My 2011 multiplayer experiences part2

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RESISTANCE 3

KIND of GAME: retro-futuristic shooting, set in the ‘50s but with alien technology

PROs and CONs:
Pros > Super-cool weapons and abilities, nice leveling up, good maps and gameplay, fast matches
Cons > low frame-rate, abilities make the difference giving substantial advantage to more advanced players (but, after all, that’s what they’re there for, so this is really a two-sided coin!)

My EXPERIENCE:
An excellent multiplayer I really enjoyed. Lots of cool and different abilities, which you could unlock by leveling up, and mix with different weapons and skills. Cool kill-streak bonuses!
It offers a different style of shooting and it’s quite enjoyable, I liked playing it very much and it’s another of those games that I feel to be severely underrated as it’s quite polished. It’s biggest shortcoming was the frame-rate that, at time, really dropped too much. It was addressed with some patches but still didn’t manage to make for a very smooth experience (might have improved since).

Closing comment:
Another awesome, underrated, game.

Time spent : 50 hours ca

VOTE: 9

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WARHAMMER 40.000 SPACE MARINE

KIND of GAME: shooter set in the Warhammer universe, featuring Space and Chaos Marines

PROs and CONs:
Pros > great sense of weight, nice leveling up
Cons > only 2 race (space and chaos marine), very limited gameplay / game-modes, decent maps but not spectacular, one can level up even offline, very lagged

My EXPERIENCE:
I looked forward to this as I had demoed it and the Space Marine feel and mood seemed to be there. Unfortunately as far as the multi-player experience is concerned it’s pretty scarce and not particularly engaging. Just a few maps with a decent design and with only space vs chaos marine the thrill is quite limited as they’re basically the same race shooting-wise.
Add to it that they screwed and the online wasn’t available to PS3 users for a couple of weeks and when I finally logged online (the day it became available) most people had already leveled up to the max: yep, offline level up is lame!

Closing comment:
I love the warhammer setting, but this multiplayer looks too generic.

Time spent : 20 hours ca

VOTE: 7.5

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GEARS OF WAR 3

KIND of GAME: sci-fi futuristic shooting

PROs and CONs:
Pros > very immediate, nice weapons, it’s cool to have special weapons scattered on the map
Cons > only character unlock on leveling up, limited and repetitive gameplay, small and simple maps

My EXPERIENCE:
Its peculiarity is the “shooting in the living room” feel typical of the Gears of War series, in that sense, it makes a good work.
While that’s nice and different for a while it becomes repetitive and a bit boring quite quickly. The maps are necessarily small and this allows for very little strategy, so it’s basically everyone runs to grab the power weapons first and then shoot each other without much thought; it’s a bit ninny, no learning curve at all.
May offer a different shooting experience for a while but the most exciting thing is the “gore” of kills.

Closing comment:
Gears is more about the name . If you love a chaotic and un-skilled game to play, this one is for you.

Time spent : 60 hours ca

VOTE: 8.5

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BATTLEFIELD 3

KIND of GAME: modern military shooter set in our time

PROs and CONs:
Pros > excellent feel, vehicles, cool game modes, emphasis on team play
Cons > teams are not re-balanced after matches and people too often drop out

My EXPERIENCE:
To me Battlefield is THE modern warfare shooter. It’s emphasis on team-play makes it a great experience to play with friends or random people (but with friends it’s so much better). Classes are well balanced, have cool skills and abilities and a well balanced team with different classes really makes the difference in a match!
The different vehicles are great as well, allowing for many different styles of play. You can spend all your time alone, near your base camp sniping from a distant or rush into the action with the faster car!
What I do not like is that sometimes team end up being very unbalanced and they’re not re-balanced at the end of the match, which means, most people on the losing team will just drop out. I believe some re-balancing won’t hurt and, in fact, make the game always playable.

Closing comment:
Overall the most complete and the best online experience.

Time spent : 60 hours ca

VOTE: 9.9

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UNCHARTED 3: DRAKE’S DECEPTION
KIND of GAME: modern third person shooter set in our days

PROs and CONs:
Pros > excellent feel, many different things to do (climb, cover, etc.), good rank up, many different weapons, nice play modes, very good maps. Excellent party system.
Cons > too much shoot from the hip, because of how it’s structured it could be a bit slower and tactic.

My EXPERIENCE: Uncharted 3 is an excellent online, with great, varied maps (although the dynamic ones are usually too lagged for me, which is a pity) and nice, different modes. Team-play is not required but it can certainly help a lot, especially in some modes (such as capture the treasure or king of the hill).
It sports some very nice ideas, such as earning the medals for your streaks or collecting treasure to customize your character (although that’s a bit too rare and random).
Considering all the available actions, such as climb, cover, etc. it could easily be a bit more tactic (something U2’s online was), that’s something that would make it even more unique and peculiar but it’s still a great experience!

Closing comment:
Uncharted 3 multiplayer is incredible funny to play. Great customization. Too much shoot from the hip anyway.

Time spent : 50 hours ca

VOTE: 9

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COD: MODERN WARFARE 3

KIND of GAME: arcade military shooter

PROs and CONs:
Pros > immediate, fast and frantic action, extensive character customization, great leveling up and unlocks
Cons > almost complete lack of strategy, very run and gun

My EXPERIENCE:
Well, it’s COD, it’s frantic, it’s immediate, it’s the run and gun experience. You can play 5 minutes or for hours, it can be very engaging. It’s all based on a very rich and deep reward system, on a great customization of the character (which is very extensive) and on playing for the next unlock.
It sports an easy learning curve, does not require too much skill but rather asks for very good reflexes (and eyesight to spot enemies) and maps knowledge.
It’s one game I play when I want some immediate and frantic action, it’s not something I feel particularly sucked into as other, more complex, strategic games manage to do.

Closing comment:
MW3 looks like MW2.5 and it’s not a bad thing after all. This game is the arcate of the FPS. Unrealistic and funny at the same time.

Time spent : 40 hours ca

VOTE: 8.8

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ASSASSIN’S CREED: REVELATIONS

KIND of GAME: a game of assassinations set in the 16th century

PROs and CONs:
Pros > unique, excellent customization, cool characters and nice, varied abilities
Cons > matchmaking is still awful, playing in team, for me, it’s impossible

My EXPERIENCE: definitely a change of pace from the “usual” shooters. I love the setting, graphics and gameplay but too often it takes too long to be able to play a match. Brotherhood was worse, as far as party making and match-making are concerned but this new chapter has still big issues. I hope they take the time to re-write it from scratch for the next one!

Closing comment:
The matchmaking is terrible, sometime the game is very lagged, but it’s a very, different and rewarding multiplayer.

VOTE: 9.2

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ENJOY!