This beta has been a long time coming, on the Xbox 360 at least, and through time I have wandered from excitement to boredom and back to excitement again. When I heard that DICE was developing the multiplayer aspect of the game I was happy. Happy, because in my own personal tastes Bad Company 2 is the best modern war game around, better than that other one anyway.
It’s the best thanks to one simple reason: balance. Multiplayer games need balance in map design, weaponry and most importantly to stop people from camping and generally making the online play a bit broken. Which is where that other games problems lie. I knew from BC2 that DICE could do this, they can make games that work and are great fun to play.
Well, in theory, but what about in play? The first choice I was given was a class based option. I opted for the generic Rifleman and set about the task at hand, which was killing al-Qaeda insurgents in a bustling war-torn town. This did not bother me, as it’s just a game and I generally don’t mind what pixels I shoot at, but it has to be said that this will offend some people. This is the only recent, big, FPS set in a real present conflict. A brave choice by the developers but only time will tell if it’s the right one.
Politics aside, the gameplay looks and feels like BC2, which is no real surprise. The movement and feel/sound of the weapons are the most notable factors, only the level design and structure of the games present the major difference. Gone are the massive open maps of BC2 and in are the small, tight levels that MW have made famous. Managing a game in this space is a lot different to DICE’s past effort, the games are fast and frantic with spawns switching all the time.
I know this is just a beta and there are a few months left of development time, but so far the game does not hit the highs of the current genre leaders. MoH lacks the tightness that MW has (in map design, at least) and the expansive balanced gameplay of BC2. I found myself getting killed by people I could not even see, and with no kill cam or way to “spot” opponents, I found it to be a very frustrating affair. Even when I knew where the opponents were I struggled to make them out and even found myself shooting at team mates as it was tough to tell the difference.
When I did get a grasp of the level I managed to get a few kills and earn some of the perks. Namely the mortar strike, which is similar to BC’s – packing more of an immediate impact than the likes of MW’s Predator Missile. The rest of the guns I had the pleasure of sampling feel, well, fine. Nothing really jumps out and amazes me, and the explosive weapons like the grenades and launcher feel significantly underpowered, which could be good in the grand scheme of things.
There is another game mode on offer and it’s more of a team based affair, or even a stripped down version of BC2’s Rush game mode, where the defenders have to stop the attackers from destroying key points that unlock more of the map as the game continues. There are vehicles in this gametype, namely a big lumbering tank that I never managed to get a shot in. The demo level is not the best to show the potential of this, it feels too forced, like it’s trying to be reminiscent of the bigger Rush levels but is full of invisible walls and easily defended bottlenecks.
It says a lot about a beta when it just makes me want to go and play other games. I still remain hopeful that DICE can add to what is a rather basic FPS and improve what they have shown me by making the game theirs, and introducing the key elements that make their other games so special.
