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This used to be a great game, now just a good game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: June 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

When Planetside first came out, as one reviewer pointed out, you could have 200 players a side. Most of the time the battles involved just two factions at a time. You rarely had to worry about three way battles, which can be a nightmare. At any one time you could have three or four population locked continental battles, 24 hours a day. These massive battles are the greatest thing I have ever experienced in online gaming. What also made the massive battles popular is you didn't have to be a good player. Frankly, even poor players could compete and contribute in massive battles, because your weaknesses would likely not come in to play or be exposed.

Then came the nerfs(making weapons weaker) to grunt weaponry, especially against vehicles. I like to play the grunt, almost exclusively. Even after reaching BR20(BR stands for Battle Rank), which at the time was the highest battle rank possible, I did not certify in any ground or air units, I used all my certification points on grunt things. I know from talking to many people, they felt the same way. The majority of players wanted to just play the grunt. And we wanted to play the grunt outside, not just in the bases or towers.

After the nerfs, vehicles started to slowly dominate the game, to the point now that grunts are outnumbered 5 to 1 or worse, sometimes much worse. I know there are many players that like to play the air or ground vehicles, but they were the minority. As the vehicles started to dominate, the player base started to drop. The massive battles started to disappear. The average players, myself included, started to have their weaknesses exposed and felt helpless.

These massive battles were the only reason I bought Planetside.
In a poll nearly 2/3 of the respondants, said they preffered the large battles over the medium or small battles, and very likely that number would actually be larger but many of the large battle fans had already left the game, when the poll was conducted. In an attempt to stop the bleeding SOE(Sony Online Entertainment) came out with a $30 expansion called Core Combat. This was designed for the grunts, and was difficult for vehicles. The caverns were really nothing more than large bases and not the wide open battles the grunts wanted. On top of that hardly anyone purchased the expansion, because many of the grunt players had left already.

It had gotten to the point that the massive battles were virtually gone and when they did happen it usually involved all three factions on one continent, and as I said three way battles can be a nightmare. Then came the final straw for the grunts, the BFRs, which are large Mechs. Players left in droves, although admittedly there weren't many left to leave, but those that were left did leave. Now all the game had left were constant three way battles. In an attempt to create more two way battles, SOE cut in half the number of players any faction could have on a continent. This has created more two way battles, but not as big as they used to be and still dominated by air and ground vehicles, and BFRs.

If you like to play the vehicles, then you will enjoy the game. If you prefer to play the grunt then leave your ego at home because you will die alot. My average kill to death ratio is 1 to 5. Many times it is worse and rarely better. While Planetside is still a good game, it is not the great game it used to be.

Be aware that SOE supposedly has a new Planetside type game in developement and plans to come out in 2006. As it stands Planetside is a poorly programmed game(even the developers would admit that) and will push your PC to its limits. SOE says they have learned from their mistakes made with Planetside and we can only hope that the new offering will bring back the massive battles that a majority(many not playing anymore) of the players want.

Don't listen to bad reviews, this game is amazing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: October 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First of all I would like to note that Planetside is an MMO and most uniquely it's an MMOFPS [Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter] and the only one of it's genre out there. As with every MMO there are people that want to win all the time and aren't happy, here is the review of a balanced un-biased player.

I have played this game since beta and it truly is totally unique. There is nothing quite like being flown towards an enemy base in your squad's galaxy dropship. Your vehicle sways as you get hit by enemy aircraft fire and your pilot shouts at you all to get ready to drop. You are at max altitude and you can barely make only recognise the base by the tracers and missles flying upwards towards your dropship. The pilot shouts drop and you and 11 of your fellow soldiers drop in silent yet ultimately atmospheric fall to the roof of the base where you will battle your way through hordes of other players trying to defend their base. This is just one experience of many that is unique to Planetside.

Planetside aftershock is a great expansion that includes the Battle Frame Robots, Planetside's newest toy [The developers constantly work on patching and updating the game]. These vehicles look amazing and certainly give even more atmosphere when you and your soldiers are faced by one of these terrifying behemoths.

I advise that anyone reading this heads to www.Planetside.com to read more about Planetside / Aftershock to see how read more about how great a game this is.

