Despite only three guns currently in the game, members of the
development team hinted at more weapons to be introduced to the initial
selection. A larger selection of guns would have been appreciated,
especially a close quarters weapon. Perhaps a shotgun could make it
into the game before it’s released? Choosing from the three
weapons at hand, I selected the rocket launcher and waiting for the
rest of the group to join the battle. I knew a thing or two about
FPSes, and I figured I could hold my own in a deathmatch. I
was wrong.
The battlefield combat in Warmonger
is absolutely terrifying. My initial rounds were spent in an abandoned
subway complex that was a labyrinth of tunnels. I decided to be one of
the Attackers, and I went traipsing across the battlefield, my rocket
launcher in hand, I felt very safe initially, until the brick wall in
front of me blew inwards and an enemy stepped through, chaingun at
ready. I had no chance. Although the subway tunnel was not yet
optimized – the developers noted that many of the walls
weren’t collapsible yet – there was still an
immense sense of fear in the entire escapade. Ceilings, walls, and
other obstacles could be destroyed and dropped on an unsuspecting foe.
It was madness.
alt="Moving to higher ground." title="Moving to higher ground."
name="photo_j" border="0" height="94" width="150">
The subway scenario had us fighting in close quarters.
When we moved onto the parking garage scenario, I thought I
had gathered my bearings enough to make an actual assault on the
Defenders and try to run their flag to the base. Despite my confidence,
I found myself in an even worse plight than I had been in previously.
Nearly all of the walls in the parking garage were destructible, and no
place was safe for me to hide with the flag. The attacker soon became
the attacked.
Once the sheer shock of the destructible environments wore
off, I was able to truly appreciate the sort of strategies and tactics
employed by the individuals who had previously played through this
level. Instead of just standing watch by their
“base”, the Defenders eliminated several key
stairwells that would permit an Attacker quick and easy access to their
base.
By destroying the stairs, the Defenders bottlenecked the
Attackers into coming up the wide-open, sloping stairwell. The
Attackers continually were unable to advance the flag due to poor team
coordination and the lack of any sort of cover on the ramp. We could
take out one or two individuals, but the third and fourth Defenders
would spring up in their place and gun us down. While we could blast
through walls to advance our flag faster, the single car ramp
bottleneck halted our ascension completely.
In both the subway and the parking garage levels, the
back-and-forth dynamics of the team-based gameplay was easily
discernible. Both the Attackers and the Defenders could use the
destruction in their levels to open up new pathways to victory. In the
subway, the Attackers could overwhelm their opponents early on, as much
of the area looped and there is little room to move in the tunnels.
However, in the parking garage, the Defenders clearly had an advantage
when they destroyed the stairs and eliminated the shortest path to
victory.
alt="Here they come, through the ceiling!"
title="Here they come, through the ceiling!" name="photo_j"
border="0" height="94" width="150">
In the parking garage your opponents can come at your
through the ceiling!
Although in previous interviews, the NetDevil team had
suggested that a fully destructible environment was available - where
buildings could collapse on the players - that sort of gameplay
wasn’t evident in our builds. However, this is probably more
from a restriction in lighting than the actual physics of the barriers.
According to one member of the development team, the dynamic lighting
necessary to destroy that much of a building hasn’t been
completely ironed out, but it is expected to be revised very shortly.
Even without the ability to pull a building down on an enemies
head, the NetDevil team has truly achieved something fantastic in this
early build of Warmonger.
Instead of the standard duck-and-cover techniques found in many modern
shooters, NetDevil and AGEIA have developed a game where cover
isn’t an absolute, and gamers may risk more by hiding than
they do when the openly attack their enemies. Once destructible
environments are thrown into the equation, new strategies and tactics
open up for the players.
Given a few more months of development and a bit of
shine-and-sheen, NetDevil and AGEIA will have a remarkably refreshing
game on their hands. Fear and strategy will again enter the equation of
the first person shooter, and the future may forever change for FPS
gamers everywhere.
Ten Ton Hammer is your
unofficial source for Warmonger
news
and features!
Make sure you check out the
rest of our NetDevil
Open House coverage!
Additional comments? Thoughts? Suggestions? href="mailto:[email protected]">Email me!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Warmonger Game Page.
