Sanctum 2: Review

Of all the map mods that spawned from Warcraft 3, it’s the Tower Defence game mode that has seen the most variety in the titles that have come from it. I usually prefer those that stick close to the original formula, placing towers to make a gauntlet that waves of enemies have to brave in an attempt to beat you. A perfect formula for arm-chair generals who like to sit back, plan, and watch.

However Sanctum 2 mixes that up immediately. It’s a genre crossbreed of Tower Defence and FPS, so not only are you responsible for the strategic placements of towers, but you’re also relied on to take down the enemies; a hostile and varied alien race known as Lumes . Each genre takes it’s turn in the gameplay, every wave alternates between first placing your towers and then gunning down your foes.

The game is spread across sixteen levels linked via a story campaign. Sanctum 2 is set on a planet that has been colonised by humanity. You play as one of four core guardians tasked with protecting the colonists from the invading hordes of the Lumes. The story is told through a series of comic strips between levels and does a reasonable job of explaining why the characters need to keep moving from one location to another. But there is no link to the first title and no description of the planet you’re on or the history of the world. I had to read the backstory on a wiki; it’s not vital context to the story although it’s a silly omission.

The levels themselves represent a wide variety of Tower Defence game design. Some have plenty of space for construction, allowing you to build brilliant mazes. Others have a clear path for the Lumes to run down that you can’t obstruct in any way. On these maps your towers are very much relegated to a support role, firing from the side lines as you have to run around like a headless chicken trying to stop the Lumes at every turn.

In single player, I felt that the towers really didn’t play a big enough role in the gameplay. Even on maps where I was able to build a complicated maze to maximise their effectiveness, they lacked the hitting power to be really useful in the ten waves or so of enemies. You’re presented with a stats screen at the end of a level and almost every single one showed that I’d personally done around seventy five per cent of the damage and kills. Things improved somewhat when I switched to survival mode. Instead of a set amount of waves, the game keeps ramping up the difficulty until you lose. It was fun to reply my favourite levels to see how long I could last, and that longevity gave me a lot more resources to construct more towers and make them a bigger part of the gameplay.

I found a similar improvement in multiplayer as well. Each player gets their own pool of resources to face much larger waves of Lumes. This meant there was a much greater amount of towers playing their part in the game and with just two players, it reached a nice balance. Although trying to get a random person to agree with my plans for the maze was tricky.

The FPS side of the game is a solid experience in its own right. It clearly takes inspiration from Borderlands with floating low gravity jumps and a collection of crazy weaponry. The Lumes are quite varied enemies, all with a prominent weak-spot that can be hit for extra damage. Each of the four characters has their own signature weapon and a passive bonus such as double jump or extra health. You also get a choice of secondary weapon and there’s enough variety for you to pick something that complements your character’s build and play-style.

The AI of the Lumes is clever and consistent. I only noticed an enemy get stuck once trying to navigate the maze. They’re also capable of making a quick priority decision between either attacking you or going to destroy the core. If a group of them gangs up to hit you; you can very quickly be killed and have to wait an agonising ten seconds to re-spawn. It requires you to be aware of your surroundings so you can jump over your tower wall to safety.

There is one large problem with the enemies that I wish the developer Coffee Stain Studios would change, and that’s the boss enemies are too powerful. They make sense from a game mechanics point of view, there needs to be big threats that you have to deal with. Yet it’s stupid to see a boss enemy that is immune to towers soaking all their damage. Also, there are a couple that can destroy your towers. They are the most frustrating enemies every created. As soon as they put a hole in your maze you end up having to kill everything yourself. Then spend your time repairing everything before the next round. The levels they appear in I’ve only played to advance the story and to never return as they just break the gameplay.

Oddly a progression system has been shoe-horned in. It’s a simple system with level-ups granting access to more towers, secondary weapons and passive skills. It provides a little extra replay-ability and incentivises increasing the difficulty for extra experience. As it’s such a short levelling curve, I feel it would have made more sense to use a more traditional unlock system; linking progression to completing each level or beating specific challenges.

