Real Talk By: Vex

First of all, about time. I’ve been waiting for this beta since purchasing Splinter cell years ago and was promised access. Years later my expectations have nothing but perfection on its radar. Given the amount of time this game has had for polish, wasn’t expecting what I played. I know that it is only a beta, but now a days a beta is basically a demo. As you know we keep it legit on this site, so don’t expect me to sugar coat.

First impression, I was wowed by the menu only to be dumped like a wet paper bag when I saw the game play visuals. These are not the worst graphics I’ve seen but c’mon, what happened to the early footage? The map ( The Mill)  was bland color wise compared to other 3rd person shooters. I was a little more impressed by the second map ( Pipeline ) it was more impressive color and lighting wise. Hopefully it’s just the beta build that looks like that , but realistically I have never seen a giant leap in graphics from a beta to the final build. From what Kj said, who had the pleasure to play the campaign at E3 last year told me “I looks like new money”. Let’s hope so, this late in the game developers have no reason as to why this shouldn’t look anything short of amazing. Graphics are not everything, but let’s keep it real, this reflects a Sixty dollar game.

Much like my last car this game isn’t real pretty but it handles like a dream. The controls are intuitive. The cover system is a welcomed addition to Graw multi-player. It wasn’t just slapped on, they seemed to have an improved version of what they had utilised in Splinter Cell Conviction. Some may argue that it’s better than the one in gears. I agree and disagree, I like the fact you cannot wall bounce, but in the same token trying to make quick escapes are made difficult because of how it handles. This game contols great for its purpose, which is a tactical shooter. Gears on the other hand even though cover is encouraged it’s seldom used other than by hardcore players. Another welcomed feature is the ability to switch which side you prefer to shoot from.

Speaking of shooting, the guns are customisable to a ridiculous extent. Everything from scopes, triggers, muzzles and gas systems. You don’t have to wait to get into battle to test your guns. A firing range is offered in which you can test your gun modifications from kick-back to range. Fans of Graw know that there will be a multitude of guns to play with. There’s both Russian and American ghost teams, and depending on which of the two teams you end up with your load-out will vary. Both teams have three classes (Rifleman, Engineer and Scout). These classes can be changed in the middle of spawning  if the one you chose is not to your liking. Once you have played a while you can un-lock a better variety of improvements for your ghost.  When you first start of your given the basic stuff in order to survive.

There was no death-match in the beta, instead they started with one mode and it ended with two of which the total player count was twelve.

 Conflict

• Description: players battle to complete objectives located throughout the map and earn points, the team with the most points at the end of the round wins
• Game session: 1 round of 15 minutes