Of those 3 games listed, only one really fits all of your criteria.
SOCOM: Confrontation. Of the 3 games I believe it is the only one where respawn is turned off by default, and all ranked games are non-respawn. Having said that, SOCOM is a third person online shooter, not first person.
I'm Australian. All our military has done since Vietnam is make housing for third worlders. Sort of like a work for unemployment benefits, but you get to carry around guns that are crap and you aren't allowed to use them.
I would say Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Its really one of those tactical shooters thats actually really good and, sometimes, extremely fun. Its also first person, but theres a cheat to make it third person.
socom would likely be the closest to what you are looking for currently .. the new codemasters operation flashpoint( or something liek that ) , from what ive heard, is sounding like hte game youll be looking for
socom would likely be the closest to what you are looking for currently .. the new codemasters operation flashpoint( or something liek that ) , from what ive heard, is sounding like hte game youll be looking for
Yeah, I've heard of that one! I am looking forward to it. A lot. It is supposed to be a serious shooter. I'm just wondering what the online will be like. I keep looking out for news on it.
Thanks for all the advice. I've ordered Rainbow Six Vegas 2.
Also, one thing I keep thinking of with online play is more co-op type ones - where you are just against an AI enemy. That'd be OK too, but not as difficult as real opponents (except for maybe quantity over quality)
"Flashpoint is as close to war as you'd want to get. It's a game that will make you feel the fear of going to battle".
So begins our introduction to the first proper hands-on with Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, the long-awaited follow-up to one of the most realistic first-person shooters ever released.
It's certainly a bold statement – is it really possible to feel proper fear when playing a videogame? – but one that should help assuage fan concern following the Flashpoint series' move from Bohemia to Codemasters' internal studio.
Having already been given a flavour of the game last month, the focus for this hands-on was to show off how Dragon Rising is different from other squad-based shooters and how Codemasters has spent the last four years developing an engine and artificial intelligence that promises to change the way we play military games.
"Up until now, there's been no such thing as artificial intelligence in games, it's just a series of scripts", boldly proclaims Clive Lindop, lead AI and game designer.
"As a developer you set soldier X to react when something triggers Y, causing target A to pop out from cover and so on." The problem with this system, he suggests, is that - over time - players learn the rule sets of the game and can predict how the enemy will react.
"In Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising there really is an artificial intelligence – it's not HAL and it doesn't learn, but it does make for an experience unlike anything you'd played before." Another bold statement, but one Lindop is keen to demonstrate by loading up one of the simpler missions in the game.
Playing through a couple of times, he demonstrates how the player really is part of a living world that's forever changing depending on the choices they make.
Beginning on the brow of a hill with the sun setting slowly over the horizon, our initial objective was to seize control of two enemy control points, the first of which was located at the bottom of the valley directly in front of us.
Before moving off, Lindop explained that any kind of 'traditional' videogame approach to the scenario would result in certain death. Obviously, Dragon Rising is no Gears of War and is even far more strategic than other team-based shooters like Ghost Recon, so a frontal assault on an enemy position would result in a quick, bloody death.
Instead you need to think like you're in the military: the enemy reacts to sight and sound so you'll have to move silently and slowly using cover where possible – rattle off a shot and everyone within earshot will be alerted, intensifying their patrols and sweeping the vast island in teams until they pin down your location.
For the purposes of this demonstration, however, we keep our machine guns on safety for the time being and edge further down the hill towards first goal, a small encampment with three enemy soldiers in open view.
Gaining an advantage over your enemy before bullets start flying is just as important as staying on your toes in the middle of a fire-fight so, silently, we order our three team members to spread out and surround the base but hold off firing until they receive the green light.
At this point it's worth highlighting that Codemasters has simplified the command system to work quickly and efficiently on both PC keyboards and console controllers, with the D-pad and aiming reticule working together to issue context-sensitive orders.
For example, highlight an area of open ground and you're presented with the option to move or lay down suppressing fire; pinpoint a sandbag wall and using the same command will make your teammates duck for cover.
That's not to say they're stupid though - your comrades will only carry out orders if the risk is within reason.
Order them out of cover and into a fire-fight and they'll flatly refuse, but they're not so artificially smart they they'll never get caught out by an enemy that's just as clever as they are.
Staying camouflaged is key to your survival.
Back to the battle and our first encounter is a perfect example of how clever the enemy really is. Having reached a suitable attacking position, the order to open fire is given and, moments later, the three enemy troops fall to the ground in a hail of short, controlled gunfire bursts.
However, with the silence broken, we're warned it's only a matter of time before nearby patrols close in to investigate. As we quickly find out, you have to move fast and watch your back in order to survive in Dragon Rising.
The jog down to the encampment is a short and uneventful one but that doesn't stop us from keeping an eye on the horizon, just in case.
What we didn't expect, however, was an attack from a different angle entirely. You see, when you riddle an enemy with bullets in Call of Duty they'll slump to the floor dead but, in Dragon Rising, it's not just the number of times you hit them that counts, it's also where you hit them. Only a critical hit will make them stay down and a bullet in the gut or limb, while seriously affecting how they operate or even incapacitating them, won't take them out of action completely.
That's something we found out for ourselves when, entering the first enemy camp, we ducked behind a sandbag wall only to be confronted by the bloodied face of any enemy aiming an AK-47 at the team-mate standing next to us.
