During the rAge 2011 expo we got some hands-on time with Ghost Recon Future Soldier, playing both the multiplayer 2 vs 2 map and a single player demo.
We also had a look at Gunsmith; the unique system that lets you customise your weapons in a variety of ways.
Single Player
The demo looked extremely polished, with smooth visuals and gameplay that flows quite well. The game mixes gameplay with scripted events, seamlessly moving between the two.
As a relief, AI team mates do not get in the way, nor do they give away your position, nor run in Leroy Jenkins style and get everyone dead in a hurry.
This is thanks to AI actions being scripted, with events initiating only after the player’s actions trigger them. Or in other words, they’re useful.
Multiplayer
I had the good fortune of teaming up with Pierre de Magerie, a developer on Ghost Recon Future Soldier; meaning he played like he wrote the “How to kick ass and make your opponents look like noobs in GRFS” manual.
De Magerie’s skill level being so much higher than everyone else’s was a good indication of how knowing the game mechanics gives you a tactical advantage.
He highlighted how important the cover system was, as well as teamwork and supporting your front runners. After four rounds I was well versed (looking back I was actually still quite noob) in how the system works and was pawning like a baws (I got 4 kills compared to the “noobs” who got 2 kills).
Overall the game looked quite polished; the animation system was impressive, especially when running in one direction while shooting in another, leaping over obstacles and rushing to take cover, and disabling enemies to collect enemy intel.
Gunsmith
The Gunsmith demo did not go smoothly at first, which de Magerie attributed to the large crowds confusing the visual tracking of the Xbox 360 Kinect sensor, as well as an impatient Gunsmith user.
Once the demo got going, it gave a good indication of the level of customisation for the weapons in GRFS. There are 50 weapons in the game, each with up to 10 customisable features which include everything from the rifle grip to the paint scheme. You are then able to test out the newly modified weapon to see whether you like the changes you’ve made.
It looked gimmicky, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to try it out.
Feedback from the rAge 2011 expo goers
Chad thought it looked like a cool game, but found it hard to adapt since he plays FPS games on PC. If he had a console he might pick up GRFS.
Vaughn said it was really hard at first, not knowing the controls, but as soon as he caught on he enjoyed it.
Mark felt that the Gunsmith guy [the one demoing the game] looked like a bit of a fool when customising guns, and told us he wouldn’t want to prance around like that when he could be shooting things. Mark presumably wears camo pants and combat boots to bed just in case anyone doubts his manly-ness.
Ghost Recon Future Soldier Impressions – rAge 2011 << Comments and views
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