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PS will raise your heart rate!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 29
Date: April 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I had the good fortune of being invited into the PS open beta, and I have to say I'm impressed. I'm actually not a huge fan of FPS games, but the strategy and, more importantly, the *tension* that PS brings to the table makes it a real heart-pounder.

The other evening I was caught in a massive battle for control of a strategic bridge. I snuck around to flank our opposition and try to disrupt their troop supply a little, and was truly amazed at the site: literally hundreds of them streaming along the roads and over hills. My jaw dropped at the sight of it, and heart sank as I realized how unstoppable the enemy numbers were. And not only were we outnumbered at least 2 to 1, but I was deep in their territory now, completely surrounded, and praying nobody noticed the shimmer of my stealth suit moving among the trees for cover. Once in a while someone would catch a glimse of me out of the corner of their eye and turn - I could only freeze and wait while their gun barrel swept back and forth over where I was standing cloaked, hoping they wouldn't pull the trigger.

We sent word out, begging for reinforcements, but half our forces were busy battling the other enemy empire far away on another continent. We had to hold out as long as we could with what we had. (we lost the bridge eventually, but made our attackers earn every last inch of it, fighting until we were backed into a single basement room in a nearby watch tower)

Planetside has many different roles to fill, and can accomodate both squad and, to some degree, solo play as well (I particularly enjoy covert work behind enemy lines). It actually has a similar overall feel (but a much larger scope, and better graphics) as Sony's 2D, isometric view, online game 'Infantry' (which you can play a limited version for free at station.sony.com), so if you've played that, you'll have a good idea of why PS is so fun. Everyone has a job (or jobs, depending on which, and how many certifications you rack up): light/med/heavy assault, driver/pilot, engineer, medic, infiltrator/hacker. All are lethal on their own, and a force to be reconed with when they're all together and in capable hands.

Sick, sick game. I love/hate it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: June 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I'm playing way too much Planetside. I played 'til 4:00 in the morning last night. That got me into trouble with my girlfriend--big time.

Thing is, I don't even know why I played it so late. If I were to make the decision again, right now, there's no way I'd say "Hmmm... stay up 'til 4 playing a game on a weeknight? Sure!"

Planetside is just one of those games that sucks you in, that has you saying "5 more minutes--just one more kill" over and over and over again from 10:00pm until, well, sunrise. I think the biggest reason why it's such a major time assassin is that there's no way to quit the game when you're dead. Yep--you can only quit out of the program when your character is alive and well. And who wants to quit when you're at 100% health?

Sick, sick game. I love/hate it.

Review: Planetside is a sci-fi first person shooter that is also a persistent massively multiplayer online game. That means that the game persists even after you've quit--the objectives you took last night might be retaken while you're away. Players create a character for one of three warring factions (each with a unique look and a few unique weapons/abilities) then battle it out across several islands.

Gameplay is centered on the taking of objectives such as gun towers or major bases. Objectives serve as respawn points and also give access to useful facilities such as vehicle creation terminals. It's fun attacking or defending a base, as the fight moves from the a huge infantry and tank battle in the surrounding fields and forests, to the gun turret-mounted walls, to the inner courtyard, to a desperate struggle in the base's tunnels. Good stuff.

As players invest time, take objectives, and kill enemies, their character gains experience points that can be spent on "Certifications". Certs give access to classes of equipment (such as Assault or Anti Vehicular weapons), armor (such as Power Armor or stealth Infilitration Suits), abilities (such as Hacker, Combat Engineer, and Medic), or vehicles (which range from armored personnel carriers to buggies to various sizes of tanks to fighter planes to big troop transports).

The cool thing is, a player can swap out his character's certs at any time. Tired of being a sniper? Swap out the certs for a tank driver license. Ground pounding losing its appeal? Take to the skies. The ability to trade in old abilities for new abilities is a cool feature that will hopefully be seen in other games.

