Hype And Gripe » FPS

Gripe: Battlefield Bad Company 2

Mike Ruest — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:20:54 +0000

Multiplayer Demo Impressions
If you’re a shooter fan like me, perhaps you have downloaded and played the multiplayer demo for Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Having owned and played many other Battlefield games, I was really looking forward to playing Bad Company 2 as an alternative to the vehicle-less Modern Warfare 2. As a sequel, Bad Company 2 differs in the single player campaign in that, instead of going after gold, the boys of bad company are after some new weapon that threatens national security. This then filters down into the multiplayer game, were as instead of the game mode called “Gold Rush” – you now just have “Rush” or “Squad Rush,” which is essentially the same attack or defend type play over crates. However, multiplayer will now feature the inclusion of experience points that can then be used towards class and weapon customization. A move that seems ripped right out of Modern Warfare 2’s playbook, though DICE did something like this in Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142. A renewed focus on experience points and customization is not surprising. Especially given the fact that EA has been very vocal about Bad Company 2 being the game that takes down Modern Warfare 2 as the king of military first person shooters.

Battlefield 1943

In many ways, I think that was EA’s point in releasing the downloadable Battlefield 1943 prior to Modern Warfare 2’s release in November of 2009. Because it showed the world that Battlefield’s multiplayer experience is not only good and accessible, but it is also extremely fun to play. In fact, I am still hoping DICE will put out some new maps for Battlefield 1943. I’ll be the first in line to pay for that downloadable content on Xbox Live. So, I believe Battlefield 1943 was EA’s sign that better things are yet to come with Bad Company 2.

However, that has not been my experience so far. Having played both the multiplayer beta on the PS3 and now the multiplayer demo on the Xbox 360, I am seriously worried that Bad Company 2 will not even get close to the amazing multiplayer experience of Modern Warfare 2. Why, because the multiplayer demo totally sucked? No, not really. It’s just that the demo highlighted so many technical and gameplay issues that must be fixed before its March 2nd release. Personally, knowing EA’s track record, I don’t think they will address all of these issues and just rushed the game out like they did with Mercenaries 2. EA is famous for hyping a game with cutscenes and screenshots of polished graphics and then failing to deliver the goods when the game is finally released. Okay, I need to move on. It’s obvious I have a huge beef with EA and it’s starting to show – more on EA in a latter post (maybe).

So what are my concerns with Bad Company 2? Well, let me start with my first gripe – lag. Though I never experience lag playing the beta on Sony’s PSN, I constantly experienced it with the Xbox Live demo. I can’t tell how frustrating it is to be running only to be moved back and forth in the game like some Devo song – “You got me jerking back and forth…”

Along with the lagging is the apparent frame rate issue in the game. Unlike Infinity Ward’s standard of 60 frames per second (FPS) in Modern Warfare 2, DICE’s standard with Bad Company 2 seems more like an inconsistent 30 FPS. This has all sorts of affects on Bad Company 2’s gameplay, as you would imagine, especially in targeting your opponents.

Speaking of targeting, Bad Company 2 also lacks any real feedback to let you know you’re hitting your opponents. I know, I know, you get that little “X” thing that appears over your targeting reticule, but this is not enough in my opinion. I much prefer how Modern Warfare 2 utilizes the controller’s force feedback system in producing small vibrations in combination with a sound effect to let you know when you’re hitting your enemies. Add this lack of feedback to the already frame rate and lagging issues, and you never really feel like you’re accurately shooting your targets.

On top of this feedback issue, the controls feel sluggish and not as responsive as Modern Warfare 2 or Battlefield 1943 for that matter. Turning left and right and looking up and down just doesn’t feel right. And game developers by now should know they must strive to make a game’s control feel as a natural part of a person’s hand to where players forget they’re holding a controller. Bad Company 2’s demo failed at doing this.

In terms of gameplay, the tanks in the demo (like Battlefield 1943) seem underpowered in terms of driving. Players trying to drive over simple obstacles or move uphill are met with the sudden realization that their tank doesn’t have enough get-up and go as their real life counterparts. Assault rifles also feel extremely underpowered. In addition, some weapon sights seem too small or too thin.

Bottom-line: Though I am really looking forward to the final version of Bad Company 2, I am extremely worried that the game will not live up to its potential. While there were some fun moments to be had like driving ATVs, I didn’t have half as fun as I did when playing Battlefield 1943. In addition, the game sessions are not only frustrating at times (with the above mentioned issues), but they also seem too long and drawn-out. Maybe this has to do with the fact that the maps are huge! One thing is for sure – teamwork is essential in Bad Company 2. In my experience with the multiplayer demo, the teams that worked together not only won – they dominated. In the end though, I am okay with getting beat by other players in the game, I just hope I don’t get beat by the game itself with its many issues come March 2010.

PS. Why does every Battlefield game featuring flying vehicles have to be so freaking hard to control?

Modern Warfare 2: What Needs Tweaking

Mike Ruest — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:52:07 +0000

The Perfect Shooter has some Imperfections
When Modern Warfare 2 was released at midnight, I was one of the many eager gamers standing in line at my local GameStop in Denver, CO. Of all the midnight releases I’ve attended over the years, I have never seen such a long line of people with that insane look in their eyes as if they were waiting for money to fall from the sky. As midnight grew closer, the excitement grew greater. When I finally arrived at home with my copy, I immediately started playing through the single player campaign first – an anal ritual I’ve always had with first-person shooters, which seems utterly crazy considering the amazing multiplayer experience awaiting me. But now that most people on the planet have played and are continually playing the multiplayer side of Modern Warfare 2, I think it’s time to take a critical look at what needs tweaking, and even fixing with this part of the game. So let me start.

