Friday, Apr 25, 2008
Well, hello there boys and girls, its been a while. First of all, I am pretty good and hopefully you are all as well. there haven't been any big changes in my life, and that's both, a good and a bad thing
But anyway, this blog isn't about me, but about my impressions of the Metal Gear Online Beta, which just went online today.
Ease of use:
The game is fairly easy to set up once you have your KonamiID and such. You'll get to create your own character and his appearance. There aren't many items to choose from, but there is enough variety that you shouldn't run into any exact duplicates of you. You also set four skills for your characters. These skills range from proficiency in a certain type of weapon, to other such things, such as being able to see traps, set a network for your team to be able to see the enemies and mastery at hand to hand combat and more. There are about 15 different skills and they all serve their purpose nicely. Some are really hard to use, but they still work. The menus are pretty straightforward and finding your way into a game is relatively painless.
Going online:
There are three choices. You can join an existing game, which is the fastest way. You can have the game find a game for you with people of your same skill. This takes a little more time, but you'll be pretty much guaranteed that you won't get an ass whooping on your first couple of runs. You can also join a training server, where you'll get to learn the ropes with a bunch of dummy targets. The playing modes available are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Base, Capture the Kerotan (basically capture the flag) and Holding Base (that is not the exact name, but basically you have to capture a base and hold the fort for as long as you can) So far, I haven't ran into any lag issues and the games have gone pretty smoothly. The game looks pretty good and it sounds good too. Is nothing groundbreaking, but at least is nice too look at and nice to listen too.
The game:
The best way to describe this is Metal Gear mixed with a third/first person shooter. All of the conventions that make Metal Gear are here. Cardboard boxes, porn magazines, close quarter combat, stealth, etc, etc. You can also be knocked out and put to sleep. This works exactly like in any Metal Gear game and its a pretty interesting approach to take. Your inventory is handled with the L2 button and weapons with the R2 button. Close quarter combat is done by pressing on the R1 button (unless you have the CQC mastery skill, you will only be able to punch though, not hold) If you have said skill, then the CQC becomes more in-depth, as you can throw, choke and use your enemies as human shields. Triangle is an action button of sorts and it'll handle all of your contextual actions, such flattening against walls, hanging and more. Crouch running is new to MG, and it works just like you'll expect. You can still lay prone, and this has been beefed up quite a bit, as you can now roll, lay on your back, play death and more. Everything is easy to control and is pretty fun overall.
Most fights will end up in firefights though. And the shooting controls work well. You aim with the L1 button and fire with the R1 button. If you press triangle while you are aiming, the game goes into first person mode and it'll stay there until you let the aiming button go. You can move like in any first person shooter while aiming too. You cannot shot from the hip though, so if you want to use your weapon, you'll need to aim. The weapons are pretty customizable. My weapon of choice is the M4, and for that one alone you can add a scope, grenade launcher, silencer, laser sight and an extra handle for better recoil handling. For these mods you need Drebin points that are gained performing well in combat and so far I haven't found a way to keep them after a match is over. The weapon selection is also pretty nice, giving you a good amount of choices between the main types (assault rifle, light machine gun, sniper rifle, etc) You also can chose a side-arm, which basically gives you a couple different pistols as well as a tranquilizer gun and several types of grenades, claymore and magazine.
If you don't have a mic, you also have access to the Codec, which has a whole bunch of pre-recorded phrases for you to use in different situations. The game comes only with two maps, but they are huge. Each one has several stories, tunnels, sewers and are just pretty big.
So far, it seems MGO will shape to be a good online component. My main complains are that the movement of speed is very slow (you move at Snake's pace from the single player game) I understand this is supposed to be a more tactical shooter, rather than a fast paced one, but the movement speed can be unbearable at times. Also, the game only seems to support 16 players, 12 in most lobbies. While is not as big a problem with Deathmatch, the arenas are too big and this becomes a problem, specially when playing teams. Add the running speed to this, and you can spend a good amount of time without seeing any action. I think the best thing to do in the final product is either reduce the arenas in size a little bit and/or allow for more players, but judging by the amount of troubles they had just setting up this beta, I find that unlikely.
