I don't have the time to make a full write up right now, but suffice to say, this game is the first game since infiltration to drive me online every night. The races are well balanced now. Very well balanced. All of the creatures have their uses. Like all games, it comes down to resources...who's got more and who can hold onto them.
One thing that I absolutely love about this game is that teamwork is NOT optional. If you do not work together as a team, YOU LOOSE. Flat out, period, your team looses. It's even more important for the Marines, since marines have only one person who can dole out items, buildings, and do upgrades, and everything not involving firing. It's an amazing feeling, being on the human side when everything clicks...you have a commander who knows how and where to place items and dole out heavy weapons, your teammates are working together, fighting along side you. I must say that this game has some of the best teamwork I have EVER seen on an online public game, simply by the fact that many aspects of it lend itself to requiring teamwork. As humans, traveling in packs is the only way to stay alive...same with aliens. It's very easy for two humans to take out one alien without any problems, and vice-versa. Because of this, most of the time, in fact, almost all of the time, humans and aliens (humans more so...much more so) travel in packs. I've seen leapfrogging and cover used, suppressive fire, just right there on the public server, without a thought. Everything you want from a tactics game, with people working together...it's there, and the feeling is addicting.
Of course, I haven't said anything about the visuals as of yet. That's because I don't need to. They recommend you have at least a P2-450 to play this game. That's extremely outstanding for a game that at one point could run on a Cyrix 686 120+ processor with 4 meg video card. (I know...my bro's computer ran it like that
) The levels remind me of UT levels, in structure and most especially lighting. They've done things with HL lights that have never been done before...that is, use them
Sounds are more than the standard HL "Gravel/Squeekyfloor/metal" ... I think they even got their own 'metal' sounds for this mod. They went all out on everything visually.
Controls are a breeze. Everything you need is on the right-click 'hud' menu, for both humans and aliens (of course, they can be bound to keys, too, but only the four human calls I think are needed: need orders, roger that, need health, need ammo). Playing as human is the easiest to start; you just wait for your commander to tell you what to do. That's right...the commander plays the game like a RTS! He has a top-down view of the entire level for the game. There's a command chair that you sit in, and it transfers you to a 'command' view where you play the game in a manner kind of like starcraft. But...I don't have the guts to play it yet, mainly because 1) I suck at RTS's, and 2) my connection hates me
Aliens are a step up from human in difficulty, but not too much. Unlike the humans, each player has their own resources allotted to them for 'evolutions'. You start out as a 'gorge', the simplest fast running, wall climbing, biting fighter who's very closely matched to the standard human fighter. Then you can 'evolve' into one of the four other creatures from there; a flying bat like creature, a zerg hydrolisk-like creature, and an "Onos". Want to know why it's called an Onos? Because the first time you see it charge at you, you'll scream "OH NO!"
With the amount of armor and health it has, believe me, you'll develop a healthy fear of it
You can also evolve into the 'builder' alien. The builder alien 'spits up' all the buildings, supplied by the resources doled out by the hives.
Anyway, just play it. Just play it and enjoy it, because I know you will. Heh...this was my SHORT rant on this game...