Speaking of other games: this is what Star Wars Galaxies should have been. Fast paced, exciting, easy to learn but challenging to master, simple and forgiving reward system, and plenty of interesting guns, vehicles, and gadgets. Alas.

This game is definitely a good time, but beware, because it's definitely a *lot* of time.

Frustrating, yet highly addictive

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: October 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing this game for over a month and although there are times of incredible frustration, I can't seem to stop playing.

First of all, for those of you unfamiliar with this game, it is unlike any other game out there right now.

It's unlike a typical MMORPG as there is no mind-numbing exp treadmill to waste away countless hours of one's life on. Gaining exp to learn new skill often goes quickly, but isn't absolutley neccessary to have fun as new players are given enough "certification points" to cert in a decent weapon/vehicle/skill, etc., as an utter noob.

It is also unlike any other first person shooter out there in that the servers are massive. No 16 players max limit (which ruins what would otherwise have been great games, i.e. Halo). Battles often escalate from a handfull of players fighting with carried weaponry (rifles, etc.) to a full scale, hours long, all out war with a 100+ players from all three empires. This is when the game really shows it's unique and addictively satisfiying flavor.

However, on the negative side, and often in the middle of these big battles, the problems start to surface. One of the worst being lag. Even those with high end machines (radeon 9800 pro, athlonXP 3200+ barton, 1 gig of 400mhz ram, etc.) run into times when frame rates drop to teens or worse. Also, bugs still continue to pop up, get squished with a patch, only to reveal even more bugs (example; my 8RDA+ mobo's onboard sound has issues with this game).

To conlcude and factor all the faults and fun together, this is still one of the BEST games available for the PC, period. Adding in the fact that the devs ARE working hard to not only add usefull new content, but ironing out all existing bugs as well. And yes it is worth the monthly fee, if only to know there is always a server up and running (without having to worry about one of the players maintaining it) and a battle somewhere to jump in the middle of, even if your lan party friends or typical teammates aren't available.

Sorry for being so long-winded, but I hope someone finds this review useful.

Fun, for a time, but released on schedule

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: May 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I played Planetside (PS) for over a month in the closed and open betas. I tried all three empires, and every role in the game from pilot, to vehicles, to infantry, to the MAX units, support roles, etc.

Positives:

Very large battles, can be very intense especially when you are new and the 'wow factor' is still there.

Team play is encouraged, though there are a few roles that you can engage in solo or with a partner. Two that come to mind are sniper and tank crew.

Strategic thinking is rewarded in the game.

The so-so features:

The graphics vary from passable to very good, but be warned in advance that it takes a SERIOUS system to play with high detail and still get decent frame rate. I have a P4 2.66mhz, 1gb ram, Audigy 2 Platinum and 128meg 9700 ATI card running over a cable modem. When I started the playtest, I had half the ram and doubling it enabled the game to stop using the windows swap file and run everything from memory which helps a lot. However, in large battles (say, 30+ people within your visible range) the frame rate can drop off dramatically. I played with the default 1024x768 with no AA or other card-specific functions applied and my frame rate ranged from 100 or so in wide open empty areas to 10-15 in huge battles.

Negatives:

Lack of long term replayability. There are basically three types of battles in the game: tower battles, base battles and 'open field' battles. Tower battles are boring contests to see who can spawn the fastest, bases are uninteresting, poorly designed and cookie-cutter (there are a total of four designs in the entire game).

Two of the three support classes are poorly balanced. Medics are near useless in most encounters. Engineers are useful in certain circumstances, but the problems with the more advanced Combat Engineer deployables (various mines, turrets and sensors) prevent them from playing a significant role in most combats.

Individual tactics and good aim count for little in the game. It is designed so that a beginner can stand a chance against the most experienced player ever to play.

