OFP2 out this week

[viperbri]

I am going to reserve my judgment until I play the game (pre-ordered from Amazon...still haven't shipped yet...little upset about that). However I will say I was (and still am) a huge fan of the original OFP and the add-on community is incredible. Add-ons still being made for the original game (and it is almost 8 years old).

I did see ACTUAL gameplay video (PC version) and it looks great so I don't see the point above mentioned about "BS gameplay footage" being released, maybe they did early on in development but I have seen ACTUAL game play footage over the last couple weeks that doesn't look like BS (either that or they went to great lengths to stage the game play footage...which why spend the resources to do that).

In summary, I look forward to playing it and will reserve my judgment until I actually have my own game play footage to gauge my opinion by.

I agree with stumben32...if you are a run and gun only kinda guy who likes the COD series then this game IS NOT for you. I happen to like both genres and enjoy the COD series just as equally as OFP/ARMA2. I have burned many hours on both genres.

 

[Coldkilla]

Originally posted by: minmaster
can't be worse than arma2.

lol.. yes it can. If this game is a glorified BF2 + Cod that is geared towards "action packed fun", like I suspect it will be, then it is not a true successor to OFP.

I apologize for such negativity, but as the years have gone by my faith in this game has deteriorated by the day.

 

[OCGuy]

Its on Steam now.


No dedicated MP servers + arcadish feel


Probably wont be getting it. Too many good games out/coming out in the next few months.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Originally posted by: Sentrosi2121

Originally posted by: skyofavalon
Looks like its back to Battlefield 2 for the ump-teenth time. Shit fps after shit fps year after year. Battlefield 3 cant come soon enough

LOL @ Battlefield 3 honks. Listen, when you start building a castle with shit, you'll eventually HAVE your castle, but it will still be built with shit. This is why I don't own a single EA title. After I played Battlefield2 for 4 months, I got so sick of it I had a friend of mine take it out to the shooting range and put a couple of slugs into the case and CDs. I didn't want to think of the children who could possibly play this game and swallow the EA purple Kool-Aid. Better to sacrifice the software than the hardware.

You're a moron TBH. There are tons of great titles published by EA from some of the best development studios in the world. Not playing a game because you don't like the publisher is like not watching The Sopranos because you have an axe to grind with the channel it's being shown on.

 

[darom]

stumben32, I am going to look at some 'official sites'' reviews on this game, but I am genuinely interested in your opinion on:
- game latency
- spawn camping bugs (how does the game manage spawn points, people dieing etc.)
- people speed moving around the map? In original OFP, it took a long time to move across the map unless someone gave you a ride in a helicopter.
- how is the commander chosen? A simple vote of teammates or at random?
- vehicle driving/flying complexity
- destruction of buildings/vehicles (grenade spam in BF2 comes to mind to blow up a tank). If you don't have a ground-air Stinger, can you take out a chopper? How many rifle ammo hits does it take to shoot it down?

and

- is there a single player campaign?

Thanks!

 

[stumben32]

good questions, tell ya what ill post a more thought out mini review and answer thosr questions after I play more.

but, fun moment last night....annoying helicopter gunship last night, we kept taking shots at it with m16, m4. finally my buddy hit it near the propeller and it came crashing down. was pretty cool. so maybe a little easier than one would expect but saving ammo is a concern.

 

[Infohawk]

Has anyone on anandtech actually played it?

 

[fatpat268]

Originally posted by: Infohawk
Has anyone on anandtech actually played it?

I'm interested in buying it, but I have to play a demo first.

It's awfully similar to ARMAII, and while I love Arma II and the original OPF, I'm not going to but it on namesake alone.

 

[pontifex]

I couldn't even finish the training missions in ARMA 2. That game sucks.

 

[novasatori]

Originally posted by: darom
stumben32, I am going to look at some 'official sites'' reviews on this game, but I am genuinely interested in your opinion on:
- game latency
- spawn camping bugs (how does the game manage spawn points, people dieing etc.)
- people speed moving around the map? In original OFP, it took a long time to move across the map unless someone gave you a ride in a helicopter.
- how is the commander chosen? A simple vote of teammates or at random?
- vehicle driving/flying complexity
- destruction of buildings/vehicles (grenade spam in BF2 comes to mind to blow up a tank). If you don't have a ground-air Stinger, can you take out a chopper? How many rifle ammo hits does it take to shoot it down?

and

- is there a single player campaign?

Thanks!

latency seems terrible - there are no dedicated servers and people try to host with too many people for their connection

best I've had so far is about 250ms with 32 people

spawn camping can be bad at times, seems to have a cod type system where you spawn near your allies, sometimes without cover so you can die repeatedly to snipers if they have a good point on your spawn area

no idea about commanders or vehicles yet, can barely get any games going the lag is so bad

also haven't played SP

 

[novasatori]

Ok so I played a decent 8v8 where I had a 50ms ping.

