Yes a clusterfuck of almost epic proportions. Its fun, but it feels like it needs more time in the dev oven for sure.
My thoughts after two days of gameplay:
the sign up system is complete bullshit
you have to sign up with a KONAMI ID and then a GAME ID, all this being seperate from your PSN which is apparently not good enough for Konami, god knows why. Im thinking its because they want to nickel and dime you to death, which brings me to my next point...
you are given ONE character per PS3 system, changing user accounts makes no difference.
to create a new character you must PURCHASE A NEW SLOT from Konami (I have no idea how much it is but that doesn't matter)
following that, when you create a character, you are given PLENTY of options for customization, HOWEVER BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU CHOOSE, because you can NEVER change those items again. Its fucking ridiculous. Made an all black character and want to switch to green clothes instead? TIME TO PAY KONAMI
AS FOR THE GAMEPLAY, here are my main concerns:
1. you constantly spawn near enemies - should be unforgivable in any post year 2000 shooting game, Ive found my self spawn killed multiple times in a row, they stand behind you right before you get ready to move, then they take advantage of...
2. incredibly easy headshots - its so ridiculous how often and easy you can get insta-kill headshots, so often one might wonder if the upper torso is the whole hitbox. I cant count the number of times me and my enemy have double ko'd thanks to this business
3. the skill system is shit - when you create a character you are given 4 skill slots to pick and choose out of a list of skills. These include things like skill with knives, assault rifles, CQC, scanning abilities and such.
Each one has a level of 1-4. You are given no indication of how or if you got points towards leveling these skills up after a match. Just some red bar that moves at a snails pace when you check the skills page once in a while. I assume when it gets to the end it levels up the skill. But ive been playing for two days and each skill is only 2/3rds of the way to the end
4. the controls are near identical to the single player portion of MGS4. That said, they really should have changed a few things. If you have a gun equipped and press L1 it brings out the gun and centers the camera, this is good. But when you have a knife out, it does the same thing, usually moving the camera away from the person you were about to stab, making it hard and awkward. Small things like that.
5. there is no option to quit the game during the time between rounds once the scores are displayed -minor, but sometimes once I finish a game I really don't have any intentions of sticking around and dont give a shit about my scores. slightly annoying.
...
that said it can be an pretty fun game when it wants to be, there are very few things more satisfying then hiding in a box as an enemy runs past you, you jumping out, grabbing his throat and pulling him into the darkness as you choke him unconscious. Ive heard with level 3 knife skills you can also slit their throats I wouldn't know because it would take forever to reach that.
Ill try to post more positive impressions in my next few posts
