I have been doing the periodic Let's plays of this game (Although the performance reduction in video recording makes for me doing poorly when recording... honest!) amidst my play sessions. I have sunk 10 hours into this game in the last couple of weeks playing around with it and I have thoroughly enjoyed every play session I have partaken in.
So, I shall now give my review - but before I do this I want to stress a point:
'Pay to win' is a bit of a fallacy. 90% of my games see me end in the top 3 on my team, half that time being in first place. I have not spent a penny. I have spent a lot of my time growing up playing first person shooters (counter-strike taking up many many years of my life :p) so I have fairly natural reflexes in this kind of game, and am quite a good shot - or am able to implement tactics / psychological methods to take out or outwit enemies. This basically means that I am able to hold my own against whatever the enemy brings to the front. My point is: Skill Matters more than equipment. I have seen people leading teams wielding nothing but a pistol. (and thoroughly kicking my butt)
Graphics: 5/5
The graphics in this game are pretty good. They are not the best out there, but they did not scrimp when making it. I would put them on par with Deus Ex Human Revolution. I would not notice if they were any higher I don't think.
Sound: 4/5
There is nothing special about the sound. I have not encountered any bugs and there is no music, but it all works well.
Gameplay: 5/5
Team matches with different objectives (Take and hold/capture the flag and death match) work well to keep players working together.
Community: 5/5
I have not seen any trolling in this game. At all. I have seen a couple of questions being shot down, but I have always made sure that I provide the answer - and have seen others doing the same more often than not :-)
Ease of use: 3/5
The only area that I find this game is lacking, is its complexity. In counterstrike, you have a few menus at the start of the game to select what equipment you want. After a few games, you can usually purchase your items in a few button presses that you program into your head. CP is spent IN GAME - you need to expose your back and use a terminal to buy the equipment, and if your caught before it is used - someone else can run off with it. This is not a bad thing, in fact it makes it more dynamic. You cover your friends when they are getting a hard suit, etc.
GP is earned by completing maps. The better your /your teams performance - the more you get to spend. These are used to buy temporary upgrades (usually 24 hours) - although these upgrades are quite cheap. They are typically weapons, weapon mods, armour, etc. this system is a bit compliated to get to grips with, and if you dont do it before joining a server, you have a minute between maps to identify what you want and buy it - I have made a few poor purchase choices thanks to this system, though now I understand it I really like it. Go figure, its a learning curve and the only complaint I have.
One thing to note: When you log in - you need to pick a server. I spent the first week of the game playing on the US servers with pings between 300 and 500 before I realised there were EU servers, and now im <100 ping.
Overall: Nearly perfect. A learning curve exists, and if you are new to online FPS games, you might be deterred by that and the need for some skill - but it only comes from playing so: Get your asses out there and murder some reds!
Additional: I have not yet tried to play along RL friends, I have always used the 'quick game' option to join games... I get the feeling it may be tricky or time consuming arranging a play session with a mate and then getting on the same server :( I will update when I find out more.
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