There was actually more than just Call of Duty Black Ops 2 to see at E3 2012. There are many other reasons to be excited about first person shooters this year. Here I take a look at three of them: Crytek’s Warface, Sony’s Planetside 2, and Bohemia’s Arma III.
The first two take ‘free to play‘ to new levels, and the last one promises to be the most realistic military simulator we’ve seen so far.
Warface
Warface is an upcoming online multiplayer FPS. It’s making waves because it’s built on the powerful Crytek 3 engine, and will be released as a free-to-play title, which are usually based on last-gen technology.
So, Warface has stunning graphics thanks to the same engine that the incredible looking Crysis 2 uses. It features cooperative and competitive game modes, and in the cooperative game that we tried, we found lots of variety in the gameplay, and plenty of interesting ways to disable enemies. Cooperation was also essential to winning, which should encourage team spirit online.
Warface looks great, but it is a bit generic stylistically. Players will choose Warface not for uniqueness, but because of the price point. Crytek is promising some innovative competitive modes on top of proven classics, so you can expect death matches, and and capture the flag modes at least!
Warface looks like the next level for free-to-play shooters, and we can’t wait until its full release.
Planetside 2
Another online game, Planetside 2, Sony’s free-to-play massively multiplayer online first-person shooter (F2PMMOFPS?!) has a closed beta now, which you can sign up for here. The focus is on huge battles over persistent worlds, where the balance of power will constantly shift between the three warring factions.
The scale is impressive, with truly enormous maps, and hundreds of players fighting at the same time.
The combination of large air and land forces fighting over these big alien planets is really attractive. The drama and experiences that are possible with a game on this scale sound excellent. Planetside 2 looks good, with beautiful alien landscapes and impressively large structures. It’s not quite up to Warface, but it’s polished enough. I’m really looking forward to playing Planetside 2 – it sounds like my kind of online game.
Arma III
While Warface is pushing accessibility, I’m not expecting that from the latest Arma game. The series is famed for its brutal realism, but if you’re serious about military shooters, Arma III is shaping up to be an incredible game.
This sequel is streets ahead of Arma II in terms of graphics, with really beautiful scenery and much better character models.
There’s a full range of vehicles too, from boats to planes, and pretty much everything in between. The island in Arma III is huge, and its mix of towns, villages and mountainous terrain make it an excellent playground for war games.
Modding will also be supported, so players can again expect a really long lifespan for Arma III. With the recent success of Arma II mod DayZ, it’s obvious that III will have scope for some impressive community projects.
