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Review:

25th June 2003:
PlanetSide
Finally, a First-Person Shooter to feature thousands of players in a game but is PlanetSide worth the hype?
Posted by John Wasabi - PC - UK and Europe

The back story for PlanetSide has all the ingredients to a fascinating game. After years of exploring space around Earth, a worm hole was discovered leading to a system somewhere in the far reaches of space. The discovery of a habitable Planet was an opportunity that the Terran Empire wanted to grasp. They named this Planet Auraxis, but sadly the wormhole collapsed, leaving them trapped. Not all was lost though, the human spirit persevered and adapted to Planet and life flourished.

Alien technology was later discovered, leading to research and development with some hinting that this is the new path for humanity to take. The Terran Empire did not like this idea and decided that this technology be deemed illegal, hence causing quarrels that would eventually lead to the splintering of the Terran Empire on Auraxis. Some fractured off to form the Vanu Sovereignty while those unhappy with the Terran Empire and their militaristic ways broke off and formed the New Conglomerate. Not about to see their Empire crumble, the Terran Empire decided to decimate those that splintered off. Predictably war ensued between all three sides, and it's up to the player to choose a faction and battle it out with thousands of players for dominance.

PlanetSide's RPG system is definitely not as complex as EverQuest or any other RPG for that matter. It wasn't meant to be from the start as PlanetSide is after all, a first-person shooter across vast landscapes that feature multi-vehicular battles. Experience is gained from killing enemies and capturing opposing bases. Once players gain a certain amount of experience, their level will go up, which grants them certification points. These certification points are used to gain new skills such as the ability to get new weapons or vehicles, or the ability to hack or repair armor, and the ability to wear different types of armor. These certifications can be unlearned and new ones learned, but there is a catch, a full 24 hours penalty in real-time is enforced before you can begin this vicious cycle again. All the customization is fun and there is no better feeling than seeing your certification points used to good effect when your character comes out as a kick ass specialist of some sort.

Each faction will have their own area of expertise, The Terran Empire rely on the philosophy of the more bullets the merrier hence their rate of fire on their guns are pretty ludicrous. The New Conglomerate believe bigger is better therefore their firepower is per shot will hurt more. The Vanu rely on the research of Alien technology and although lacking in firepower or bullets being sprayed, they make up for it by being the nimblest of the three with some unique vehicles such as the hovercraft. There are choices galore and plenty of pros and cons to the faction that you decide to stick with.

The Combat system in PlanetSide will be familiar to most, battles range from the tight areas to open landscapes. The emphasis of teamwork is one of the key things that PlanetSide wishes to promote and it is managed very well. If people are on your same faction they are displayed clearly with their name in green, an enemy will appear red to your cross hair so the general rule is to shoot anything that is not green. I can't help wondering 'what about people who are colour blind?' surely they'll be at quite a disadvantage.

The key to doing well in PlanetSide is teamwork, although it can played solo the chances of you getting far is limited. A well balanced team of grunts, engineers, medics, hackers, and pilots is a must in any team if they are going to kick ass and sometimes it is not the easiest team to assemble out there. What we also like about PlanetSide are the updates, the developers sure are committed to bringing new content such as weapons and vehicles to the table. That is after sales at its best and makes you feel like the monthly fee that you are paying is worth it after all. The monthly fee is set at $13 US dollars a month and having a credit card is necessary to playing this game.

When I first heard of PlanetSide I was really looking forward to playing it. I even thought that this would be the MMO game that I may actually continue playing for years to come. The truth is I was slightly let down by it all. The screenshots released were awesome, the concept of multi-vehicular battles and hints of updates were all but exciting stuff, but the game fails in areas of having to actually achieve interesting goals. Graphics were also a bit of a let down, trees, rocks, gun models and landscapes are all bland and pretty poorly textured. What should have been one of the most exciting games this year is greatly hampered by long load times, non-existent in-game story, disappointing graphics and unfulfilling victory conditions. I really hope these issues will be addressed in future updates and although it does sound bad, PlanetSide does offer fantastic team play, unparalleled variety of weapons, armour and vehicles and the ever vigilant promise that updates are just around the corner. Do check it out if you like the things I mentioned but if like me you expected far more, then you may be slightly disappointed.

John Wasabi

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Review Summary:

PlanetSide does offer fantastic team play, unparalleled variety of weapons, armour and vehicles and the ever vigilant promise that updates are just around the corner. Do check it out if you like the things I mentioned but if like me you expected far more, then you may be slightly disappointed.

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