Continuing my joyless adventure through online MP, I've been playing quite a bit of
CoD Advanced Warfare (PS4 version) this weekend. For all its manic pace and twitchy gameplay it's definitely one of the easier online MP games I've sampled. And, shockingly, I've been
mainly playing this properly online against real players. Making progress in the rankings and the unlocks seems to be fairly trouble-free (at least, at these early stages, I suppose). That's a bit of a surprise. Is it good news for me and bad news for the 'serious' online players? Is the MP game too easy for them? I've watched a few Playstation Live streams and even the 'experts' seem to be dying an awful lot (and often getting quite antsy about it, lol). Amazingly, I even won us a three-round match of Capture The Flag this afternoon and I was by far the lowest ranked, least experienced online gamer there. Funny how that goes (I have the game footage to prove it, if anyone's interested).
Also this weekend, I've spent a fair amount of time with
Battlefield 4 (PS4 version) - my unloved, red-haired stepchild of a game. I decided it was high time I explored all that multi-gigabyte Season Pass content. I've risen to Level 25 (a Sergeant Class V, I think) and unlocked at least half of all the various bits and bobs for each class along the way. Yes, I died an awful lot. Such a miserable affair, although it has to be said the sheer mayhem of 64 players on maps like Operation Metro, Pearl Market and Operation Locker does make things quite fraught and random at times. Occasional, brief flashes of fun might even have been detected in between merciless headshots I seemed always to be on the receiving end of. Is it fair to say that playing as a sniper is a coward's way out? Me, I just grab a SMG and leg it straight into the action - what will be, will be, etc. Playing with a sniper rifle seems a bit like opting for the relative safety of ranged combat over the blood and gristle of getting stuck in to the centre of things. If that's the case, Battlefield 4 is
very over-represented in the cowards' department - they are quite literally everywhere. All the time.
I still don't enjoy online gaming in the least; seems to me to be a fairly equal mixture of frustration, anxiety, panic and unintentional comedy (or should that be pathos?). How anyone could do this quite as determinedly and with such dedication as - quite clearly - so many do is quite beyond me. Guess I'll never be a 'true' gamer.
Speaking of which,
Killzone Shadow Fall (PS4) quietly received
yet another free MP map ('Academy') at some point last week (something I only discovered on firing up the game for a quick play against the excellent AI bots yesterday). The game now boasts 17 glorious MP maps with all modes and (permanent) challenge progression, XP and gear unlocks enabled for offline bot play.
All in all in a very multiplayer-centric weekend was had. But not necessarily always enjoyed.