In conclusion, the game does have its high points but for the shekels they want for it, and the high monthly fee, you're paying Ferrari prices for a Chevy Nova. It may succeed in the marketplace but instead of releasing on the arbitrary schedule it should have been developed more. Visit planetside.com yourself and look at the features they promise shortly as evidence of this.

What do you mean I can't play USED software?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: September 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Don't buy Planetside USED if you want to play it.

Sony Station will only allow a software key to be used once and will not give out another. This happened to me and after speaking to customer support, all I could do was buy a new version. Buyer beware!

Not for all players, but great for team-combat players

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: June 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Planetside has gone live, and its three-faction setup helps ensure that there's always a battle going on, and something to do! In essence each faction is battling for control of the planet, across continents, battling with the other 2 factions in a space-combat setting.

We were playing this non-stop during the beta, so we were familiar with the game when we bought the full version. Still, the built in training is very helpful, and doesn't require you to be on line. The virtual practice areas let you keep practicing if you have more questions.

There are a variety of terrains and environments to fight in, and the graphics are well done with lots of detail. You can customize your character's voice and look and of course be male or female. Your character can have a variety of skills, helping you fit into the needs of your faction. You can be a heavy-duty soldier, or the guy who flies the dropship, or many other roles.

The game does a great job of encouraging team play. There are many ways in which team members can help each other out, gaining experience and cash as you go to get more skilled and wield more weapons and armor. With an "Instant Action" option, you can even teleport immediately to where a battle is taking place!

As with much of the web, people with slow connections or hosting through slow ISPs are going to have issues. The graphics and volume of users playing mean that it pays to have a decent machine with a good video card. But that's no different than any other on line play. It's always worth the investment to keep your system up to date if you want to play the newest games.

You end up with massive battles for control of key areas, and just like "real life", lots of grunts end up dying in these. The better you get, the more you stay out of the mud and take on more advanced tasks, like sniping out key individuals and organizing the attacks.

The game is easy to get going with, lots of fun to build up levels in, and holds a lot of challenges once you get good at it. Well recommended for an on line combat fan who doesn't think "every player is a Rambo". It's not about an individual having super powers - it's about skilled players working together as a solid team. Which is extremely encouraging to see in a game!

not for rpg players

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: May 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

having played the beta and now the retail version of planetside I can say I'm pretty satified.

I'm not really sure how sony is justifing charging 14 bucks a month for it but whatever, the money issue is something that I hope they will address when people start leaving in droves after their one month free expires. Also I'm not to happy to pay 14 dollars a month for 'server maintance' when on a typical night my ping to their east coast server is horrible. I would have to say that is one of my only gripes with the game because lag can make things VERY confusing especially in large battles.

Anyway, alot of the negative reviews I've seen here and elsewhere seem to be from people that expected to still be leveling in planetside 3 months after they started a character, sorry just won't happen. You will flesh out your character (which can be changed pretty easily) within a few weeks of steady play. The RPG element (if there is even one worth mentioning) its not what makes planetside interesting, its the idea that it take a FPS and puts it on a much larger scale with much much more depth. People don't level in counter-strike, nothing about cs changes except new maps and various updates here and there, what keeps people coming back to cs is the action and there is plenty of that in planetside.

I also think alot of the success of the game will depend on how sony handles adding new elements, as of now they have a few new vehicles slated as well as some more play options, if this continues I think planetside will stay fresh.

Its too bad there is no way to try planetside before you buy it, if you know someone who has the retail version they can let you borrow their discs to install it and you can play for a trial period of 7 days. this is one game that I would not judge from reviews, positive or negative (yeah, so why I am writing one, bah) see if you can try it and find out for yourself.

Pros/Cons/Arguments

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: May 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It does get laggy (on a 56k, i understand it's very different on broadband/cable) sometimes when there's more than 60 people in your area (a huge number compared to most online games...it's a lot better).

