Damn. No, that’s not a "good" Damn. That is a Damn of disappointment and shock. When Defense Alliance first came on the scene, it was unique, and sounded and looked friggin' awesome. I was hoping that it would become all that it could have, but instead of progressing by leaps and bounds, it has merely crawled along. While there have been some beneficial changes, most of the fundamental problems have yet to be addressed. Such problems include the netcode, models/skins, weapon functionality, and the maps.
I have yet to play DA on a dedicated server that does not have moderate to horrendous lag. Maybe I’ve picked all the wrong servers, but I can never keep playing for more than 10 minutes before the lag totally pisses me off. Even in Botmatch, I notice problems that should not be occurring on my machine (1.8ghz, 256ram, GF364mg). I will say this, though, version 1.6 has dealt with some of the more significant problems (primarily the grenade launcher).
I have heard continuously about the poor quality of the models and skins featured in DA. Every release I have hoped for new models or new skins, but even in version 1.6, DA doesn’t deliver. The models are quite basic, and the skin colors consist mostly of black, grey, and white (they are detailed (as in not one solid color), albeit simply).
I’m just going to come out and say this. The sniper rifle in Defense Alliance is teh sux. Extremely poor accuracy, slow rate of fire, and piddlyass damage make it unsuitable for defense combat. I realize that the DA team didn’t want to make the Sniper Rifle insanely powerful. However, they took it to the opposite extreme. If you want to snipe, use the infantry rifle. At least that way you can put out more lead in a shorter amount of time.
Some people say that the DA maps are good, some say bad, I say they’re about even. Some of them have nice detail, like DA-DAm or DA-DDay. Some are grey and dull and some are just weird. For what DA is trying to do, I think that the maps are ok, but they could use some improvement.
Alright, alright, I know I’ve been bashing DA, but the improvements in version 1.6 dig DA out of the hole . . . a little. First, instead of a syringe, the medic now drops pickups that have the same effect as the syringe. This simplifies the medic a whole lot. The machine gun bugs have mostly been fixed (you can actually build M.Gun 1 now). The machine guns are pretty good, although they are a little too inaccurate at medium range and pointless at long range. Some of the player skins have also been modified to add a bit more color. As for the bots, instead of the standard Marine, there are now 5 or 6 different enemies, each with different settings (marines are quick and easy to kill, Brutes are slow and hard to kill). I like this because you can choose to have more difficult opponents instead of choosing between 30 and 50 standard opponents. And I will say this, the menu music for DA kicks much ass!
I hear tell that DA will be releasing a Gold version for UT. Hopefully, many of the remaining bugs will be removed. Also, there is a DA in the works for UT2K3. I look forward to that.
-Dade
(Note: Be sure to download <a href="http://www.beyondunreal.com/dl.php/modsquad/unreal_tournament/mods/dabeta15.exe">Defense Alliance 1.5</a> before downloading version 1.6)
