It can be tempting to lump all first-person shooters together, such is the genre's ubiquity. Battlefield? I think you mean "Call of Duty with more scope wobble, dear". Call of Duty? Why, that's basically DOOM plus sprint and the ability to go prone. Halo? Medal of Honor for Babylon 5 fans, innit. Skim the surface of each specimen, and you'll miss the many intricacies that distinguish them. But get properly to grips with one, and those intricacies will make themselves felt via dismal leaderboard placings and a general team-mate unwillingness to have anything to do with you.
On a totally unrelated note, I've started playing Halo: Reach again. Halo 4's coming out in November - key need-to-knows here, multiplayer video blow-out here - and my Spartan instincts have grown decidedly rusty. Put it this way: at one point last Friday night I threw a grenade at somebody directly below me, leapt after it and died in mid-air when the bomb rebounded into my enthusiastically descending face. A period of rigorous training is due, to be captured later in the form of a montage accompanied by AC/DC's "Let's Get it Up" or Abba's "Super Trouper".
1. Oh Christ, where's my hit feedback
Firing up Reach's online component, I elected to get back into the swing of things with a round of Big Team Battle on Canyon in Forge World. The reasoning? Well, Canyon is very big and I probably won't be noticed in the crowds. "Greetings and salutations, comrades!" I said to the world at large shortly after we spawned, whereupon literally everybody climbed into Warthogs and drove away. "Fine," I told their retreating backs. "Be like that. I'll snipe from the base instead." And that's when the trouble started.
I'm used to Battlefield-style sniping, you see, and in Battlefield, every positive impact is accompanied by an understated, oddly more-ish reticle flicker and a muffled "thunk", regardless of distance to target. In Halo, it's all about shield flash and a teensy flinching animation. If you're a patent noob such as I, these things are easy to miss up close. From hundreds of metres off? You might as well throw bits of torn-up paper.
Needless to say, my opponents on Canyon wasted no time paying me off with interest. In theory Battlefield is the sniper's mainstream FPS of choice, with its bazillions of different rifles, prone stance and capacious maps. Call of Duty also amuses, providing your idea of sniping involves exploiting the ironsights zoom for idiot-proof midrange infamy. But Halo? My God. When a Halo: Reach match devolves to sniping, the fallout can be heavy.
9 comments so far...
EdDeRs1 on 16 Jul '12 said:
oh god the snipers... i found that when a match decends into snipeing (and im not very good) those of us without rifles have to make mad dashes to cover while fireing a few rounds in the general direction of the bastard who just took out my mate only to find that he jet packed to the other side of the map and blows my had off...
after that i usaly just grap a tank and blow up anything that moves
DexHaven on 16 Jul '12 said:
I think you should go for some Multiteam, that will bring back you up to speed then maybe a bit o Swat when you have found your feet to bring your head shots back up to par. A word of warning however if you are a grown up and a connoisseur of fine sci fi avoid the new live action lest the combination of its Team America feel and teen soldiers puts you off the franchise forever. Honestly it feels like a version of Starship Troopers that is not in on its a own joke.
OXM ETboy on 16 Jul '12 said:
I'm terrified of SWAT. For all the whinging about shields, I'd be lost without 'em.
What about Firefight? Any suggestions of a Firefighty vein?
DexHaven on 16 Jul '12 said:
Oh yeah, firefight matchmaking, score attack is the best place to start it's a solitary experience so plenty of time and space to get you bearings without annoying your teammates. As for specific game types I would go for firefight x2 (double overshields) to find your feet and some Gruntpocalypse to bring on your headshots.
Decent_Jam on 16 Jul '12 said:
I find Firefight thoroughly underwhelming, may as well just play through the campaign.
I suggest Team Objective, since that way if you use some cunning - as well as some shooty death killing - you can actually find yourself at or near the top of the team when the round is over, rather than pummelled to the bottom in Team Slayer just because someone else found the shotgun/sword first.
Thos. on 16 Jul '12 said:
I find Invasion and Big Team Battle are the most laid back and relaxing, as the pressure's off. The smaller the teams, the faster the adrenalin flows - free for all is the most tense.
CHIEFRAPTOR on 17 Jul '12 said:
For pure fun i'd have to say mulit-team, absolute carnage half the time but at least it's exciting throughout!
KitchenTel on 17 Jul '12 said:
As for specific game types I would go for firefight x2 (double overshields) to find your feet and some Gruntpocalypse to bring on your headshots.http://www.demama.info/g.gif
BlackhawkTenan on 17 Jul '12 said:
When I started playing anniversary I was shocked at my utter noobage....but repetition prevailed and I was able to get back to my original level of skill I used to be on Halo 2 and 3. Personally, I think any team death match type game would be good, you just need to keep playing and it'll all come flooding back. It's like you have had amnesia since last playing and its jogging your memory back into life.