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[Column] Firefall: A PVE Fans MMOFPS
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In the battle of the two big MMOFPS titles coming our way soon, Firefall is the one that has a great focus on cooperative PvE experience more than it does PvP. In our latest Firefall column, we take a look at this aspect of the game and offer a few thoughts. Check it out!
I enjoy my time in both PS2 and Firefall, but one easily draws me back more often than the other… and it’s not the revered sequel. Firefall’s mix of “when you want to PVP” and open world exploration-based PVE are much more up my alley. One day, if we’re lucky, Mark Kern and friends will add in some sort of open-world PVP option and I’ll never play another shooter. But for now, I find that my tastes are far more suited to the occasional competitive FPS than the full-on always dog-eat-dog FPS that is Planetside 2. You can call me a carebear, and I might very well be one at times, but I like MMOs that mix the competitive side of things with the cooperative and that’s what Firefall does when Planetside 2 doesn’t.
Read more of Bill Murphy's Firefall: A PVE Fan’s MMOFPS.
Comments
PvE in Firefall doesn't have more than thumper grinding and exploration right now.. Very few missions.. But I'm looking forward those dynamic events with the Chosen incursions.
On a positive note, game looks great, guns are cool and it is pretty action packed.. Keeping my eye on it.
You forgot to mention the tons of new Chosen invasions in PVE thats whats goping on right now!-and the tornadoes!-makes the world a very living content!
Iam enjoying FireFalls gameplay with its slow progression, now that they have set goals which actually makes the game unique to others.
I totally agree with this article.
I have PS2 and FF and always gravitate back to FF. PS2 is really great but it does feel like a huge amount of time is required to accomplish much of anything (which is great, but I have terrible game ADD).
FF has a long way to go but it has so much potential that I'm super stoked. I even based purely on how much I like Red5 bought the founders pack ($100) even though I already had beta.
Hopefully they will keep the updates coming quickly and get it to open beta so they can continue pulling in some revenue to add all of the really cool things they are hoping to add.
Planetside offers more for us pvp nutters
I finally got my FF beta lol and am enjoying the heck out of it. Two thumbs up!
It perfectly complements my GW2 main game and I must say I really love the deep character progression (still locked for the beta but heavily implied). It is something GW2 might lack at the moment. It even reminds me of... dare I say it? EVE! /hides behind a corner.
These two games (FF and GW2, not EVE) are really like two apples from the same tree, the same sense of openess, exploration and come-what-may. Also, the instanced PvP is a lot of fun (like GW2) and very rewarding (unlike GW2
). I love to alternate the two whenever I feel I need a break. Basically, if you like GW2 you'll like Firefall. If you don't like GW2, FF is free so there is no reason not to try it, once it finally goes gold.
Aditionally, the graphics is gorgeous and the controls and "feel" are just right for me.... (apart from some animations which are.. clunky, dunno, maybe its just my crummy system) Another thing that really made me drop my jaw is the seldom mentioned "dynamic resolution" feature which is a godsend for my crappy PC (8600GTS w 256mb wouldn't you believe it). It drops your resolution (without hickups) to preserve the framerate at 30fps... I'd kill for something like this in GW2 where I regularly get 10- FPS in dungeons and heavily atmospheric places in general. I mean, who cares for teh awesome detailed atmospheric graphics when everything around you is exploding and crawling with gazillions of mobs?
You are half right. WHen it comes to solo or small groups(2-3), there isn't a whole lot to do other than Thumping, PvP matches and exploring. Now, there are different levels of the thumper, as well as PvP, but you are being pretty accurate here.
If you have a larger group(4+), some of the more challenging dynamic content is available to actually overcome. There are the Chosen drop pods that pop up like rifts. THere are Incursions, where the Chosen try and create a foothold into your lands and then send out patrols to take over towers. Those towers then have to be retaken to lift the fog of war in that area. Then there are tornados, which I haven't experienced yet, but I'm sure they will be fun.
So while the game lacks a bit of mission content and meaningful PvP, they have some milestones in place that will address a lot of the weaknesses that the game has right now. There will be new areas, open PvP for clans(armies). more PvE content in missions and dynamic events, as well as fleshing out the crafting, etc.
It has a very solid core right now and this is definitely one that everyone should at least watch.