It *can* get repetitive.
However...thisis mostly to people attacking bases.

experience is *not* needed to have fun in this game. If you complain about capping bases being boring, then DON'T cap bases. I like to hide in the desert with my guided missile launcher and pick off people from a distance, fighting for towers in the middle of nowhere rather than the laggy boring base caps. And i have unbelievable amounts of fun doing it.

One thing I read on this forum said that battles are won by numbers, not skill.

Welcome to reality. Watch Saving Private Ryan. Do you see the mass amount of skill they had on DDay affecting anything? Real war is about numbers, not about skill. You don't see individual heros often in real life, and PlanetSide replicates the true attrition of real battles. And it's tons of fun, IMHO.

This game is defnitely worth a free trial, of which you get one month. Each box comes with a 7 day free trial in addition to the 30 day, so ask a friend who has it if you can play the 7 day trial.

A Unique Experience

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: June 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Planetside is a very unique game. Being the first mmofps, along with some aspects of role playing, Planetside is undoubtfully something that you should buy if you're a hardcore first person shooter fan.

Planetside has many amazing features, such as its huge arsenal of weapons. Planetside consists of three "factions", or teams. These factions work together to take over bases on each unique continent. Teamwork is essential in order to succeed in Planetside. Sony has recently applied a new voice system into the online universe, so you can talk with other members of your team.
Along with a large arsenal of weapons, each faction has a number of unique vehicles. Vehicles range from 4 wheel land rovers, to massive flying fortresses used for transportation.

In terms of graphical detail, Planetside definetely delivers. If your system is capable of handling Planetside in full detail, you'll be very suprised of its graphics. I find it hard to imagine how Sony managed to create a world with such glorious graphics without an exceeding amount of lag.

To sum it all up, like I stated earlier, this is a must get for a first person shooter fan. Graphically, this game packs it all up, and the gameplay is simply superb.

Planetside - 1 year later

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: May 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Damn you, planetside! You've ruined me forever!

Back in the day, I used to brag about playing on 32-player Unreal Tournament servers. After Planetside, those are just too small. I just can't handle playing a game with under 300 players online at once. I tried UT2k3 a couple months ago, and the graphics were great. But it was boring - only 16 on the server. So I went back to PlanetSide, and was immediately in my happy place.

The game requires some interdependence with your teammates. You need engineers to repair your body armor & fix your tank; you need medics for healing; you need tanks to charge the enemy; you need snipers to suppress the enemeny infantry & snipers; you need cloakers to sneak in & cripple enemy defenses; you need bombers to soften the enemy positions before the big rush; you need troop transports to drop soldiers behind enemy lines (paratroopers); you need air defenses. Nobody can do everything, so people end up finding the roles they enjoy and contribute to the whole war effort. I'm currently rebuilding my main character into a tank-driving sniper.

Its well known that Sony released Planetside too early. They tried competing with their own Star Wars MMORPG, so they shoved it out the door too quickly. Early player experiences were rough. But the PlanetSide team has definately improved the game. Its much more stable; more equipment has been added. Strategies have been changed. Large online games like this are always being tweaked by the designers, and Planetside is no different. The developers are very active on the forums explaining new things, asking for feedback, and taking requests. Several well-thought-out player requests have made it into the game.

The hardware requirements for Planetside are immense. You need on the order of 1.5Ghz+, and around 1 GB RAM. A high-end video card helps a lot. Before buying, I would try downloading the 7-day trial. You'll lose yer character at the end, but you'll get to find out if your box can play before throwing down some cash.

I saw a few people complain about the "missing" single-player game. THERE IS NO SINGLE PLAYER GAME IN PLANETSIDE. If it moves, its another player. The only AI in the game is in stationary turrets; everything else is player-controlled. No bots; ever. You've gotta be able to handle getting smacked down by other people. And you've gotta be able to try returning the smack. If Player-vs-Player sounds scary (it does to some of my friends) then you might wanna try somethign else. But if pure PvP sounds interesting, then Planetside is probably your game.

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