Let me just clear this up before you continue reading. The version they had at PAX was not complete, the game is still in beta, and I am sure they are going to take all of the feedback that was given to improve the game. There is also a private beta to start fairly soon so be sure to check it out for yourself. The opinions expressed here are simply from the experience had during PAX East 11, and its likely to change once the beta and/or the game is fully released. Developed by Red 5 Studios and scheduled to come out during Q4 of 2011, The game is going to be FREE TO PLAY! Click on the continue reading button for more info and more details to the experience had while playing FireFall!
Now don’t get me wrong – The game is visually amazing, and the game play was solid. They had the game set up to play a tournament of around 16 players. This booth became an instant favorite due to the massive display and the loud sounds all around it. Every time a match was over they would show the score up on the screen as if you were watching a sports game. There was a video playing during the down time as well which showed what I want to say was the single player/co-op mode of the game. At one point there are characters gliding from up a mountain which looked visually stunning. For everyone into PC Gaming, this game will likely be a must get, I mean the game will be free anyways. The only time you will have to pay for something will be when you want to buy some exclusive items from their marketplace.
So by now you might be wondering, why would it fail? First lets get into how the game play is. The game plays very similar to Monday Night Combat, in the sense that you have two teams spawn in the same spot, inside of a building (your base) in which enemies cannot get into. Here is where the problem started, there are only two exits from your base, and when there is a massive hoard of enemies in your base just waiting for you to exit, you are bound to get pissed off at not being able to enjoy the game! A good 75% of the time I was just trying to leave the base and just take a few of them out before I got killed off.
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Not fun! Something else added into this game was the “downed” mechanic from Gears of War, where you have to finish your opponent off after you down them, you have to go to the body and execute it (for bonus points) if not, the player who was down has a count down timer in which they have to wait for a medic, or let the timer run out to be able to respawn. Anyway, the rest of the time, which only occurred as soon as I started playing was trying to find the enemy! Now I get it, it was the first time playing and the maps are massive so its nearly impossible to know where to go right off the bat, but even after a few rounds…I still felt lost.Before you go saying, “Oh you just got pwned!”, “Deal with it!”, “you suck!”, etc… I bring you Round 2! The second time around into playing the game, I went in with the mindset of, “This better not happen again!” And sure enough, it didn’t!
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At least, it didn’t happen to my team! So there we are, camping their base. Poor bastards didn’t even know what hit them. This time around I played a medic and every time someone dropped, I went in to pick them up. No killing my battle buddies! Such an unfair advantage. The score was brutal and I just didn’t want to play any more. It was fun this time around but then again it was just bullying those other players like I was just bullied before.Overall the entire situation could be avoided if your playing with a well balanced team of people who actually know how to play, for the majority of the people there, it was the first time anyone has played the game so a lot of learning had to be done, and swiftly at that! Once people got the hang of what to do and how, it became a fun game! Can’t wait for it to come out!
For more information on Firefall, visit Firefall The Game
and don’t forget to register for beta: Firefall BETA Registration
