Latest News «
Submit News «


Articles «
Comics «
Journal Entries «
Squad Reviews «
Rat Profiles «


Infantry Bootcamp «
Creating A Squad «
Maps & Radio «
FAQ «
Dictionary «


Official Forums «
Chat Room «


Previews «
Screenshots «
Book Listing «
Equipment Specs «
Links «


Feedback «
Site Info «
Link to Us «

Weasel's Beta Adventures
by Weasel

My god, the sounds ... Sound ... Cool.

And the...

The..

Damage model..

Wow.

I am truly impressed with this game, dudes. When I visited texas, I thought it would be ... well ... warbirds with strategy. And a big arena. but that's about it, really.

After doing troop vs unbuttoned tank tests with pacifist, I found the damage model to be extremely accurate. Now when my tank driver dies, I don't think "damn, a shell hit my tank's body..." I think, "damn, a shell hit my driver."

People have to /think/ about where you shoot, instead of just aiming for a vehicle in general. This alone adds up to a GREAT game.

I recall way back when... *wavy lines, fade in: airfield*

I jumped into a stuka as I'm not so talented at the tanks. I took off from a German airfield and head east. The trip to the allied city Anhee was a quick 90-second-trip, if that, and I knew I'd find some action. I lowered the flaps, cut the throttle, and opened up the canopy... I find it's easier to spot enemy tanks on the ground without the glare of the windshield getting in my way.

Doing big sweeping turns over the high-traffic lanes, I look out my left wing towards the ground. Nothing. Seems the allies are on holidays today. Suddenly, with full doppler stereo sound effects, I hear a deep bass grumble zip by me, much like the sound of a semi driving by you on the highway.. at the speed of a Forumula 1.

I quickly bank to the right and check my six - and I see a Spit looping back around for the kill.

I panic. The rear gunner in the Stuka isn't that easy to operate in this beta and I knew I'd just spray wildly in vain attempts at fending him off.

I knew I was done for so I decided to fly under a bridge in an attempt to lose him.

ZOOM ZOOM, two more engine sounds, this time much higher pitched. I panic again and flip onto my left wing and check my six - two BF109's spraying the spit with a fine mist of bullets.

Well, that was sort of anti-climatic, but the SOUND of the airplanes zipping by me scared the sh*t out of me.

I quickly left the area - heading north towards the allied city Anhee, I noticed an R35 just leaving city square. I had him perfectly lined up. I zoomed in... And straightened out my plane.

ETA to him was about 10 seconds or so; I was pretty far out. (10 seconds last a long time in the warzone!)

This was going to be a perfect shot. head on, no deflection, hitting the driver dead on with both barrels. Just wait a few more seconds...

Suddenly, he starts shooting his MachineGun at me.

"Bah," I shrugged. "He won't hit squat at this distance."

PING PING PING, shells bounce of my right wing. I shrug this off as a fluke, dip my wings a bit to mess up his aiming. The tank's machine gun might have penetrated to the fuel tanks, but at this range I didn't really care - I've had a less-than-spectacular flight and wanted to get a kill.

WHAM. My screen quickly flickers red before I'm greeted by the infinite darkness. I check the chat buffer:

"pilot hit: torso"
"pilot hit: arms"
"pilot hit: arms"
"pilot hit: head"
"pilot hit: head"
"pilot hit: head"
"pilot hit: head"

Well, that was a fiasco. I switch to external view. My plane is completely unscathed - no flames, no smoke. Just a dead pilot slumped over the controls.

I get pinged a few more times before my stuka slams at breakneck speeds (if it mattered) into the side of a church.

And thus ends yet another hectic day of beta testing. *wipes sweat off brow*

This is an incredibly fun game, folks. From shooting happy monkey heads to sniping tanks with troops (seriously!)... just... WOW!