Maniacal
the green Napoleon
Despite my list of cons, it is a good fun game and I am still enjoying it. Every game has flaws which we love to point out, but it's harder to list the pros because tbh I EXPECT games to be good and for the devs to actually do a decent job and make the game I want, which is not all that realisitc.
DISCLAIMER: I have not even played half the game yet, so this is a first impression, as I keep playing I am finding out some more things, like more animals, and there is apparently another map.
I have to keep reminding myself this is a first-person shooter dumbed down for the consoles, although every time I have a gunfight I am reminded.
I do admit I havn't played more than 10% of the game (according to the stats page), so I hopefully have missed things I was looking forward too. These are just things that bug me so far.
I thought the world would be a LOT more destructable like in Crysis, but it is destructable enough that it works.
It's a first person shooter, so every single god damned person you come across except for two areas (that I know of) is an armed soldier who will go out of his way to shoot you. With some accuracy.
The terrain funnels you into a lot of vallies, which make it impossible to avoid the quickly respawning guard posts everwhere. There is also a mountain that takes up at least several square kilometers and of course you cannot climb it (afaik). Although there is an open area along the borders of the map and a couple of sections in from the borders are fairly open.
I realize there is a war on and animals do flee from war, but I really havn't SEEN ANY ANIMALS. I think I saw a hippo? once but beyond that... nothing. I assume I'll see more as I drive around.
UPDATE: YES I HAVE SEEN MORE, but there aren't a lot.
Fire doesn't spread far enough imo, but I'm sure that can be changed. Buildings don't seem all that flammable either. Although most are shanty shacks made of corrogated metal they have plenty of WOOD.
UPDATE: SPREADS MORE WITH STRONGER WIND
Even unarmoured guys take several shots to the chest to go down. Although the first weapon is probably a weak one, but I desire more realism, unarmoured people can't take a lot of bullets usually. It isn't easy to headshot either but I'm assuming the G3 gun must be a sucky weapon for the game.
UPDATE: G3 SUCKS, SNIPER IS PRETTY GOOD
Also they are really good shots and are incredibly aware of everything around them for up to 50 meters once they hear or see you. Even through bushes.
I guess I had the wrong impression, I thought it would be 50km2 that was completely or almost completely open with way less comstrictive corridors, wild herds of animals roaming around, some villages of people, and the freedom to drive around and not have to stop every 2 minutes to fight some guys. I am interested to see how much it changes as the war get's worse, there are also places labled as farms or OGO (something growing operation I think) but they seem to be either abandoned or in use but all the ones i've found are filled with armed guards.
Maybe it's just me, but the emergency field surgery you perform on yourself isn't really useful, as whenever I get low enough health I can do it when i try to hide behind something the AI always circles around immediatelyand shoots me dead before I can finish.
Mike's bar is DEAD. Mike isn't even there! Maybe this is just the beginning of the game, but... it just doesn't seem like a lively place. I walked into the bar and there were two buddies, and a guy who gave me a quest and information, those three were cool but, ya know, I expected a bar atmosphere and maybe a drink or two. I'l check back again and see if it changes.
PROS!:
Fire is fun, and it spreads!
Vehichles handle all right, in fact they aren't too bad. Would like to see more than just him tightning a bolt on the engine to fix it though but I realize sometimes certain animations do represent more than you see.
Buddy charactor will rescue you! A lot. Without complaint ^_^ Although sometimes I do die I've been saved by Flora (I think that's her name, black woman you meet in Mike's Bar).
Okay, this is a bit of a con, it's too much freaking dull brown! BUT on the other hand there are some very nice areas of the map despite the brown colours and it does look like Africa. Besides, africa can be dirty and it shows in this game.
Even the same kinds of cars/trucks come in different colours which is nice, and there so far have been 4 different vehichles which is nice.
The malaria certainly adds an interesting depth to the game. It is annoying to have to pop a pill in the middle of a gunfight but hey, malaria isn't supposed to be fun.
And more I can't think of atm.
EDIT: Found some gazelles, accidentally ran one over. Zebras drop dead when the come within 2 feet of a car.
