I BLAMing loved it (Gaming)

by Kahzgul, Monday, February 22, 2016, 18:22 (2993 days ago) @ Speedracer513

Holy crap was that fun.

People saying the controls are wonky and UI is confusing are spot on. Until you figure them out, at which point it all makes a lot of sense and becomes very intuitive.

The dark zone, especially, is crazy fun.

I probably put 10-15 hours in and I had a blast. Really, really great. The more I got into it, the better it got. Figuring out the symbols on the map took a while, but now I know and I'm glad they're all there. Getting used to the UI took a while, but it all makes sense now and I get why they did what they did. The design is really, really smart. Like crazy smart. Things you're going to use a lot (vendors, stash, restock, etc.) are all right at the entrance to the base. Gun mods can be chosen and applies as you desire, then stripped down from old guns to put onto new ones. God I wish Destiny did that. Almost no loading at all after the initial load into the world (even when entering the dark zone, it's seamless). No lag. Server swap was done live and instantly; I only knew it happened because i got a text message saying it was happening.

Weapons from different classes handle quite differently, but within the same class all feel pretty same-y. ARs probably have the most variance, mostly due to fire rate and recoil patterns.

Enemy AI seems to scale with the level of the enemy, so the level 2 guys just stand out in the open while the level 5 guys find cover and the level 8 guys actually yell at one another to flank and coordinate movement. The presence of certain "leader" enemies allows them to command the other enemies to charge you or throw grenades. Taking out those leaders left the other enemies uncoordinated and confused. It was fantastic.

Graphics are incredible, especially the weather effects and day/night cycle changes. Super impressive. About 80% of the objects in the world are destructible or at least register damage. Lots of NPCs walking around to make the game feel more real and alive.

Sound is the best I think I've ever heard. Many, many times I took off my headphones to see if the airplane flying sound was the game or a real airplane, or turned my head because a door opened in the game and I thought it was the door to my house opening. Guns sound incredible. Directional sound, echoes, players and enemies chatting... all awesome.

I'm 100% sold on this game now after the beta. The more I played, the more I appreciated all of the detail and design of it. It just got better and better the more I played.