caen level of Day Of Defeat will never play the same because of the decision making ability of it's human players. That's why an online game gives me a more immersive and satisfying experience.

Edit: added [sarcasm] tags

Edited December 5, 2003 by bsu legato

[Abombz!!]

All you do in a RPG is nance about with an ridiculously large sword in some fantasy land with a hodge-podge assembly of silly looking critters and girls in hotpants, all the while collecting the components of some inane mystical talisman that just happens to have been distributed to the four corners of the realm. Combat, when it does actually happen, consists of queing up your attacks (which usually consist of summoning a ludicrously powerful entity from some nether region) and waiting for each attack to unfold one at a time. However, most of your time is spent talking to repetitve townsfolk about which inn to stay at, or tackling some random beastie in the wild for the sole purpose of "experience" points. Ho hum, where's the enjoyment?

Thats a pretty narrow minded, stereotypical view of RPGs.

[Smut Peddler]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I have absolutely no interest in playing online PC FPS games against 64 people I'll probably never meet.

I'm with Graham. Online massive multiplayer shooters and FPS games suck. LAN is the only way to play. Games are meant to be enjoyed with friends, not played over the net against faceless people... to me, the fun of multiplayer is being near the people you are playing against and joking around or having fun as a group.

IMHO internet gaming has ruined games, now everything has to be "internet multiplayer compatible" and it has come at the sacrifice of story, design and single player depth. There are a lot of times that I do not want to play against a bunch of braggarts, the occasional cheater, slow connections, the "I ownz" people and kindergarteners on the internet. I'm really hoping that HL2 and Doom 3 usher in a new age of the development of the single player story based game.

Seriously, how many different ways can you play "get a gun and shoot the other guy before he shoots you" before you get sick of it? Guess what... I'm sick of it.

There are types of games for all types of people. I do agree with you all on most points, but, sometimes when you start growing older and your friends start moving away, the only way you can get together and play games is through online games. Who would travel thousands of miles for an evening of gaming, it just wont happen. So sometimes it is good to meet up online and go kill people, and let out your frustrations with some of your close friends.

[Abombz!!]

I'm not really an FPS fan or PC game fan, but I don't mind playing a single player FPS console game occasionally, as long as it's got a good story, not just mindless shooting.

I've just finished the PS2 Judge Dredd FPS game by Rebellion, which I really enjoyed as I've been a big fan of the character and reading the comic since 1978 (and yes I agree the Stallone movie which had little to do with the comic sucked).

I agree with you there.... I get whole lot more enjoyment out of single player FPSs. Specially ones that have cool physics going on. Halo sucked.... but at least it was fun shooting at the Flood with the shotgun.

[Vostok 7]

While I've always been a net game fan, I do have to say there's something enjoyable about hanging out with some friends and capping each other in Halo or Goldeneye or Perfect Dark... Usually though, in my case, the controllers get hogged from me and I get to play a total of about 5mins... woo, how fun. Usually it's cause they get so frustrated at me winning On a net game, there are no controller hogs. Yeah, there's cheaters and game ruiners to deal with, but you get those in person even.

So I suppose it's a wash.

And bsu, that was a pretty broad stereotype of RPGs... They aren't all that bad, and I'm not a huge fan of them. I mean really, couldn't we stereotype Animes and Mangas similarly? Even Sci-Fi movies? Even romance movies? Novels? I could go on <_<

Vostok 7

[bsu legato]

And bsu, that was a pretty broad stereotype of RPGs...

That was the idea. Dismissive generalizations can be made about any game genre.

[Vostok 7]

And bsu, that was a pretty broad stereotype of RPGs...

That was the idea. Dismissive generalizations can be made about any game genre.

Dismissive generalizations can be made about anything and everything.

I mean, yeah, I feel you about RPGs... But that doesn't mean some of them aren't enjoyable.

I for one like FPS'. Like Abombz though, I tend to prefer single player ones... I've tried to get into stuff like Unreal Tournament and the like, but there's just no substance. Just killing people for the sake of killing people isn't my shtick.

Vostok 7

[bsu legato]

I've tried to get into stuff like Unreal Tournament and the like, but there's just no substance. Just killing people for the sake of killing people isn't my shtick.

Hey, I've had more than my fill of Deathmatch gameplay. Heck, IMHO it's that mentality that helped drag CS down into nothing more than a glorified frag-fest. It's been done. To death. That's why I'm all about Objective-based gameplay. Teamwork....strategy...co-ordination...co-operation....stuff like that.

[Abombz!!]

The main problem with online FPSs is not the cheating or boredom.... its having to put up with sad pathetic teenagers, who, when shot, do nothing but trash talk. Seriously.... the limited exposure I had to Counter Strike kept me from shooting ppl for a long time simply because I didn't want to have to put up with sore losers.

[Vostok 7]

The main problem with online FPSs is not the cheating or boredom.... its having to put up with sad pathetic teenagers, who, when shot, do nothing but trash talk. Seriously.... the limited exposure I had to Counter Strike kept me from shooting ppl for a long time simply because I didn't want to have to put up with sore losers.

True, I hate the trash talking weenies.

I played the Halo PC demo multiplayer and there were two guys in those Covenant fighters just pwn3ning everyone. I finally took one down and grabbed the ship and started killing everyone there multiple times, and everyone started crying foul. It was hilarious really.

I love it when you use a rocket on someone and kill them and they're like "HEY!! That's cheating and unfair!!" and then they use a rocket on you and everyone else right after that

Or like that guy we took on in JK:JO remember?

Counterstrike was fun... and I stress "WAS".

Vostok 7

Edited December 5, 2003 by Vostok 7

[bsu legato]

CounterStrike has to have the absolute worst online community. Period.

[Abombz!!]

CounterStrike has to have the absolute worst online community. Period.

It was fun when the game was but a mod. When they decided to release it to retail... the kids literally invaded that game. I swear... many times playing that game I thought I was stuck in a Kevin Smith/View Askew movie.... or it was just a bad South Park episode. <_<