Also worth mentioning is the soundtrack which provides a fun selection of futuristic sounds. The music switches between relaxed, laid back tunes for your strategic planning and up tempo beats for fighting the Lumes.

Sanctum 2 doesn’t take long to complete on normal difficult and there’s an easy option for a more relaxed experience as well. The game really gets it’s playtime from replay-ability, which is unfortunately handicapped by certain levels really minimising the impact of towers or throwing the irritating boss enemies at you. That being said I’ve still enjoyed plenty of hours with Sanctum 2 already and as a budget title, it’s ultimately delivered on value for money.

Planetside 2: First Impressions

It’s landed with quite an impact. Plenty of people have turned out for Sony Online Entertainment’s (SOE) revival of its unique franchise, Planetside. Remarkably there have been no real attempts since the original to deliver multiplayer combat on a massive scale. Planetside 2 dwarfs rivals such as DICE’s Battlefield series. Thousands of players battle each other to take control of the planet Auraxis which is split over three huge continent maps.

The launch has had a few bumpy moments, leading to some quick server down time and quick patching. But for the most part, the game has done a good job of getting players straight into the action; giving them a real taste of the gameplay right from the start. Once you’re online; you pick from a choice of the three factions, character gender, name and face. Not a great deal of customisation, but for the most part you’ll rarely see an opponent’s face behind their helmet. The majority of the customisation comes from cosmetic items purchasable through the in-game shop.

As soon as you hit go, you’re given a brief introduction into your faction and the planet being fought over. After that you’re promptly deployed in a drop pod into the heart of a ground battle. I ended up in a close quarters scrap, defending a tech plant from an assault by the Vanu Sovereignty. Having played the beta, I was able to get my bearings pretty quickly and jump into the thick of the fighting. But for a new player; it will be a little overwhelming as none of the mechanics are explained, and there’s no tutorial to get you up to speed either.

This was my biggest criticism of the beta and SOE have done little to fix it. The first time you enter some of the menu screens, you get a pop-up to explain its purpose. But beyond that there’s no explanation of anything. Want to know how to capture that base? How to acquire vehicles? Customise your loadouts? Well you best find an explanation on the internet. There are some very useful video tutorials produced by SOE which are linked to on the game’s launcher. But why isn’t there an in-game wiki or help function? Providing an easy way for new players to get answers would build on the great first impression made by the initial drop into combat.

Most importantly, the game design leads to the natural formation of large scale conflicts between players. This is a big plus for the game. Seeing armoured columns roll out to the nearest battle is a sight to behold.  Objectives are clearly marked on the map, allowing you to set both squad and personal waypoints to advance too. The map also highlights areas of activity and allows you to redeploy reach the front lines faster.

When in range of a base, the current capture situation is displayed above your mini-map. Points are fought over in a tug of war style. Holding key objectives and killing opponents will increase your team’s score towards victory. However in some of the large scale facilities, this system can feel slow. Especially when your opponents are stuck in their spawn point with no chance of repelling you.

Spawning is generally well handled throughout the game. On the deployment screen you’re given an overview of the map with a current list of held locations and what vehicles can be obtained there. Added to this list will be any deployed Sunderers and squad spawn beacons. These are activated by players to create forward bases. Allowing teammates to quickly spawn nearby and support the offensive; rather than having to travel several hundred metres from the closest base.

To try and prevent any spawn camping. Which is always the most infuriating tactic in any multiplayer FPS; team colour coded shields cover the entrances of any base spawn point. This allows defenders to freely fire at any attacking force, without the risk of being killed as soon as they appear. This would be incredibly imbalanced, but clever placement of these areas means defenders still have to leave the sanctuary of the spawn point to achieve anything useful. As soon as the base falls, the ownership of any spawn points changes. This will slowly kill off any stubborn defenders who refuse to die like men and allow attackers entry to gun them down.

