Planetside 2 PS4 Preview – Beta Expectations

Planetside 2 doesn’t cover itself in any kind of pretentiousness. It is simply a remake of the 2003 original. But now it’s moving from its natural home on the PC, where players have had the privilege of fighting for the territories on Auraxis since 2012, to a box under the television. What it does offer in replacement of a massive intricate story and planet lore is a solid and well considered First Person Shooter where the word ‘Massive’ is a slight understatement. So having access to the Beta version is an interesting prospect, if only to see exactly what is on offer and whether it has a chance to steal players from a certain other spaced based shooter.

Jumping in, you are faced with the choice of three different factions to pick from, each offering their own distinct advantages and disadvantages. If you want fast flying fighters and rapid fire weaponry then look at the Terran Republic. If packing a punch with Electromagnetic equipment is your bag, then sign up to the New Conglomerate. If the idea of using vehicles with massive amounts of manoeuvrability is your must have, then the Vanu Sovereignty is where you should set up camp. It is only by diving in and getting your paws mucky that you will learn what best works for you. The Terran Republic was my own favourite, though more hours on the clock might have changed my mind.

The main aim of the game is to capture territory, by taking or holding onto designated points on the map. The easiest comparison I can make is something similar to Control on Destiny, though I wouldn’t suggest comparing the two side by side. The selling point is it’s scale: Planetside 2 has enormous areas to the fight over. It’s the difference between fighting in a paintball arena and fighting over an area the size of a city.

One of the other attractions of Planetside 2 is the flexibility that is on offer to you in terms of how you reach or tackle your objective. Choosing a class isn’t set in stone, with six available and the ability to change with ease at any point, you are given ample opportunity to find out which is most suitable for your style of play. Engineers and Medics act as support to the frontline, while Light and Heavy Assault can provide effective attacks. If you want to beast it up then you can strap yourself into a MAX exosuit and wade in guns blazing. If it doesn’t go your way, you are never too far from a terminal to make your next decision over your class. This adds greatly to the ‘one more go’ goal that every game of this this type needs.

Planetside 2 doesn’t just give you choice on foot, there is a menu of vehicular delights for you to sample, from small, fast quad bikes to get you from A to B to heavy assault tanks. You can also take to the air in a variety of planes, ships and helicopters, all designed to play their part in various types of assault.

All the vehicles and all the classes can be upgraded with improved weapons and equipment by paying for them with ‘certs’. These Certifications are achieved by gaining experience in the game. The more you play, the more experience you’ll achieve and the more upgrades you can purchase. As time goes on, you are given the chance to further specialise in specific skills, to really make your character your own. Planetside 2 aims to keep you playing for the long term: upgrades are kept simple, you play more, you earn more. There is the option to purchase certs to make the process quicker, and to some this may be objectionable to some, but as a free-to-pay model, and the optional nature of the purchases, it really is a take it or leave it scenario.

The main objectives are there for you to win then, with the choice on how you tackle them is left completely up to you. The areas in which you fight are given their own distinct landscapes and geography, with four gigantic continents ranging from swamp lands to frozen tundra and deep lush forests.  It’s essentially a sandbox of pure combat.

Graphically, the game isn’t the going to take your breath away, though between the heat of battle or racing to your objective you won’t really have a vast amount of time to stop and admire the polygons and shaders. There are some moments that can be described as stunning though, mainly during the transitions between day and night as Daybreak knows how to create the most eye catching sunsets and sunrises. The individual soldiers are well detailed and you can easily make out what class has just taken you out on the respawn screen. The sound design brings an intensity to the game and really makes you feel you are slap bang in the middle of a war. Explosions are deafening, gunfire adds a snare drum punctuation, and the chorus of team-mates shouting out, trying to give orders, complaining about friendly fire all adds to the atmosphere. In the background, you will be given regular tips and help from the commander on what equipment can do. It all adds to the feeling of immersion.

For a beta there are many things that Planetside 2 gets right and because of its current state, it is easy to forgive some of the inevitable downsides to a game of this time. However, some of the core mechanics concern me. Firstly, the game seems more suited to twitch PC gunplay than is does to the Playstation 4’s controller, with shooting feeling a lot more twitchy than other recent shooters I have played. Destiny in particular wipes the floor with this in terms of the gunplay. Too many times, I felt I lost out on a face to face because my crosshair was floating around my opponent’s head like a halo as opposed to feeling well controlled, which can be excused if the respawning times were quick enough. Sometimes I found I was waiting some time before I could back into the fray depending on my last spawn point. This could be down to the Beta server though.

Other issues include the radar, which wasn’t useful for anything more than finding the nearest weapon console. I was expecting it to be able to highlight some kind of enemy activity but it pretty soon sat ignored in the corner of the screen and I was reduced to using my wits when scouting around for capture points. Also, while vehicles are easy to come by, controlling them to gain any advantage is a task in itself. The maniacal laugh upon discovering I could deploy a helicopter soon gave way into bad words and frustration and the occasional scream. The control schemes are neither very intuitive nor easy to master and raining death from the skies is something in which time needs to be invested.

Most of these concerns are lost in the joy that can be gained when the game clicks though, as there is nothing more satisfying than you and ten other individuals dashing towards an objective, covering each other, with the medics healing wounds and the MAXs’ leading the charge. This is a game about team-work, and that’s where Planetside 2 shines, and shows it potential to be a glorious addition to the Playstation catalogue. It is unique in what it offers. Coupled in with the ability to tackle your objective how ever you feel. If the population increases, filling up the occasionally barren beta, it has the potential to be something rather special indeed.