Battlefield: Bad Company 2 + Alien vs. Predator Multiplayer Demos: Opinions were like kittens; I was giving them away.

After a quick couple of downloads and plenty of the internets to research the pieces, Alien versus Predator and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are just on the horizon for upcoming possible purchases.  So without further delay here’s a quick review of the multiplay demos for AvP and BBC2 (not to be confused with your friends over the pond).

There’s some expectations when making a sequel and BBC2 took time to listen to fans of the first making changes while including more of what worked in the first.  Comparisons to MW2 make for easier understanding so brace yourself.  From EA and DICE, BBC2 isn’t a carbon copy of FPSers.  There are some things that set it apart and each aspect holds some weight much like Michael Moore. 

Past Battlefield games were known for their multiplayer experience and I can easily see how this release will be another.  First, the map sizes are exceptionally big and designed a little bit differently than most other FPSers.  The graphics don’t skimp but are not the best out there.  They do however work well with the map sizes and large player caps even if it’s no where near MAG’s 256 number.  The designs are meant for the game types they are played on, namely conquer the territories.  Since the battles are aimed to be progressive, the maps therefore feel like a battlefield and not a random scattering of people running across the same ground in all directions. 

Vehicles are abound and a vital portion to what works well with the Battlefield series.  Controlling them is also easier than BC1 and makes for less issues of poor drivers or bugginess unlike Orkin commercials.  A copycat MW system for self progression is used allowing you to choose from 4 main classes and customizing each as experience points are gained.  I guess this is the new standard for all FPS multiplayer games now to keep people coming back for more; just be sure that if you are coming back for more you put in some more time on that treadmill too. 

The biggest piece of this digital pie is the destruction system used.  What that means is buildings, the environment, vehicles, and just about everything else are destructible by the side effects of warfare.  It is beautifully done and makes for an enjoyable ride while romping through the countrysides.  It is unlike any other FPSer around so take soak it in while it’s around.  The destruction system and vehicles separate BC2 from MW2 because the pacing and feel of each appeal to different playstyles which can exist simultaneously in a person but it may take that special kind of person to find a big place in that person’s heart for both MW2 and BC2.  That special someone with a big wallet. 

I am going to guess that the single player is quite similar to the first installment which was pretty much the Blue Collar Comedy tour meets Ernest joins the military: fart jokes galore.  This leads to a story that a bit difficult to stomach more than once and is probably completed quite quickly, but these are just guesses using past experiences with EA.  Does it all add up to a game worth purchasing now?  If you are very into multiplay, then I could imagine an easy purchase.  If you are going to bank on a worthy single player game too I’d save my cash for something a little darker?…

   

Working the opposite darker corner of the street of BBC is the retro release with an updated look: Aliens vs Predator.  Straight back an entire decade since AvP first knocked on your door, wet from the rain in 1999, you had an opportunity to accept AvP into your house to warm itself by the fire.   Requiring a PC at the time and two decades after the release of its original movie, AvP was quite unique in its single player game allowing you to choose a marine, alien or our blessed roommate predator.  Besides a minor flaw of a missing save feature in the single player game, AvP was a great release putting you in the shoes of a scared marine with the one and only motion sensor noise noise that can still stir up a nightmare or two when you hear it.     

Even after a decade has passed, I can still remember the original AvP and how difficult it was to transition easily between the 3 characters and their controls.  And this is the first difficulty in the latest release of AvP.  Porting to consoles as well as PC, jamming all the possible controls onto a controller is a bit difficult as well as being the person trying to remember them all.  More importantly is that the multiplayer portion has no pizzaz or more specifically any reason at all to want to play the multiplayer portion.  After sitting through a difficult system of joining a multiplayer game, most of the action requires a person to run around madly until an opposing player is found in which you attempt to close the distance or increase it depending on what character you have chosen.  The running gives the feel of the ice skating smoothness instead of actual running, but this is a difficulty with many multiplayer games.  Beyond that attacking seems a bit awkward and team play is just a random consequence of choosing the same race as others. 