I shot down a heli with about 8 shots from a HMMWV 50 cal and then died when the enemy started respawning behind us and I promptly respawned behind them and killed a bunch of them.

Driving the M1A1 and HMMWV seemed pretty good, you HAVE to have a gunner and driver for all the vehicles, no drive and shoot like in other games, in case anyone wondered.

The respawning seems to be the worst I've seen yet in a FPS - it literally seems almost random, you can die 8 min into a match near the center of the map then spawn WAY on the opposite side of the opposing team spawn point, and flank them all with ease.

Oh yeah, when I shot down the helicopter, it didn't explode it kinda just bounced, not sure if I hit the pilot or what... I'll try to play some more and report back

 

[viperbri]

Hey novastori. Thanks for the update. Any report on graphics look and feel and any lag?

I just got notice that my shipment from Amazon on it is delayed another week. Looks like I am going to cancel it and get it off Steam.

 

[darom]

Thanks for the input, guys. I wish they have implemented a better 'smarter' re-spawn logic in the game.

How was the single player campaign?

 

[mwmorph]

Is everyone having horrible expriences with this game? I mean looking at reviews, it looks like a very solid to excellent game.
http://www.metacritic.com/game...flashpointdragonrising

It seems like the Console reviewers are saying this game is too difficult while PC reviews are saying it feels right.

 

[jtvang125]

Played the first SP mission last night. First thing I noticed was the graphics. It was ok but not great and I had everything on high at 1920x1200 with 4AA and 8AF. I also immediately noticed a sepia like color tone but it could just be that the mission was taking place at dusk but the effect was poorly done. Your team character models look horrible as well as the vehicles in this first mission. Most likely due to it being a console port.

AI seems pretty good. Your team and enemy will take cover when fired upon. A good thing is that the enemy doesn't see you from a mile away prone behind a bush like in Arma2. The command interface is pretty bad. While issuing a command if you go into the wrong section you can't go back to the previous. You have to start all over from the beginning. Also after you issue a command it doesn't close automatically so there's going to be a lot times when you'll want to move right after issuing the command but will accidentally issue another because you press one of the WASD keys with the command menu still up. Gets pretty frustrating in the heat of battle.

Overall if you're expecting the tension, great atmosphere, and realism of the first OFP you'll be disappointed. Even with all the problems with Arma2 it still retained more roots of the first OFP.

 

[ZzZGuy]

Any word on what DRM the retail version will have? Looking at OFP2's steam page there is no DRM listed (*cough*risen3machinelimit*cough*), but I'll be damned if I can find anything from google on what the retail version has.

 

[razor2025]

I played a bit of SP and is generally disappointed. Graphics-wise, it suffers from console-port syndrome, colors are washed out, models looks terrible, and lack of high-res textures. All of the symptoms of underpowered GPU on consoles compared to up-to-date desktop GPU. Environment was also very bland. I know it's not set on tropical island, but geez, not a single trace of life in the whole island.

The AI had ups and downs. The enemy AI seems pretty smart, as they would flank and take cover without looking too-scripted. However, your own teammate's AI is simply appalling. For example, I would issue a "heal teammate" order to another AI member. The wounded would run around while the medic runs along with him with the needle out...

Game-play wise, it's pretty shoddy. The biggest beef I have with the SP is lack of epic-feel and ANY customizability of your loadout. Why am I stuck with a CQB M-16 on a mission that requires me to run out in a wide terrain? I found myself looting corpse to find the right weapon. The game also feels really lackluster. I've played 4 SP missions now, and did not find any moment where I was amazed. Example, on the beach push mission, they spawn only a squad worth of marines + 2 AAVPs to go against the Chinese defending the village next to the beach. REALLY? Here's a great chance to show off an exciting mission where you can witness a large battle between two large forces, and all we get is a minor skirmish...

Overall, another game victim of console mediocrity. I know business-wise, console is the way to go, but there's some serious limitation on that platform for a complex and deep game like OpFor.

 

[darom]

Weapon loadout was done correctly in the 1st OFP. I remember picking a sniper rifle for taking out a VIP at the camp.

I guess I will wait for the game to be in the discount bin at WalMart.

 

[stumben32]

Originally posted by: razor2025
I played a bit of SP and is generally disappointed. Graphics-wise, it suffers from console-port syndrome, colors are washed out, models looks terrible, and lack of high-res textures. All of the symptoms of underpowered GPU on consoles compared to up-to-date desktop GPU. Environment was also very bland. I know it's not set on tropical island, but geez, not a single trace of life in the whole island.

The AI had ups and downs. The enemy AI seems pretty smart, as they would flank and take cover without looking too-scripted. However, your own teammate's AI is simply appalling. For example, I would issue a "heal teammate" order to another AI member. The wounded would run around while the medic runs along with him with the needle out...