A split-second later and a hole has been blown in his stomach and he slumps to the ground, blood soaking his combat fatigues. There's no time to take in Flashpoint's special effects though and we finish the job we started earlier by methodically taking care of the enemy patrol by firing slugs in their now-motionless corpses.
When a man goes down, you're presented with a choice – do you waste time patching him up (they won't magically come back to life at the end of a mission like other games) or move on.
Our guy is pretty seriously hurt and within minutes he'll bleed to death, and while we're positioned near enough to administer medication, the shouts from reinforcements closing in is enough to stir our troops into action and move out...
Only we've left it too long and, the second we pop our heads out from behind the sandbags, we're shot at. In a flash, the enemy spreads out further, pinning the entire squad down.
Simply hitting an enemy isn't always enough to ensure they stay down.
Moments like this occur all the time in Flashpoint and you only have a split-second to decide the best course of action. With shouts and gunfire coming from the front and right we decide to push left to a tree-line 30 yards away.
Scrabbling on our stomachs to avoid stray shots, the three remaining soldiers in our squad make a dash for the trees as the enemy closes in from behind.
But, just as it looks like our strategy has worked, the bushes ahead are lit up with muzzle flash. Sensing trouble, the squad of enemy reinforcements split into three groups to flush us out, setting up a trap we walked right into. A hail of gunfire later and it's all over.
Anyone familiar with the first Flashpoint games will no doubt be pleased that our somewhat brutal first skirmish proves Codemasters hasn't dumbed down the series for the console generation, nor has it stripped away any of the realism to make it accessible to the masses.
What Codemasters has done is streamlined the experience, not just for Xbox 360 and PS3 but also for PC, making a more polished product that has a more natural (but still challenging) learning curve while retaining all of the hallmarks that made the original games so popular.
As mentioned above, Codemasters is attempting to recreate the fear of fighting on a real battlefield, one where a single bullet literally does mean the difference between life and death.
At the heart of this level of realism is AI that really does make for a different game every time you play – something we witnessed when we attempted the same level a second time.
To test the intelligence of the enemy we adopted a similar approach to the mission as before, albeit moving more cautiously and swinging further to the side of the first enemy camp to improve our angle of attack.
The initial encounter played out more smoothly, having learned from our mistakes and ensured each enemy is KIAed before moving on. We then pushed quickly onto the next objective, splitting the team so two men branched left into the tree-line and two to the right, led by us, up a steep hill.
Within seconds, the team to the left were reporting sightings of the enemy – the same group that brought us down before – but because we'd attacked from a different angle their approach was also different.
Still using trees and foliage for cover, they moved toward the first base as one group but were slower off the mark this time round, enabling us to get to the dense tree-line first and pin them down in relatively open ground.
Taking the bull by the horns, we moved the second team further around to the side and, switching to single shot for greater accuracy, made light work of the reinforcements. Only we hadn't taken out all of the enemy patrols, just a couple and more were closing in our position fast.
A poorly timed reload could leave you open to attack unless you're in cover.
The battle for the first camp obviously alerted an initial batch of enemy soldiers but a second unit from further up the coast had also been called in. No sooner had we dealt with the conflict in front than our team mates were calling in sightings from behind.
A quick glance to the rear revealed a patrol of three enemies who'd swept down toward the first encampment but then changed course following noise from the second skirmish. While they hadn't spotted us – thankfully US night-vision has greater range than the enemy's and our camouflage proved extremely effective in the low-light conditions – but it wouldn't be long before we were spotted.
Turning and aiming silently, the solider on point hit the dirt with the first bullet, causing the remaining two to drop to the ground and open fire.
A lucky shot took out another enemy but the tide turned when one of our team mates took a slug, his condition monitor on the HUD switching to red to depict his status.
As shots were fired, the shouts of more enemies could be heard in the distance, demonstrating that while your path across Dragon Rising's vast island is split into missions, your actions will cause different reactions which impact on how a mission pans out.
Make a racket while moving across the battlefield and you'll attract the attention of the enemy more so than moving quietly.
Naturally there are limitations – you won't be surrounded by tanks and attack helicopters if you mess up on the first mission – but you really are forced to think through every move and, in turn, work to counter what you think the enemy's reaction will be.
From the hour-long mission we played through, we certainly witnessed a glimpse of how Dragon Rising will offer a realistic military experience – and it really is a military experience rather than a standard shooter, so much so Codemasters that drafted in the expertise of real-life marines to test out the tactics the enemies use, the equipment found on the battlefield and, of course, to bring the horrors of the battlefield to life.
Is it enough to instill fear in anyone who plays it? Maybe not, but it's certainly one of the grittiest, most realistic shooters ever to hit PC, let alone console. "
Wow, that is indeed the sort of game I'm waiting for.
Also, I bought Rainbow 6 Vegas 2. Still waiting for the frigging game to arrive. Over a frigging month. I'm getting sick of online stores that use some OTHER COUNTRIES stupid third party mail forwarding service to ship mail. Sick of it.
Wow, that is indeed the sort of game I'm waiting for.
Also, I bought Rainbow 6 Vegas 2. Still waiting for the frigging game to arrive. Over a frigging month. I'm getting sick of online stores that use some OTHER COUNTRIES stupid third party mail forwarding service to ship mail. Sick of it.
05-06-2009, 09:40 PM
Online Shooters like AA:O
Similar Threads
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Linear Mode