Best MMO game ever!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: November 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This Is A great game. It has a lot of vehicles, many weapons(the biggest selection of guns I've ever seen), great graphics and you can take many roles(cloaker, combat engineer, Medical, leader, heavy assault, driver, etc, etc).You can be auto dropped into the thick of battle. The vehicles(assault buggies, tanks, armored transports, ATV's)and aircraft have their own phisics. This is meant to be a team based thing, and it is great when you get into a small squad, a larger platoon, or even a huge outfit! You fight to own the 10 seperate continents, and the 4 underground caverns by taking over bases and towers(the main buildings). And with the new BFR's(giant robots), the battles are bigger and better than ever! The Planetside team, I am sure, will keep this a great game for years to come. If you like team battles, real time action, and GIAGANTIC conflicts between three empires in bases, on bridges, in feilds, in trenches and valleys, and in aincent underground cities, and nonstop action, then this the game for you! Join the war for Auxarius today!

BeetleJuice101 Says ::: Planetside Rules now with added MECH

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: September 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Planetside, the worlds first and only MMOFPA(S)... It owns

The largest battles see up to 200v200v200 wars on one zone, of which there are 10 :D. The most popular server at peak time see's up to 2000 people online and fighting... 2000 freaking people! This game holds the record for the largest number of players in a MMOFPS. There are 3 Empires to choose from, The New Conglomerate, The Terran Republic and The Vanu Sovereignty!

Seriously this game will blow your mind, its just immense!

The Developers have just added Mechs or BattleFrame Robots (BFR's) to the game... And I am sure this will make this game even better :@

5/5 !

Planetside... Greatest game to hit the shelves

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: October 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Planetside is simply the best, if you like RTS's or FPS's or even both types of games you will love this game! There is a heafty learning curve (about 12 hours or so) but that just shows you how complex the game gets, learning new tactics is an activity rampant throughout the planetside community everyday. now Planetside might become a nuke fest in the next patch (Aftershock) but I highly doubt it, buy the game and have fun :)

Excellent game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: October 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have been playing Planetside off and on for about a year and a half. You can solo or group in a squad/platoon or outfit. The game is easy to play. You can get on, play 15 minutes or an hour or more and simply quit when you want. No worries where you are at or silly quests that take forever. Core Combat is a great expansion with the caverns and alien technology. It's a game I have always come back to. I have played quite a few MMO's. EQ, DAOC, COH, Earth and Beyond, SWG, AC2 to name a few.. This one is a keeper.

Garbage

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

So after playing Planetside on and off now for close to two years, I am sorry to report that the game has become utter and complete crap.

The developers take months (6+) to put new units in the game, and now they have resorted to putting in "varients" i.e. exactly the same vehicle/gun with tweaked functions.....sad very very sad. When they do put new units in game - like the Battle Frame Robots, they completely mess it up and end up constantly nerfing them to death for the next year.

Funny thing is that the server populations have been steadily dropping for a while now, and instead of advertising, they went and reduced the number of players allowed on each map - making it seem like the battles were as huge as before.

Plus, don't get me started on performance. With a 3Ghz Cpu /1Gb Ram / Cable connection - this game will still slow to a crawl in big battles...regardless of your video card.

IMHO, don't waste your time on this game, its fun for about a month, but then gets boring...and at $14 a month....rather spend your cash on WOW or Guild Wars, or wait for Quake Wars or Huxley to come out......

Planetside: Aftershock!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: September 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Planetside Aftershock is a combination of both Planetside and Core Combat.

If you don't know what Planetside or Core Combat are, or even if you are the most skilled player, you can always come by www.planetside-universe.com for the latest details about the game, as well as strategy guides, developer interviews, all the information you could possibly want, and active community forums where the game is discussed!

http://www.planetside-universe.com

I actually play this game. BFR ruined the game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 16
Date: November 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have played Planetside for a long time.

It's an awesome first person shooter. However, the new addition of Battle Frame Robotics has really ruined gameplay. The big infantry battles that made planetside so fun are now a thing of the past.
Either you have a BFR or you die quickly.
Wait until they change BFR before you buy this.

One of a kind

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: January 31, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Planetside is an excellent game. Its really the only game of its kind, the first MMOFPS. Fight for one of three empires with a wide variety of vehicles, weapons, and playstyles.

Pilot? Grunt? Driver? BFR jockey? Sniper? Cloaker? Medic/Engineer? Commander? You decide.

Aftershock includes the original game + the corecombat expansion, which offers new weapons, vehicles, and 4 new environments to fight in, as well as additional other features.

There are plenty of willing players who'll help you if you need it.

BFRs are now well balanced and fit into the game quite well.

There is also a free trial offer at www.planetside.com

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