This Is Beta Gaming - 2014 Recap and 2015 Plans

Player Preview - Block 'n' Load

Hey what’s up, Serpentine here taking a look at first person shooter, Block ‘n’ Load, Developed by Jagex who are most known for their browser based MMO Runescape but have also attempted in creating this very game before with Ace of Spades that was released 2 years ago. With Block ‘n’ Load however they’ve added a bunch more character to the format and introduced a bunch of unique tools and weaponry.

Block ‘n’ Load is like a nice combination between Minecraft and Team Fortress 2 and almost separates features of both into different stages of the game. When you load, in the first and only thing you will be able to do is build and destroy with the objective to build defenses around your cores. The map is split in the middle of the 2 teams bases by a wall that you can’t really see through so you can’t try and spy on the enemy teams building strategy. During this stage you will most likely be building walls and trenches around the cores while lining them with turrets, traps and friendly team boosts. All the blocks and items that you can place are chosen before the game as your load-out with certain characters restricted to certain blocks so having a range of characters in your team can be beneficial but in saying that I have seen whole teams of sniper guy win matches before.

These specialty blocks include area denial traps like fire and poison bombs, turrets, caltrops and bear traps to long range weaponry like mortars. For taking out enemy structures you have multiple bombs with differing payloads and finally support blocks like health and ammo blocks as well as speed boosts and jumping platforms. It’s a lot to take in but after playing each character at least once you do start to get the hang of it and know how to use your items effectively. So as to create balance in the game each block costs a certain amount of resources with the more powerful items costing more and even growing in price the more you have on the map. You can slowly regain these resources via killing enemy players, destroying a core or by mining.

Structures in the game have basic physics applied to them so you won’t be able to create structures that only connect to the ground by a 1 by 1 column reliably because as soon as one of those block in the link get destroyed, the whole structure will come tumbling down requiring you to think before you build, or destroy.

The different characters in Block ‘n’ Load follow a somewhat standard format of soldier, engineer and sniper but also offers some unique characters to play as well from a poison obsessed scientist to a heavy weapons robot to a sneaky ninja. Each character has their own unique personality too shown through random remarks made throughout the game.

Block ‘n’ Load works fantastically when all members of your team are working together and using all their blocks effectively. Some games you will have all 5 people working together with each other while other games you will have players working on their own separate building plans like the snipers spending all the build time building an elaborate snipers nest and leaving your cores completely open. When the building phase is over character synergy really starts to shine with speed jumps boosting your attackers into the enemy base while the defenders slowly push out their defenses with bombs, spawn plates and team only passable walls.  

A lot of players employ the mass tunnel strategy were they dig their way underground to the enemies base however the strategy is quickly foiled by clever uses of radars that can pick up enemies and their structures in its short radius, highlighting them so you can easily see them coming. Many games I have been in players ignore how important the radar block is as well as a bunch of other blocks like spawn plates and traps. Almost every time these blocks are ignored that team usually loses the game. Another key element of the game is using the environment to your advantage. Blowing out bridges, digging pit traps or knocking large structures down by destroying its foundations can all be used to hinder your enemies and advance your attack. 

Apart from the main game mode there is the option to create your own custom game with custom rule sets. You can also par take in ranked games for a higher level of play but that’s still locked for the beta phase. For those that might be a little confused about the characters or maybe to find out something they didn’t know the client offers video tutorials for each character showing you how to optimally play them. Skins for characters unlock at certain levels with a majority of them unlocking at level 10 which unfortunately isn’t where the game will be making its money. To put up a game like Block ‘n’ Load against a game like Team Fortress 2 and have it cost $30 isn’t really the best idea in the current market for free to play games. Block ‘n’ Load while being a unique combination it doesn’t offer enough content currently for the price tag. The game could quite easily adopt a similar free to play model as TF2 and even integrate user generated content via the Steam Workshop but with pre-order sales already happening I doubt we will see a change.

Block ‘n’ Load manages to combine the creativity and building of Minecraft with the gameplay of team fortress 2 brilliantly. Once players get used to the games mechanics and have more of an understanding of the game I imagine we will see some crazy builds and tactics especially once ranked is unlocked. I hope Jagex continues to add different and unique blocks to use in the game and offer some way to create maps as it seems a perfect platform for this. Alternate game modes wouldn’t go astray either. While I do recommend the game for its gameplay, the price tag is something to consider especially while comparing Block ‘n’ Load to its competitors

Anyway, that’s been my player preview for Block ‘n’ Load. The game is currently in close beta with keys being given out at various gaming sites or alternatively you can pre-order the game for access on Steam if you’re interested in playing right now, otherwise the game will be releasing on Steam sometime in February of 2015. Let me know what you think of the game and I’ll see you guys next time.


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PayDay 2 focuses on Visualisation

 

To those of you that played the original you will recognize the skill tree, loadouts and some of the enemy forces. Although these will be recognizable, they have undergone some changes. The skill tree is now based on points and money, the higher up the skill tree the more points and money are required. Loadouts have become much more advanced with additional weapon modifications. The enemy police force still has the units from the original but have had visual upgrades as you would expect. Although it was a visual upgrade, the enemies aren't as distinguishable as The Heist. The Taser blends in with the other units and the Bulldozer, while keeping the aesthetic, isn't as daunting.

So that's all the similar mechanics from the first game, buts whats new?

When you enter the safe house you will realize how much the effort the OVERKILL team has put into turning the UI menu screens into the game. You can now physically walk into you vault and see the money you've earned sitting on the table, the guns and masks you've unlocked also appear on the walls in your armoury. This gives a great impression of actually owning the equipment you've bought with the money that's lying in the vault just next door. From inside the safe house you can access crime.net which show you all available heists, which brings me to my next point. The day system that has been added makes things very interesting. The smaller jobs only go for one day and you get payed on that day. There are missions that can take up to 7 days to complete (7 different missions to complete the main mission). This adds a lot more story into the game and makes it harder to fully complete certain missions.

The Heists in PayDay2 have evolved as well. Instead of just having the main objective there are lots of smaller objectives to attend to such as cash registrars,  ATMs and safe deposit boxes. PayDay 2 adds a new feature were instead of only getting one bag of loot, there will be multiple bags depending on the quantity of cash. You can only carry one at a time and they impede your movement and slant your camera, which really adds to the panic of the heist and makes a little bit more sense then when you steal a million dollars in 4 bags. After a successful heist another new element to the game shows up in the form of a random card chance. From this you can win masks, gun mods, money etc.

The gunplay also feels different. There seems to be more recoil on the guns then the original. Scope depth of field is a nice feature if our after a realistic approach but turning it off makes aiming a lot quicker and easier. The vast amount of weapon modifications range from silencers to barrel modifications to grips. Instead of unlocking guns through the skill tree, you now unlock them with money in the inventory screen or at the safe house. 

 

The HUD in-game has also been updated, although in my opinion it's not better than the original and looks as if they were trying to go minimalistic. The white circles aren't as easily readable as the old portrait style where if you were low health they would show up red. When you go to open a safe I also noticed the HUD spam that appeared on the safe itself showing different options to opening it. While I say spam as if it were a negative thing, it can actually really help when you're in a rush and can simply mouse over which method you want in a second.

PayDay 2 is a great successor to PayDay: The Heist. Overkills focus on visualisation makes the game a much more immersive experience and the customizable masks gives the player a uniqueness. More guns and more gun mods increases the longevity of the game as well as the new skill tree.