The gunplay is well done and up to the standard of any current FPS. There’s a wide selection of gun unlocks for all classes and vehicles. Each provides a unique feel though the combination of recoil, damage and ammunition capacity. Successful hits are displayed through the crosshairs flashing red; which hits a nice balance by being simple and unobtrusive, whilst providing satisfying feedback. There are plenty of additions to attach to every weapon to tweak its performance. However it will take a long time to customise any weapon with all the available options.

All unlocks are obtained through the certification system. Simply get two hundred and fifty experience points to earn one certification point. Everything costs a certain amount, but the order of unlocks is entirely your decision. No horrible, set linear progression system which has been the staple of many FPS recently. You can play however you want to earn experience, and then invest your hard earned points how you want.

Sadly this freedom of choice is let down by how the free-to-play economy is set up. Many useful weapons such as lock-on missile launchers cost a lot of certification points; representing a significant time investment. You can certainly have a good time with the default equipment, but unlocking one new weapon can feel like quite a grind.

Now obviously the time investment has to be fairly steep. SOE would like to make some money and they have to encourage players to get out their wallets somehow. So far developers like Riot have led the way by showing how popular purely aesthetic items are to the consumer. And SOE have followed this format somewhat. There’s already an excellent selection of helmets, body armours and camouflage patterns to buy. These will no doubt make a fair bit of money; nevertheless weapons are purchasable and at incredibly steep cash prices. At the moment, the combination of pricing structure and the default equipment comes across as a bit greedy.

So will Planetside 2 expand its player base and thrive in the free-to-play market? Almost certainly, as it offers an FPS experience like no other. Being part of the fight in Planetside is simply epic, both in the scale of combat and how it’s presented. The sound design is excellent, it puts you into a war where explosions are thunderous and gunfire is everywhere. Graphically it will make your PC chug for middling quality. I’ve ended up playing with many settings on low to keep the framerate high. Especially during night fights where gunfire lights up the sky in spectacular displays.

If you want to jump into the action, the game client is available directly from the Planetside 2 website and through Steam. 

Survival of the Fittest: Natural Selection 2

When I first heard about Natural Selection, I thought the concept was a little crazy. Mixing FPS with RTS, Natural Selection 2 is the spawn of Starcraft mating with Unreal Tournament. Players fight across large scale maps as either a Frontiersman or Kharaa. Simply it’s humans against aliens, do you prefer guns or teeth?

The RTS side of the game is the most interesting. There’s one commander per side who locks themselves away in a command structure. They swap their FPS viewpoint for a top down RTS role and gain a new set of abilities. These allow the commander to place structures to expand and upgrade. Whilst also allowing them to give commands to other teammates and dropping them supplies. Taking out the enemy base will stop players from re-spawning after death, leading to success.

Being on the front lines is wildly different for each side. Humans have to rely heavily on their equipment. Starting out with an assault rifle and torch, they are just about a match for the basic alien known as the Skulk. Sticking together is vital; a lone ranger is an easy ambush target. Crucially there is no friendly fire. So as soon as the lead alien leaps out the shadows, you can open fire without fear of hitting a friend. It creates some fantastically frantic gameplay for both sides. Also, backwards movement is quite slow, so you have to commit to entering a room. Scanning the ceiling and vents for any nasty lurking enemies is vital, or you’ll quickly find yourself chewed to pieces.

The mouth-cam of the Kharaa is a curios perspective to play an FPS from. Trying to line up fangs with flesh takes some practice. A glancing nibble deals reduced damage, whereas a solid bite cuts humans to chunks. You’ll spend a lot of time as the Skulk, a fragile, fast moving alien. Its party piece is climbing up walls and ceilings, giving you access to alternative routes and ambushing possibilities. Again it’s an important skill to learn to be an effective Kharaa player. I found it difficult to stick to the ceiling whilst going through bulkheads. I’d often end up falling to the floor in front of Frontiersmen and end up playing the part of living target practice.