Who put FPS in my MMO with PVE? Im cautiously interested. How does a game like this play? Is it like a 'halo' with quests? Or is it more open world? In my fantasy set mind it comes across like a permanent ranged avatar with sci fi tropes.
How come no one tells me about these things! :-)
BLEEP! ... now on radar.... looking for some videos to get an idea of gameplay
Well PvE in Firefall is interesting, but it's currently very very shallow. Few missions, some events (fun event), but the game is "short" or at least feels like that.
It still has a long way to go before it can be released to the public...
right on!...
yeah u enter the battle frame garage is eveonline all over again!=love it!, hints of blade runner!
If you look at Red 5's timeline for FIreFall you will see that beta will continue in 2013. My guess is the game wont go gold before late 2013 at the ealiest or more likely 2014. That said they are ramping up the monitization in the game. As long as they keep it fair I dont mind paying them for stuff in the beta, as long as I get to hold onto it after.
On the cool side they are letting players keep thier XP for the rest of beta and into gold. I guess this is to keep people playing the beta.
And last it would be hugely unfair to not mention how mcuh fun I am having with this game, even in its current rough state. Its a blast!
R5 have been dropping hints about open world large scale PVP for some time. There might be some Planetside lurking inside of Firefall yet.
They are also in the process of implementing specialized warplans for the AI faction to utilize as well as giving them constant AI upgrades. They want PVE to be sufficiently difficult so that participants don't feel like they are harvesting kills, or thats how I've understood it.
Not sure about the late 2013 part... Red5 already stated they were done with the character wiping.. Think they're pretty much done with the new "builds" (not sure if its the right term in this case).. So my guess is they'll get an open beta somewhat soon (before christmas imo) and call this "Launch"..
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
Either way, you can't lose! Try it out sometime!
woaw cowboy!- not sure when you entered beta ,
but they wiped out everything you want in this game- about 6months ago! this is the new direction they are going with, and its sticking really well with 1+ year old players..everything you want back in the game will make it 'grindy', which is something we vet players dont want.
they mention many events are still not implemented and as you can see the map is barely unlocked, so they are focusing on tiers tree, and pvp hubs atm, read up on their blog once in a while...
I have been playing the beta for a few days now, and I can sum up FF with one equation.
Firefall = Global Agenda + Updated Graphics
The entire time I play the game I just keeping thinking to myself, wow global agenda 2.0 that is cool I guess.
FF has added a few new tricks, in the form of chosen drop pods landing in random places, but other than that the game doesn't offer to much right now. All you will get in game at present is two chat spams.
LF Thumper Group please invite.
LF Chosen Hunter Group please invite.
Aside from thumpers and chosen drop ships, not much else is going on. It is open world and you can run around and pop bug sacks and get exp but it gets boring pretty quick.
Now before the rabid fans start getting their panties all in a bunch, I am not saying the game is "bad" it does have potential thats for sure. Graphics are nice, and the guns are good, mechanics and physics are fluid enough. I just see way more cons than pros at this point.
In my eyes it is global agenda 2.0 and without some major content in the game to liven it up... That is all it will ever be.
ok- fair enough, this also brings up a question i hope mmorpg covers in the near future.
'Is it Ideal to have pay for beta model before offical game launch?'
I see alot of new games offering public beta and alpha etc etc- and then the bad reviews kick in from players who dont understand how betas and alphas work- they presume they paid or entered a fully playable game.
which does affect the game upon release.
Blizzard had it right for sure- 'Itll be ready -when we say its ready' motto. as it has backfired with D3 rush release.
Well the game has lot of potential but it needs time.I have supported the game with the commander package.
I know that when it will be released it will be awesome.
It will feature story,pvp,pve,open world pvp and many many more things to come.
Currently the game recieves a lot of feedback from players and r5 are an awesome studio trying to accomplish everything they can be possible.
I agree on all points in this article. The biggest thing for me is that there is pve content, the sense of progression thru unlocking skills and such and dynamic content.
Definately gonna try out this game some time.
Looking forward to EQL and EQN.
What???
Not even close...
GW2 had atleast x100 as much hype.
And people don't hate hyp, they hate the sensitive fans who constantly trolls theese forums.
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." - John F. Kennedy
And for MMORPGs ever so true...