Ifafudafi
February 5th, 2010, 09:22 PM
So this probably hasn't been on many people's radars, but there's a multiplayer demo available on Steam (maybe Xbox Live/PSN but :pcgaming: so who cares).
Shit actually looks a bit promising. Control is clunky and laggy lag is laggy, but the premise is a least fresh for those who weren't born prior to 1999. The demo is limited to an 8 player deathmatch (you can still choose whatever race you want though) and you can only use the predetermined console-style matchmaking, although Rebellion says that the full version of the game has dedicated servers.
Marines play like an okay-but-not-really-good shooter, although the clunkiness is probably just lag. This will be the most comfortable race to play as in order to get used to the game's general feel. The one real difference is that you can hold the melee button to block Alien and Predator melee attacks, following up with a counterswing of your rifle and a ton of bullets. Combined with the classic Alien motion tracker, Marines are near unassailable from the front providing their aim and reflexes aren't shit, but they have absolutely no way to see or defend themselves from behind. Health uses a Condemned/Far Cry 2/Ass Creed 2 style segmented regeneration method; you have three blocks which will regenerate if partially depleted, but you have to use a stimpack to get back a completely empty block. You spawn with a pulse rifle and a pistol; the weapons available to pick up in the demo map are a shotgun (with HL-style doubleshot for secondary fire), a scoped sniper rifle (6 shot semi-auto), a flamethrower (shit), and an auto lock-on minigun.
Predators have many more unique features, but still play at least something like a FPS. You can switch between normal vision, thermal vision (highlights humans) and alien vision (higlights Xenomorphs), cloak, and jump to high ledges, and you can use a short, fast sprint to get away from a Marine shooting at you. You only spawn with claws as weapons; Mouse1 is a light attack (this is fast but weak and can be blocked) and Mouse2 is a heavy attack (more powerful and has Halo style lunge but takes a while.) You can pick up four weapons (Plasmacaster, Spear, Disc, and something else I haven't used), which are armed and fired with Mouse3. But more importantly, if you get in a few hits with your melee or sneak up behind somebody else, you can perform a wonderfully gory instakill. For example, you can jam your claws into a Marine and rip his head out with the spinal cord still dangling, or grab an Alien's extendo-tounge, rip it out, and beat it over the head. Health uses a static, non-regenerating bar, but you can use an instaheal at any time at the cost of your energy pool, which also powers weapons.
Aliens are fucking weird. Your only three attacks are (like the Predator) a light attack, heavy attack, and a pounce, and you die with just a few hits or bullets, but Aliens can get from one place to another more quickly than either race. Holding Mouse3 (or setting Auto-crawl on in the options) allows you to climb and run along any suface. This is very disorienting; the crosshair will point in the direction of the ground, but climbing takes considerable practice before you can hop between surfaces smoothly. Your sprint also allows you to dash at ludicrous speeds, allowing you to get away from or close the distance on enemies almost instantneously. If you're a good Alien, all the kills you'll be getting should be from-the-back stealth kills, which are also satisfyingly gory (slice the front of a rival Alien's face off, or get a first-person extendo-tounge camera as you jam it into somebody's skull.) Aliens can move quickly and quietly, but are absolutely defenseless at range at still weak in straight up melee combat; a hit from a Marine's rifle butt will knock you on the ground and leave your ass exposed to bullets, and a Predator simply has more health. The Alien's own health regenerates slowly over time.
The default control mappings are fucking stupid imho (Q is sprint, for example), the UI is an obviously awkward console port, graphics are pretty good but not that great (particle effects are shit,) and again, the demo doesn't have dedicated servers. But providing you get into a good match, it's still pretty got dang fun.
Anyone tried this out?
E: Oh, and the full version will also have DX11 support for anybody who cares, although I doubt it'll make much of a difference.
Shit actually looks a bit promising. Control is clunky and laggy lag is laggy, but the premise is a least fresh for those who weren't born prior to 1999. The demo is limited to an 8 player deathmatch (you can still choose whatever race you want though) and you can only use the predetermined console-style matchmaking, although Rebellion says that the full version of the game has dedicated servers.
Marines play like an okay-but-not-really-good shooter, although the clunkiness is probably just lag. This will be the most comfortable race to play as in order to get used to the game's general feel. The one real difference is that you can hold the melee button to block Alien and Predator melee attacks, following up with a counterswing of your rifle and a ton of bullets. Combined with the classic Alien motion tracker, Marines are near unassailable from the front providing their aim and reflexes aren't shit, but they have absolutely no way to see or defend themselves from behind. Health uses a Condemned/Far Cry 2/Ass Creed 2 style segmented regeneration method; you have three blocks which will regenerate if partially depleted, but you have to use a stimpack to get back a completely empty block. You spawn with a pulse rifle and a pistol; the weapons available to pick up in the demo map are a shotgun (with HL-style doubleshot for secondary fire), a scoped sniper rifle (6 shot semi-auto), a flamethrower (shit), and an auto lock-on minigun.
Predators have many more unique features, but still play at least something like a FPS. You can switch between normal vision, thermal vision (highlights humans) and alien vision (higlights Xenomorphs), cloak, and jump to high ledges, and you can use a short, fast sprint to get away from a Marine shooting at you. You only spawn with claws as weapons; Mouse1 is a light attack (this is fast but weak and can be blocked) and Mouse2 is a heavy attack (more powerful and has Halo style lunge but takes a while.) You can pick up four weapons (Plasmacaster, Spear, Disc, and something else I haven't used), which are armed and fired with Mouse3. But more importantly, if you get in a few hits with your melee or sneak up behind somebody else, you can perform a wonderfully gory instakill. For example, you can jam your claws into a Marine and rip his head out with the spinal cord still dangling, or grab an Alien's extendo-tounge, rip it out, and beat it over the head. Health uses a static, non-regenerating bar, but you can use an instaheal at any time at the cost of your energy pool, which also powers weapons.
Aliens are fucking weird. Your only three attacks are (like the Predator) a light attack, heavy attack, and a pounce, and you die with just a few hits or bullets, but Aliens can get from one place to another more quickly than either race. Holding Mouse3 (or setting Auto-crawl on in the options) allows you to climb and run along any suface. This is very disorienting; the crosshair will point in the direction of the ground, but climbing takes considerable practice before you can hop between surfaces smoothly. Your sprint also allows you to dash at ludicrous speeds, allowing you to get away from or close the distance on enemies almost instantneously. If you're a good Alien, all the kills you'll be getting should be from-the-back stealth kills, which are also satisfyingly gory (slice the front of a rival Alien's face off, or get a first-person extendo-tounge camera as you jam it into somebody's skull.) Aliens can move quickly and quietly, but are absolutely defenseless at range at still weak in straight up melee combat; a hit from a Marine's rifle butt will knock you on the ground and leave your ass exposed to bullets, and a Predator simply has more health. The Alien's own health regenerates slowly over time.
The default control mappings are fucking stupid imho (Q is sprint, for example), the UI is an obviously awkward console port, graphics are pretty good but not that great (particle effects are shit,) and again, the demo doesn't have dedicated servers. But providing you get into a good match, it's still pretty got dang fun.
Anyone tried this out?
E: Oh, and the full version will also have DX11 support for anybody who cares, although I doubt it'll make much of a difference.