Unlike the humans who power up with new weapons and equipment; the alien players evolve into other life forms. Available at the start of the game is the Gorge, a support and construction role. Its main job is to assist the commander by speeding construction with healing breath. It can also place a few defensive structures to slow human players. It would look like an adorable little Hippo if it weren’t for the horrible tentacles growing out of it. The other alien life forms let you take to the skies, play as a phase shifting assassin and spawn as a living battering ram. All upgrades cost you personal resource which is gained from map control and general play.

A good commander is the key to victory. Their priority is to use teammates to secure the resource nodes dotted around the map. These resources drive the teams’ economy, granting quicker access to upgrades, thus gaining the upper hand.  Each side has different base structures which defines the strategy for each team.

The Frontiersman can place structures wherever they please. This allows them to build outposts and hold quiet corners of the map easily. All humans are equipped with a construction tool. Running up to the outline of a building and holding ‘E’ will slowly build the structure. More players will increase the build speed, but you’ll need someone watching your back. A group of distracted humans is dinner on a plate for the aliens. Power is the Frontiersman weakness. If the Kharaa knock out the power source in an area, all buildings stop working and the lights go out! This denies the resource, and creates the perfect environment to use their night vision.

Kharaa are much more limited in their expansion plans. The base has to be linked by a connected line of Cysts. These small glowing orange blobs spread infestation around themselves like a plague. Any structures placed on the infestation will function and grow. But if the Frontiersman break the chain, the infestation will retreat leaving buildings to wither and die.

Controlling the map’s resources and constructing secondary bases is the main plan for both sides. As the game progresses, the resources earned are converted into research and upgrades. This escalates into an arms race as each side aims to get access to its best equipment first. Humans utilise a variety of weapons such as flamethrowers and grenade launchers, as well as jetpacks and devastating mech-suits.

The aliens can evolve into greater life forms, and add to them with unlocked perks. These can allow them to move faster and in silence. On top of that they can gain quick health regeneration enabling some deadly hit and run attacks. Playing as the assassinating Fade, you can move at warp speed when fully evolved. I’ve run straight past targets accidentally due to ridiculous movement and then had to keep going past them to avoid the bullets aimed at my hide.

Overall, the feel of the game is that of a more old-school arena shooter. The reference to Unreal Tournament is very apt due to the fast pace of the game and no iron sights. With a little practice, picking up the FPS role of either side is straight forward. The command role however is very tricky, but equally very rewarding. There’s links to video tutorials within the game which is handy, but it’s a bit annoying to sit through several videos instead of learning through play.

The biggest flaw with the game is that the mechanics lead to a rich-get-richer scenario. When a team is dominating, it becomes impossible to turn a game around through good paly alone. To add to the loosing team’s misery; they have the choice of suicidal attacks, or to sit around and wait for the inevitable. But that is the nature of Nautral Selection 2. To get the most from it, you’ll need to find a server that suits your skill level for more balanced games. The complexity of the game’s mechanics come together to create an interesting, and most importantly fun game. 

To Video!

Recently, I've tried my hand at converting the articles I post here on this blog into a video format. Hopefully this is just the beginning with more to follow, enjoy!

Borderlands 2: Even Shootier!

One hundred and eighty, one hundred and eighty one, a critical hit for two hundred and fifty! Bingo! Destruction! Numbers swarm around your screen like a pack of angry maths Bees in Borderlands 2 and it never gets old. Unfortunately the same can’t be said of the NPCs and objectives they give you.

The sequel has built lightly on the foundations of the original. Tweaking the little things and putting a high polish on the funky fusion of FPS and ARPG. Still set on the planet of Pandora. A fresh group of four vault hunters set out on their quest for riches. Utilising the random weapons and explosives you loot along the way to build your arsenal and take down Handsome Jack. And find the real vault of Pandora.

Handsome Jack is the driving force of the game’s narrative. Having tricked the vault hunters in the first game. He’s now using his power as CEO of the Hyperion Corporation to unlock the real vault. Of course he’s not going to get it all his own way. You quickly become a thorn in his side by escaping his trap to kill any new pesky Vault Hunters. Only to discover a planet ravaged by his efforts. You quickly side with the resistance. The Crimson Lance led by Roland, one of the original Vault Hunters and set about taking Jack down.

