I have played more this weekend and also did quite a few matches with Rcoon. I cannot speak to his exact thoughts, though I understand we share some concerns.
Firstly and most importantly, the game is still only offering 8vs8 PVP. It consists of Team Death match, Capture the Flag(or capture point) and a third mode where you charge items around the map then return them to your base. I guess it's like a smash and grab.
The free roam/openworld/cooperative play they discussed is delayed yet again, with 'sometime this year' which if going by their development history, that will mean next year.
That is crucial because it leaves the game very uninteresting. As a competitive shooter, it's pretty bland and generic - meaning it doesn't step outside the box or challenge the conventional online FPS formula. The game comes off feeling like a Call of Duty clone, made by Russians who are aiming at the STALKER community. And they do this by dressing the game up in a very dystopia-esque garb, complete with all the sounds, atmospheres, stereotypes and cliches that appeal to our limited western knowledge.
And while those sounds and atmospheres are very much appreciated by myself and I am sure by many others, it's not really any good to us until we experience it in the free roam modes.
In the meantime, to exacerbate the lack of gaming content issue, the PVP has considerable amounts of problems. In no particular order and many more I can't list :
- Bad weapon mechanics, unrealistic gun play. There's no bullet drop/droop, no trajectory concerns, ricochets etc. They've actually changed a weapon's real life properties to be more suitable in the game, so that it is less or more effective for the game mode/maps that they've designed.
- A stamina pool/meter that replenishes very fast and feels pointless (particularly because you can straffe spam, which does not affect stamina)
- Really bad ping and connectivity for a lot of players
- Really long wait times for matches (fortunately not something Rcoon and I suffered)
- Terrible hit detection - you ever been using a rifle, had someone in your sights and fired only to find they walked (or sat) right through it? Then you fired again, only to 'miss' a second time. By then you've given up your position and now you're dead, with nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, there's some asshat running around with a short ranged SMG, mowing people down from across the map? Ya...it's another one of those frustrating shooters.
- There are some horrific invisible wall issues with both world geometry and objects. Many many times have we shot through a gap in a stair well railing, or a bannister or simply between two train cars only to have our bullets denied. This happens so frequently that you find yourself sticking your neck out further just to ensure that you don't waste your shots. And the world objects really hinder your progress. You get stuck on little pieces of metal rubar sticking out buildings, or tripped up over a pebble. I've had scenarios where I've been moving slowly through brush or a building under a window and I've stepped on a cola can. In it's rage and disbelief, the can sums up super glucose energy forces and lifts me off the ground high enough that my head sticks up and BAM ..dead.
- The equipment and weapons you gain/unlock by ranking and levelling up (sadly, they've included the MMOFPS progression in the PVP...) make you significantly stronger as you grow, to the point where you become almost inhuman. Rush around the map eating people up while four of them shoot at you and take but maybe half health. And you might say 'well, next time you'll die' but alas you won't, because you have bandages/medical kits which heal you and regenerate your health. And that leads me to the health % and bleed mechanic..
- Virtually any time you take damage, you are given a status indicator of your body showing how much % of health you have lost. In conjunction with that, any time you are shot you will start to bleed. Depending on the severity of the damage (it's sometimes hard to tell, but generally speaking the closer the shot and the bigger the bullet, the worse it is going to hurt), you can bleed out slowly or practically die a few seconds later. And while this is a little twist on the game play (it's nice to shoot someone and then step away while the bleed out and you get the kill), it has it's own short comings. Even when you start to bleed, you can in fact stop bleeding and then in some cases, regenerate your health naturally.
- Since bandages and medical kits nullify the bleed and also regenerate your health, you can effectively get two lives in one. Fortunately there is a limit to how many times you can use items in one spawn life, but that's a bit besides the point. To make matters worse, these medkits aren't available to every one. You have to unlock them by grinding down a certain path or faction, which has it's inherent benefits for being a member.
All of this leads not only to inconsistent and mundane gameplay, yet also flies in the face of their claims to have put together a 'realistic' shooter based on 'realism' and 'survival,' where resources are scarce and life is precious. That may well be the intent for the free roam game, but in PVP it's non existent. I almost get the impression PVP was never the mainstay for the game and is only an appetizer to keep themselves funded while they finish the real project.
And as discussed on their forums by many, these indie developers are supposed to be taking risks, challenging the system and making an effort to really listen to the players who are tired of the same regurgitated junk. I highly doubt that people have been asking for what they've produced.
If you are looking for a STALKER type online game, maybe Fallen Earth or s-Zone online might be more your thing until Survarium finally releases what they've promised.
EDIT: I almost forgot, the hacking and cheating does exist. Wall tags might be the most common. Extra health, extra ammunition etc is a possibility, cannot confirm. It occasionally feels like playing COD on a 'cracked' server. People literally run right up on you and make no attempt to hide the obvious.
I wouldn't mind so much if they'd at least try not to be blatant about it.
Keep in mind though, that as previously mentioned - equipment and weapons make a big difference. Big difference like it does in Planet Side 2, where no matter how good you are, a level 84 player will always mow you down.