Game-play wise, it's pretty shoddy. The biggest beef I have with the SP is lack of epic-feel and ANY customizability of your loadout. Why am I stuck with a CQB M-16 on a mission that requires me to run out in a wide terrain? I found myself looting corpse to find the right weapon. The game also feels really lackluster. I've played 4 SP missions now, and did not find any moment where I was amazed. Example, on the beach push mission, they spawn only a squad worth of marines + 2 AAVPs to go against the Chinese defending the village next to the beach. REALLY? Here's a great chance to show off an exciting mission where you can witness a large battle between two large forces, and all we get is a minor skirmish...

Overall, another game victim of console mediocrity. I know business-wise, console is the way to go, but there's some serious limitation on that platform for a complex and deep game like OpFor.

Its weird, all of what you say is true yet I am really enjoying the game.

Then again I think it is a bit of a hold-me-over until something else type enjoyment.

OFP1 had its own set of dorky behavior though. Buggy, overly combersome with AI quirks that would just totally ruin a mission. But it had a fun charm to it. I guess I am having the same experience in OFp2 - no this isnt the next crysis level graphics - the sound is pretty darn good though.

Biggest thing I agree with you here though is that village defense mission I had the same feeling. We got all this artillery blasting the crap out of a poor few squads of chinese running through the woods only to turn tail and give up - im like let me kill some! Also there are all these buildings that are totally empty and there should be some enemies hunkered down in these things to take out..... odd.

The quick command radial system takes getting used to. I found it really handy and quick to access at times yet when you screw up ( and you will ) its bloody frustrating.

But, playing co-op the most fun was playing harcore mode and just sort of running around killing stuff. If you stick hard to the objectives its like you bypass those crazy moments. Its wonkey for sure.

Latency ... I have only played with 3 other people co-op and that has been mostly great except I did have a 30 min stretch of lag spikes and one CTD. Annoying as heck you cant rejoin without them going back to lobby and inviting you.

My feelings are mixed. My logic sensors say there are a ton of holes in this game yet - its pretty darn fun co-op if you don't look for perfection which frankly I have never seen any military sim come close - they are all chalk full of issues. I wouldnt call this better or worse than ofp1 just different.

 

[novasatori]

^ coop is definitely good and I didn't lag at all playing that with friends
the lag and respawn problems are mainly in the team dm modes, which is what I was most interested in
I don't mind the graphics much, the environments are pretty good and the lighting too, but the player models and animations are pretty bad, so if you spend a lot of time noticing that, you may be really disappointed. They didn't bother me much tho as I was too busy shooting people.

also as others mentioned the AI is not bad at all.
So I would say single player and campaign are not bad at all, if that's what you're going for you man not be disappointed, especially since I saw there was a mission editor (haven't tried it, I assume it actually WORKS )

Heh, well I tried to load it while typing this message and its ironic I put that because it didn't work to start out, the path the shortcut they added to the games folder was wrong.

 

[mwmorph]

I've been playing SP, not bvery good at this game yet so making sure I'm skilled before jumping in and destroying someone's coop game by dying 15 times.

As for graphics, the textures are very low rez. People should remember though that the draw distance is supposed to be something like 30-35km so it's a bit of a trade off and all things considered, that's not too bad, it's a decision I would live with. Long draw distance+good frame rate>pretty textures in a game like this anyways, especially when sniping.

Single biggest frame rate factor is shadow resolution. 1024+4xaa is as fast as 2048 + 0xaa. If you have any framerate issues, turn the shadow resolution down a notch. At 0xaa, I gained 30+fps from going down to 1024 from 2048 (Mid 40s to low 80s, HD4870 1GB)

As for the gameplay itself, I think it will disappoint the fans of OFP 1, but I like it. It's got a good mix of tactics and arcade, but then I'm not the typical OFP demographic.

Gun wise, it's fine, ballistics model wise, would be nice to implement some windage on top of the elevation model.

The biggest problem I have with the game is more about how open it is and how nothing is structured particularly strongly. For example, mission 5 when the diversion is created, they don't tell you which direction it will come from so it took me a while to find an open route.

Overall I like the game, just hope the fix a few issues in a patch.

1. Being able to turn your head in a vehicle. When driving, you cant look left or right, sort of weird.

2. Disappearing bodies. I tent to grab a DM rifle and shoot from 200-400 yards away. When I run out of ammo, I'm screwed because there is no way to run over to a body before it disappears. Happened once in mission 6 or something and had to run around for a while with a pistol before finding an ammo dump.

Things I do like

1. Weapon recoil is great. I'm tired of all these rubber band arm recoil models. The M4 is not a high recoil weapon because the barrel is in line with the buttstock buffer tube so it has a very low propensity to jump upwards. It's not like the tommy gun you see in WW2 movies and games should stop treating it like one. The 5.56x45 round only has 70% the kinetic energy of the 7.62x51 anyways. Same with the QBZ 95.

2. AI usually is good. They don't see you from 500m away in heavy cover, but if they do they will shoot at you. If you are smart, you can get away again while they send a fire team to where you used to be and lay down supressive fire on your previous location because they lost visual contact.