Currently there’s only a choice of four characters. Salvador the Gunzerker, Maya the Siren, Axton the commando and Zero the assassin. They are all very familiar in theme to the first game’s characters in that their powers are similar. But this is where Borderlands 2 takes its first step forwards. The old powers were very disruptive to the FPS gameplay, which made them feel as if they had very limited use. The new powers synergise with the FPS nature of the game a lot better; either increasing your firepower or providing damaging support.

However it still suffers from a lack of active actions you can perform. Shooting is the majority of the action, with a few on-kill effects and your class power to liven things up. It would have been nice to see some minor powers thrown into the skill trees, giving the player more tools and active abilities to throw at enemies. Admittedly it would be a push for space on a controller, but it would help with replay-ability.

Another mechanical improvement is the introduction of badass ranks. These replace the old gun levelling system which married you tightly to your favourite gun in a literal shotgun wedding. Now you gain badass points for achieving the mass murder of hostile locals in a variety of ways. Get enough points and you can choose from five random character stats. Each provides a small percentage bonus to gun damage, shield capacity, melee damage etc. The bonuses have diminishing returns to discourage min-maxing.

The scenery also received a much needed upgrade. You’re no longer stuck in a desert environment for hours on end. Instead Borderlands 2 starts in a frozen tundra and within the first few hours of gameplay, the story takes you through other settings. Each of the new locations fits well with the cell shaded aesthetic.

The sequel makes further improvements over the first game. Most notable is the ridiculousness of the guns. The designers have clearly had a lot of fun coming up with new designs. The combinations of gun parts the game generates keeps providing moments of looting glee. There’s a lot more variety within the gun types as well, so you have a choice to make between guns. Do I go for the assault rifle that’s masquerading as a mini-gun, or the high power single shot for the tougher enemies? And these moments keep happening throughout the game, although the start is still a case of pick the one with biggest numbers.

If only the same variety could be found in your quests. The vast majority can be categorised into kill this and fetch that. Even worse, quests that make you back track through weaker enemies. After doing a few, I found they served little purpose. They weren’t even entertaining distractions. It was just a check-list of things to do, which exposed the shallowness of the experience. When you notice you’re doing tasks that pad-out the game, the numbers driving the ARPG side of the game take over. Everything you do simply pushes up arbitrary bars until you’re awesome enough to progress.

The problem would be muted if the minor NPCs actually did anything interesting. After a usually dramatic introduction with a funky splash screen, they promptly hand you their first list of chores. If they had back pockets, you’d see a whole wad of them stuffed in there. It would be nice if they actually played an active part in the quests they gave. I’d love to go out in the world and box some locals with Sir Hammerlock, but no; he just stands in Moxxi’s bar not even drinking. Barking fairly polite orders at you over the radio.

Thankfully the major NPCs aren’t quite so unanimated. Every now and then plot allows some of them to join in the fun. Handsome Jack steals the show as the best written character. His lines strike the right balance between the silliness of the world, and atrocious acts of evil. Brilliantly voice acted by Dameon Clarke. You get the sense that every line is delivered with a sadistic smile.

Ultimately Borderlands 2 is still a game that is best enjoyed in multiplayer. Playing solo is ok, but after a while you do get tired of all the enemies shooting you. Having allies makes the combat a lot more satisfying, hiding the monotony of the gameplay. It also allows you to get something out the equipment and skills with team benefits. If only the game was designed to let characters at different levels join the same game. You can always join a friend at low level, but you’ll be able to kill everything with a single melee attack. The game sticks to rigidly to a levelling system. Borderlands 2 is a high quality game, but if the series wants to progress for good to great. Quests and multiplayer need a big overhaul.

Blacklight: Retribution

Blacklight: Retribution is an interesting free-to-play (F2P) FPS that has recently made its way to Steam. Developed by Zombie Studios and released in April this year; it adds to the growing library of excellent F2P games available on PC.