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Posted Apr 25, 2008 2:57 pm PT
I've been playing for about 1.5 hours and I think it's pretty sweet. I'm impressed with how the maps are designed to give you options for sneaking up and CQC people, snipe them from rooftops, hide in cardboard boxes or just have great gunfights. The skill system, reminiscent of CoD4 perks seems interesting as well.
However, the controls, in old MGS-fashion, take a bit getting used to and yes, walking speed is hella slow, especially when you go up a stairway or ramp. It's probably to force people to rely on tatics and team work more and to be fair, you can take quite a few bullets before you go down.
Another thing I don't like is auto-lock. It might not even give you a big advantage or possibly even a disadvantage, but I just don't think it should be there. There are other things I couldn't really wrap my head around yet, like what the team link thing actually does and CQC seems a bit like hit or miss (though I haven't used it much).
However, the controls, in old MGS-fashion, take a bit getting used to and yes, walking speed is hella slow, especially when you go up a stairway or ramp. It's probably to force people to rely on tatics and team work more and to be fair, you can take quite a few bullets before you go down.
Another thing I don't like is auto-lock. It might not even give you a big advantage or possibly even a disadvantage, but I just don't think it should be there. There are other things I couldn't really wrap my head around yet, like what the team link thing actually does and CQC seems a bit like hit or miss (though I haven't used it much).
Posted Apr 25, 2008 5:31 pm PT
I've tried and tried to get on, but keep getting an error message 
I've given up atm, and will try again later
I've given up atm, and will try again later
Posted Apr 25, 2008 5:37 pm PT
Oh, and awesome banner btw 
Posted Apr 25, 2008 7:41 pm PT
MGO is looking Ok, I don't deny it was fun playing it but like bender said, walking is too damn slow and makes me feel it's a really slow paced game
And the customization system: wow!! great stuff there... and it'll get better
And the customization system: wow!! great stuff there... and it'll get better
Posted Apr 25, 2008 8:33 pm PT
Posted Apr 25, 2008 10:50 pm PT
sa10kun: Not really, but I'll add you to my friends list!
Bender: Yeah, I am enjoying it too, but the speed really kills it sometimes. Is no fun hearing all the fire fights and you making it when is all over cause you run like a sloth.
Hazel: Did you manage to get it working yet? And thanks!
Goblin: I agree, thought there aren't many pieces to choose from yet, there are quite a few categories. And yeah, slow sucks.
An: That sucks man!
Bender: Yeah, I am enjoying it too, but the speed really kills it sometimes. Is no fun hearing all the fire fights and you making it when is all over cause you run like a sloth.
Hazel: Did you manage to get it working yet? And thanks!
Goblin: I agree, thought there aren't many pieces to choose from yet, there are quite a few categories. And yeah, slow sucks.
An: That sucks man!
Posted Apr 26, 2008 12:29 am PT
love it
Posted Apr 26, 2008 3:59 am PT
@hazel, Himura: do you guys know how to invite friends to play MGO?? I'd like to play with you guys!!
Posted Apr 26, 2008 12:44 pm PT
Goblin: I have been trying to figure it out, but I have no clue.
Posted Apr 26, 2008 1:28 pm PT
in the friends list when you click on a name of a friend that is playing a game there should be an option of "move to game" or something. Add me you FOOS!
Posted Apr 26, 2008 4:34 pm PT
sa10kun, I tried to add you, but it says you have reached the max number of friends, so it doesn't let me add you.
Posted Apr 27, 2008 2:00 pm PT
I can understand the movement speed. But I haven't run into real issues with being stranded...yet. For me a good rule of thumb is to stick at least somewhat close your teammates. Chances are they are looking for, if they haven't found enemies. And where there's smoke, there's fire. I kinda like the map size/participant ratio. Not always being able to find someone to shoot is a good thing for this game, IMO, because it helps enforce tactics and teamwork as you're not shooting all the time.
Posted Apr 29, 2008 10:26 am PT
C-himura, that is odd. I only have like 6 friends. Maybe try again?
Posted May 1, 2008 11:48 pm PT
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