Excellent sniper post at the top of that tree, took out the entire guard post.
Accidentally got my buggy stuck >_< So I decided to have some fun with the flamethrower.
DISCLAIMER: I have not even played half the game yet, so this is a first impression, as I keep playing I am finding out some more things, like more animals, and there is apparently another map.
I have to keep reminding myself this is a first-person shooter dumbed down for the consoles, although every time I have a gunfight I am reminded.
I do admit I havn't played more than 10% of the game (according to the stats page), so I hopefully have missed things I was looking forward too. These are just things that bug me so far.
I thought the world would be a LOT more destructable like in Crysis, but it is destructable enough that it works.
It's a first person shooter, so every single god damned person you come across except for two areas (that I know of) is an armed soldier who will go out of his way to shoot you. With some accuracy.
The terrain funnels you into a lot of vallies, which make it impossible to avoid the quickly respawning guard posts everwhere. There is also a mountain that takes up at least several square kilometers and of course you cannot climb it (afaik). Although there is an open area along the borders of the map and a couple of sections in from the borders are fairly open.
I realize there is a war on and animals do flee from war, but I really havn't SEEN ANY ANIMALS. I think I saw a hippo? once but beyond that... nothing. I assume I'll see more as I drive around.
UPDATE: YES I HAVE SEEN MORE, but there aren't a lot.
Fire doesn't spread far enough imo, but I'm sure that can be changed. Buildings don't seem all that flammable either. Although most are shanty shacks made of corrogated metal they have plenty of WOOD.
UPDATE: SPREADS MORE WITH STRONGER WIND
Even unarmoured guys take several shots to the chest to go down. Although the first weapon is probably a weak one, but I desire more realism, unarmoured people can't take a lot of bullets usually. It isn't easy to headshot either but I'm assuming the G3 gun must be a sucky weapon for the game.
UPDATE: G3 SUCKS, SNIPER IS PRETTY GOOD
Also they are really good shots and are incredibly aware of everything around them for up to 50 meters once they hear or see you. Even through bushes.
I guess I had the wrong impression, I thought it would be 50km2 that was completely or almost completely open with way less comstrictive corridors, wild herds of animals roaming around, some villages of people, and the freedom to drive around and not have to stop every 2 minutes to fight some guys. I am interested to see how much it changes as the war get's worse, there are also places labled as farms or OGO (something growing operation I think) but they seem to be either abandoned or in use but all the ones i've found are filled with armed guards.
Maybe it's just me, but the emergency field surgery you perform on yourself isn't really useful, as whenever I get low enough health I can do it when i try to hide behind something the AI always circles around immediatelyand shoots me dead before I can finish.
Mike's bar is DEAD. Mike isn't even there! Maybe this is just the beginning of the game, but... it just doesn't seem like a lively place. I walked into the bar and there were two buddies, and a guy who gave me a quest and information, those three were cool but, ya know, I expected a bar atmosphere and maybe a drink or two. I'l check back again and see if it changes.
PROS!:
Fire is fun, and it spreads!
Vehichles handle all right, in fact they aren't too bad. Would like to see more than just him tightning a bolt on the engine to fix it though but I realize sometimes certain animations do represent more than you see.
Buddy charactor will rescue you! A lot. Without complaint ^_^ Although sometimes I do die I've been saved by Flora (I think that's her name, black woman you meet in Mike's Bar).
Okay, this is a bit of a con, it's too much freaking dull brown! BUT on the other hand there are some very nice areas of the map despite the brown colours and it does look like Africa. Besides, africa can be dirty and it shows in this game.
Even the same kinds of cars/trucks come in different colours which is nice, and there so far have been 4 different vehichles which is nice.
The malaria certainly adds an interesting depth to the game. It is annoying to have to pop a pill in the middle of a gunfight but hey, malaria isn't supposed to be fun.
And more I can't think of atm.
EDIT: Found some gazelles, accidentally ran one over. Zebras drop dead when the come within 2 feet of a car.
Excellent sniper post at the top of that tree, took out the entire guard post.
Accidentally got my buggy stuck >_< So I decided to have some fun with the flamethrower.
