Slashdot Mirror
Info On Upcoming XBox MMOFPS
Via eToychest, an interview at TeamXbox with Kijong Kang, executive producer of the upcoming Xbox Live enabled MMOFPS game Huxley. The game will exist within a persistent world which draws inspiration from several game genres, and is slated to use the Unreal 3 engine to bring the shiny. From the article: "Compared with Planet Side, there are some common features such as MMO, PW, and FPS. However, the biggest difference is the level of action. Planet Side is an enjoyable game, but it is a strategy-focused FPS game rather than an action-focused FPS game. With outstanding features, Huxley is an absolute action game such as Quake or Unreal."
I last played about 6 months ago, and it's nothing but zerging. Especially since the introduction of stat tracking. People are so overwhelmingly concerned with their kill count that all you saw were Reavers rocket-spamming infantry, and infantry using HA/RExoshield setups.
...besides, who the hell wants to run support these days, like driving an AMS, when everyone and his bloody dog has an orbital strike and stealthers practically outnumber regular infantry. The average lifespan of an AMS on the battlefield these days is measured in seconds.
Stat tracking destroyed any semblance of tactics left in that game. I mean, sure, theoretically a semi-organized zerg would win against a disorganized zerg, but honestly, have you ever seen that? No one listens to the commanders, and considering command experience is a derrivative of your kill count, it's no wonder. The "commanders" aren't leaders of knowledgeable, they've just been the squad leader when a few bases got capped.
I'm just pretty bummed by Planetside. It could've been a brilliant niche game. Instead, it tried to turn into MMO Quake. The last vestiages of tactical consideration in Planetside are just paying lip service to what the game should've been.