As an entirely multiplayer game, there is no story. Set in the near future, two teams of up to eight players fight over various locations in different game modes. Currently the game includes a standard set of objectives such as Team Deathmatch and King of the Hill. But also has other modes such as Netwar, which requires players to hold set locations whilst capturing a randomly spawning flag. The server filters in the lobby are extensive, allowing you to quickly find a server running your preferred map or game mode.

When you log in for the first time, the game prompts you run through the tutorial. It covers the basic controls as well as being a handy point to fine tune various control settings. At the end it introduces the equipment you will be able to use in battle.

As you kill your opponents and take objectives you earn Combat Points which you can spend on the equipment. Using the Hard Suit mini-mech is a lot of fun. It’s armed with both a minigun and a rail gun making it extremely powerful. But with its poor manoeuvrability, the pilot is vulnerable to enemies using hit and run attacks. The flamethrower is an excellent counter-weapon; able to cook the pilot inside without causing too much damage, leaving behind the Hard Suit for you to steal.

The Hyper Reality Visor (HRV) is a key feature of the game, which combined with the equipment, makes the game stand out in the crowded FPS market. It allows a quick glimpse of the battlefield, highlighting all players and objectives. After each use there’s a long recharge, but it really alters the dynamic of the genre.

I often find myself using it to flank opponents, calculating a safe route to my target. It also highlights players using stealth, allowing you a chance to counter before their surprise assault. It’s easy to become dependent on HRV, using it to check every corner before sticking your head out. But it does lead to some awkward situations, as it takes a frantic second to swap back to normal vision. On many occasions I used HRV only to discover someone just round the corner, leaving me hopping around like a madman trying to dodge incoming fire whilst fumbling for a gun.

The overall balance of the game is excellent. There are various viable builds such as fast melee, close range SMG, through to that sniper who always manages to headshot you from the other side of the map. I find close range fire-fights to be especially satisfying. The fast move speed of characters leads to wild sprays of bullets, often ending in close knife fights with the victor scrambling to reload before their next encounter.

This is down to the well designed in-game economy. At the end of each match you earn GP based on your performance. This can be spent on weapon parts, body armour and gear; either to rent for a few days at a cheap price, or to unlock permanently. There are a lot of options. Each weapon is broken down into individual parts such as barrel, stock, sights and receiver. The receiver defines the weapon type: assault rifle, revolver, light machinegun which you then tailor to your preference. Detailed stats are provided allowing you to tweak everything ‘till you get a weapon Goldilocks would be proud of.

Unfortunately you don’t get access to all the options when you start. Some of the more exotic equipment is locked until you reach a high enough level. I’m not against including levelling systems, but they are over used in FPS games. Zombie Studios has used it as opportunity to give free rental equipment as you level; which is nice reward and sensible promotion tool.

All the aesthetic customisation except the emblem is bought with real money. Your emblem is used to distinguish yourself on the scoreboard as well as appearing as a snazzy badge on your character. You can purchase camouflage for both your character and weapons. Also there is a large range of taunt animations and voice packs.

The art direction is superb. Although the setting is the standard grey-brown future we have come to expect from this generation. It’s brought alive by the striking orange and teal colour scheme of the HRV view. There’s only one problem, headshots are ridiculously gratuitous. Despite the helmets appearing to be very sturdy pieces of armour, they are in fact balloons protecting your water melon of a head. A single shot can leave a bloody stump of neck with a nice bit of spine showing. Zombie Studious did develop the Saw games; but they didn’t need to bring the gore here.

The inclusion of female character models sees Blacklight taking a big stride ahead of the rest of the genre. A reflection of changing attitudes within the industry to the growth in the female gaming demographic.

Blacklight: Retribution is definitely a stand-out F2P title, worthy of downloading by anyone looking for an FPS. The real question is if Zombie Studios can keep adding content, and grow the player base as Planetside 2 moves closer to release.