What is hopeful is that the single player, updated and revamped, should still make for an enjoyable game.  The concept is pretty simple, emulate the movies as much as possible and let the fear ensue.  Where previous fear based games such as Doom, Resident Evil, or F.E.A.R. need you to get entranced with the game itself before the fear can result, AvP only requires you to have watched the movies alone at 3 am with the spooky sounds of a furnace to watch them with you.  The fear then comes naturally rushing back and welcomes you with bead projects, puppy dog eyes, and internet sites devoted to itself.  I can not reason with a full price tag to go along with a re-release game as well as a lacking multiplayer portion so bide some time and wait for Steam to chop the $$$$$$’s down but keep this release in your back pocket for a rainy day later this year.

 

Modest Mouse – Out of Gas

Aion MMO Preview: Lava flows over crooks and cragged cliffs to the ocean and explodes in a steam heat fevered cyclical motion

Over the history of MMOs and even other genres, there has been a representable and recognizable feature to the graphics and gameplay of games.  It comes with being able to distinguish what country/company the makers of that particular game happen to be or being able to come reasonably close to guessing who the man behind the curtain is with just a glance.  Another "putting the face to the name" game is Aion for the PC.  Made by the well known Korean company NCSoft (Lineage, City of Heroes, Guild Wars), this MMORPG is another sci-fi fantasy fiction MMO but from what I can translate from forums and reviews, contains less hardship and grindy-ness than the typical run of the mill Korean MMO.  

The graphics are some of the highest quality above and beyond FFXI, Everquest, and WoW, allowing for excessive video card settings whether it's to be a big time showoff or for visual stimulation.  This brings with it the problem of using an older computer to run the game and having to deal with graphical errors besides networking ones if you are still forcing a dinosaur to play with hover-boards and space guns.  

One look at the game and there should be some tingling of deja vu occurring in the back of your head.   NCSoft has taken what works in games such as WoW and built from those ideas.  The interface down to the action bars, chat logs, and menus all look eerily similar to WoW.  From what I can tell it is all fully customizable with the ability to resize and move things as you see fit.  Fighting and combat text looks much like it's predecessor City of Heroes as does the extremely large character customization feature when doing character creation and item customizing.  This allows for people to not fall into the Age of Conan issue of all looking exactly the same from level 1 - 20.  Class selection is the usual D+D montage as seen by the video below.

Aion boasts both PvE as well as PvP, also sporting what it calls PvEvP where races can fight along side of NPCs against opposing races.  Quick transportation is available by means of metamorphosing flying creatures but a new idea is indulged upon when it comes to close proximity's.  Not the water wing kind of your childhood but more like the advertising ploys of Victoria Secret.  Missing the laciness and tassel-liness, after completing part of the main quest you are given angel wings to allow you to explore areas in the upward direction and in essence becoming a flying mount.  A nice addition to this is the ability to fight foes in the air making for an even larger variety of motion and fighting sequences as well as new challenges with PvP.

What's interesting about Aion is it has already been released in the Far East for over a year now.  This will make the release to North America and Europe a far more mature one in terms of bug issues and latency problems that other recent MMOs have suffered from on initial release and should keep more people interested beyond the one month break or make point.

There has been enough time since the initial release of WoW for companies to shrug their shoulders and give in to completely running with everything that works for keeping an MMO fun and easy enough to play.  Quests are given to the player with easy directions, such as waypoints, and with the old question mark/exclamation point indicators.  English folk that are playing the Korean version now can still accomplish the quests without the ability to read the text.  Items when equipped become soul bound and can no longer resold keeping auction house enthusiasts from the ability to hold the market hostage (FFXI).  Party play is done with an almost carbon copy interface to WoW showing buffs, debuffs, health bars, etc, all in the same arrangement.    

The setting may not be for everyone, a lot of ideas have been done before, and the drudgery of having to start over again make Aion a game for those that can put all that aside.  It's probably not the best MMO to start with for those that are new to MMORPGs, but for those looking to branch off slightly, specifically from WoW, may have a good transitional feel with Aion.  I can see that this is NCSoft's answer to WoW and I have decided to see for myself if Aion will stand the test of time.  Open beta weekends are available to those that pre-purchase either from NCSoft directly or from Gamestop or Amazon.    

Andrew Bird - Fitz and Dizzyspells