The beta is very limited in terms of depth. The entire night I’ve played in the Kabul City Ruins. The environment is pretty intense with animation. All around there are mortar explosions and buildings reduced to crumble with far off gunfire. Everything is alive. There is a constant stream of litter flying around on the streets, helping to confuse gamers with enemy movement. The banners hung outside the broken down shops of Kabul are flapping with the wind of the force from the shells falling all around.
Folks, you could not ask for a more alive environment in a game.
With that said, the space is very limited. You’ve basically got a crosshairs section of the city to run around in. You can climb up buildings, ruins, fallen awnings; basically anything that looks climbable or looks accessable is just that. While limited in size the map does have multiple levels to travel amongst three to four buildings. Each one has an advantage and disadvantage. So that sniper in your group that is use to finding a hiding spot and camping out isn’t going to have a comfortable time. That’s not to say that there isn’t a spot on the map where a sniper could be comfortable, but they are few and far between.
For me, this map was a great taste of what’s to come. I’ve seen and played in the desert mountainous areas in this Medal of Honor. Kabul is a tiny drop of space compared to that map. EA just gives players enough in the beta with Kabul to intrigue any first-person shooter fan into wondering what the next level is going to be.
Moving along, there are some neat things that EA has done to put a little bit more detail into their fps. The character models are pretty nicely done. Are they God of War III good? No, at least not in this version. They’re probably par if not slightly ahead of what Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was sporting. There’s enough detail to understand which side is which, and to understand the specific roles of the soldier. So, for example, if you’re a sniper then you’re going to look like a sniper. If you’re special ops then you’re going to be armored up. If you’re a grunt then you’re really going to be armored up with full gear because you’re going in first.
The details are sharp and crisp and easily seen from a distance.
As for the animation, I’ve found it to be quite pleasing for a game that is nearly five months from being released. The players don’t move stiffly or mechanically; rather the movements are smooth and logical. If you have a guy carrying a rocket launcher he isn’t going to be go flull sprint; rather he is going to account for that weapon. The movement of the legs, the placement of the arms, all of this is accurate.
The weapons, as you can imagine, are limited on both the insurgent and military sides. EA is certainly playing this game close to the chest and I can’t blame them. With this beta there you get specialty items like the sniper rifle and rocket launcher. Beyond the usual, you don’t get to see a variety of weapons. There is enough here to keep your entertained and intrigued.
As for the gameplay, it’s nearly identical in nature to how you play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The controls are essentially the same (yay!) with some very minor tweaks. One in particular is the absence of lying down to snipe people. Jordan West, my CoD expert, was pointing this out frustratingly. It would be great to be able to lie down and fire a sniper rifle, but understandable in the Kabul scenario. There’s clearly not enough space to work with hiding down on the ground. Will this be an option by October 12th? Maybe, but it would be a nice option to have nonetheless.
Other points to note about this beta:
– Currently there are three modes available: Any game, mission and team play
– Any game is just what it is — any game. You’re asking for a mission immediately.
– Mission based is just what it sounds like. Think of an online campaign and you get ‘mission’ based.
– Team play is for the coop lover in you.
– There is a new update for the beta that is 238mb big, not sure what that is about, but it could have something to do with the new firmware update.
Right now I’m thoroughly impressed with what EA has put together. They look to csontend, and possibly dethrone, with Activision’s Call of Duty series, which has just completely owned the fps world. EA is very much on the right track and if they can get their offline and online play on the same page with the same amount of detail and depth then they could possibly pull off an upset. Time will certainly tell.
Anyway, I’ll try to keep this updated as I play more of the beta and keep you all informed. Until then, lock and load!