Map Rotation

"Estate" Multiplayer Map

First, let’s talk about Map Rotation. I realize that the amount of time spent in a particular lobby, whether or not the lobby resets and so on – will all affect which map is selected. However, there seems to be (at least for team deathmatch) a few maps that always appear. The one that comes to mind the most is Estate. I don’t know how many times I’ve defended and assaulted this mountain home, but in my opinion, it’s been too many times.

Team Balancing

Second gripe deals with Team Balancing. There have been an excessive amount of times where one team not only had more players, but they also had players who were of higher rank. For example, you’d have one team with 5 players (three sergeants, 1 captain, and 1 lieutenant colonel) against a team of 7 players (3 generals, 1 captain, 1 sergeant, 1 major, and 1 prestige). And if the game does give you an even amount of players on both sides, it still has the teams unfairly stacked with more high-ranking players on one team. Now, I realize that coming in with a friend or playing with a clan tag, does force the game to keep them on the same team, but the game nevertheless has team balancing issues.

Weapon’s Range

Third thing that needs tweaking relates to the weapon’s range. My major gripe is with the Winchester 1887. While this famous level-action shotgun designed by John Browning in the late 19^th century and early part of the 20^th century, was and is a great weapon; my contention is with its effectiveness to take a person out with one shot firing over 40 yards away akimbo style. In other words, I have no doubts this weapon can mortally wound a person, but at what range? In verifying my facts with a local gunsmith friend whose great grandfather owned a Winchester 1887, he confirmed that on “soft” targets, a 10 gauge with lead buckshot or slugs would be effective at 25 plus meters and devastating within 15 meters; and with a buckshot from size 4 up (or a slug), a person within 40 yards without body armor would be seriously to mortally wounded. However, the aim required wouldn’t be casual (i.e., as in the akimbo firing position used in the game), rather it would have to be centered on the upper torso. Bottom-line, I am okay being killed 15-25 meters away in the game by this weapon, but not 40 plus yards away as players are easily able to do in multiplayer. Of course, by the time you’re reading this, both the Xbox 360 and PC will have been patched. Funny how the PS3 got this fix first. Another minor gripe is with Frag grenades. The effective kill range of a Frag grenade is 30 meters. However, in Modern Warfare 2 – the range seems to be more like 15 meters. Case-in-point, you know an enemy is in the room next to you, which is about 10 meters wide; you lob a Frag grenade through the door and it lands near the wall opposite of the corner your enemy is camping in; but, instead of dying, you walk in to be immediately shot.

Care Packages

Fourth gripe is with Care Packages. I realize care package crates need to have some real physics behind them to allow them to bounce, roll and even kill someone if they’re standing below them when they fall from the sky. But do they have to have such realistic physics to where I lose them all together? I mean, can’t they roll off the top of the plane, if they happen to land up there? And why doesn’t the physics behind them, not allow me to use the concussion from a grenade to make them drop? However, my biggest lies in the decision to make it where they never go out of bounds. I am sure some of you can relate to my frustration. You’re playing a big match and you get a cool care package like an air raid or stealth bomber, to only see it sitting on the other side of some fence. Hey, if Infinity Ward can prevent me from walking through certain bushes and not being able to break certain glass to serve as boundaries I can’t cross, then why couldn’t they have made a rule to keep my care packages from going outside those invisible boundaries as well?

Server Errors and Lag

Fifth and final gripe that needs addressing is with serving errors and lag. I know there has to be a billion people playing this game, but using their genius minds, it seems Infinity Ward could have optimized the network code to prevent issues like this. The last time I had issues like this was with Call of Duty 2. I can understand this happening every once and a while, but in my experience, this is happening way too often.

I know the game has already been patched, but the update doesn’t seem to address any of these specific issues, other than dealing with the Javelin exploit. In fact, the 1.06 update seem to have created some new issues. According to IGN, these new issues include allowing players to join private matches they’re not supposed to be joining. Here’s hoping that Infinity Way does some more tweaking and fixing on their part with their 1.07 patch. Especially since Modern Warfare 2 is one of the best first-person shooters of all time.

Update 1-29-10:

New Patch coming (now available for PS3/360 undergoing certification with the following fixes:

- Care Package, Emergency Airdrop, and Sentry Gun marker grenades sprint speed normalized.

- Fix for “infinite care package” exploit.

- Sentry Guns: Improved placement detection, preventing cases of Sentry Guns inside geometry.

- Model 1887: Bling using Akimbo and FMJ combination now has same range and damage as non-Bling Model 1887s.

- Improved player collision removing cases of getting into geometry and ‘elevators’.

- Fixes to prevent various XP hacks.

Update 2-12-10:

Xbox 360 patch now available fixing the following issues:

- Infinite Care Package Exploit

- Care Package, Emergency Airdrops, and Sentry Gun marker grenades sprint speed normalized

- Sentry Guns now have improved placement detection preventing inside geometry

- Model 1887: Bling using Akimbo and FMJ combination now has same range and damage as non-Bling

- Prevention of various XP hacks (including negative XP)