Betatastic!

Ok. I am moving today and Time Warner is not going to be able to make it to my new place to set up my precious internet or television till the 3rd. So, in light of the last little bit before I go off into the void of no internet, I give you the first installment of Betatastic! My thoughts and speculation on any betas I may have been in recently, or am currently in.

First, we start of with Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts. I have yet to get my review for Company of Heroes up simply due to the severe amount of gaming I've been doing, but the short of it is this. CoH is a great RTS that twists a few of the classic aspects of RTS games and makes it interesting. While it is not as straight forward as WiC, CoH provides an excellent single player game with a solid multi player aspect that I never got a chance to really play thanks to some fucked up thing with Relic Online.

Anyway. CoH:OP takes CoH and expands the game with two new, and very different, armies. You can play as the British 2nd Army or the Panzer Elite. Since this Beta was only for multi player, I didnt get a chance to see how the single player aspect works. Which is sad because the learning curve for the British 2nd and the Panzer Elite is a tough one. Though it was beta, and with it came a host of connection problems, ghost games and the unspeakably annoying "unable to connect all players" problem, the MP aspect of the game is well done. If you have been able to play CoH multi player, then you are going to get a dose of pretty much the same game. Granted, its a well done, interesting and challenging game but its pretty much more of the same with a new twist. I did find, though, that the PE (panzer elite) has the ability to totally spam you quick. If you play as I did, with a defensive mind set, you will be over run quickly. Most PE players quickly learned to spam out as many units as they could and just over run you. Thankfully, there is SOME deterrence to this since your standard infantry is able to deal decent damage to the half-tracks that seem to make up the majority of the PE forces. The Brits, though, seem to take a long time to get running full throttle and are a totally defensive minded army. With the ability to dig in to trenches, set up bunkers for your MGs, mortars, AT and artillery, the Brits can be a tough nut to crack.

I found that the game was slightly off balance, as you could get crushed by either army quickly if you were not careful and the games would drag on for a long time if you matched the unit spamming. I don't know if I will go out and get CoH:OP when it goes gold, which it may already have done, but I did enjoy the single player aspects of CoH, so I may give it a shot.

Next! The Awesomeness that is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the xbox 360.

I have been a fan of the CoD series for awhile, though I have gotten it confused with the Metal of Honor series in the past. I was able to snag a key to get into this beta about a week or so ago and I havent been able to stop playing. CoD is making a real step forward by bringing their series into the modern day. The beta was capped for levels, weapons, perks and equipment for beta but it did give you a real taste of what is to come in the game. Granted, as of this posting, the beta is not over till sunday but I will not be able to play it anymore this weekend, so I think its best to get this done while its fresh. (They also upped the level cap in beta to 25ish or so, giving you a few new guns to play around with for the weekend)

Simply put, this game is the awesomeness. Ya, Halo 3 came out this week and sucked a lot of players away from the beta but there was still a couple thousand playing when I got on earlier. Speaking of Halo 3, I have to slap my review up for that as well. Oh what I will do for 5 day with no internet or tv.

CoD 4 is a really well done FPS for the 360. The MP is smooth, the connection is normally solid and the weapons have a very different feel to them. The additions to each weapon that are earned via challenges in the barracks section really make the guns better. There is a variety of perks to choose from and once you reach level 5 or so, you are able to create your own class with any perks, guns, additions and side arms you want. While these were limited in beta, I am hoping the developers add more attachments as well as giving you the chance to add multiple attachments to various weapons. If I was able, I would have been running around with my M4 carbine with a red dot sight and a silencer. As it stands now, its only one attachment per weapon.

They also made being a sniper a tough job. The maps are a decent enough size to accommodate a sniper, but staying in one place for to long just gets you dead. The shots have to be taken quickly since your ability to steady your shot is only a few seconds long. Hitting a moving target is no simple task either. They also make it so you need 100 kills before being able to upgrade the scope on the sniper rifles. This may all change at gold but I tend to like it. Keeps everyone from playing a sniper and moves the game a long at a quick pace.

I really think CoD 4 will take Rainbow 6:Vegas, Halo 3 and GRAW 2 down for the count on the 360 as far as multi player goes. R6:Vegas is a really well done game, but CoD 4 is just so awesome, its hard not to play it over R6:Vegas. While I didnt play R6:Vegas online much, thanks to my spotty connection to XBL, a lot of the players I spoke with each felt CoD is a better MP game. We will have to wait for gold to see what they do with the SP missions.

All in all, my two recent beta experiences were fun. I enjoyed CoH:OP for a short while before it got old and I was lucky enough to play CoD 4 for only a short while so I did not burn out. As I said, I may pick up CoH:OP but CoD 4 is a must have for me when it goes gold in November.

CoH:OP - 3.5 out of 5
CoD 4: M.W. - 4.5 out of 5

Now I go to move! Yall have a great weekend and enjoy your internets. Ya lucky bastards.