Let me tell you about Planetside 2. In fact, let me tell you about a single action in the war for Auraxis.
We were three squads: 36 guys. All armed to the teeth with guns, grenades, rocket launchers, and yet more guns. We were mean, ready for a fight, and armed to the point that we left a trail of empty magazines everywhere we went. It just so happened that on this particular day we had decided to take one of the larger bases on the continent, and then to hold it come what may. Imagine a large set of buildings containing things like a spawn point, the capture console, a vehicle bay, lots of tunnels, and a few shield generators of various descriptions. Now surround this complex with tall gun towers linked by walls.
“We were mean, ready for a fight, and armed to the point that we left a trail of empty magazines everywhere we went”
This is Peris Amp Station. Arguably one of the better places to fight on this particular continent, but that’s another story. My three squads of suicidal gung-ho soldiers and I had decided to take and hold this base. So we spent about half an hour battling our way there while the majority of the Terran Republic’s troops were off beating up the New Conglomerate (the third faction, we were the Vanu Sovereignty). So we had a fairly easy time taking Peris Amp Station. It was only after about ten minutes of squashing sporadic probes that we realised that suddenly we were facing the bulk of the Terran forces. That’s roughly 300 players. Yes, we were outnumbered 10-1. And we held.
We held the first hour on the walls, shooting down jetpack jockeys, and stopping infantry getting past the gates. The next hour we spent inside the walls stopping full, organised infantry pushes from reaching the inner buildings, and blowing up the odd tank or transport which managed to get past the gates. The third hour we spent in those buildings, in tense corridor firefights, hosing doorways with plasma, grenades exploding. The fourth and final hour was spent defending the central command console and the shield generators. We were eventually pushed off the point by the sheer weight of bodies being thrown at us. And even then we still prevented the Terrans from an easy win. We used the tunnels under the station while we could still spawn, and darted back and forth, securing shield generators, destroying enemy mobile spawn points.
“My three squads of suicidal gung-ho soldiers and I had decided to take and hold this base”
And then, more than four hours after we began, it was over. We were pushed out. We lost. But what a loss! And to my knowledge, this kind of fight happens in Planetside 2 every day. Every day you see heroic last stands, desperate last minute re-secures, giant vehicle columns, and infantry streaming over the nearest hill, rockets and bullets flying. That’s Planetside 2.
Rupert Harris
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Planetside 2 is simply a phenomenal game, I would agree. I especially love leading 36 bung-ho soldiers too!
I love it’s open world nature, with player skill levels from I’m new to “I think I’ve been to this exact spot twice in my gameplay” as every time you play it’s different. Different opponents, weapons, class, squad members and even going as a lone wolf sniper on a hill 400m away from the action with aircraft combing the ground for valuable targets. If anything, it does become stressful as you’re playing with players that have little experience and end up in the meat grinder, you need to learn how to survive and shave of the first opponent first, then the second and hopefully a mechanised max unit isn’t around the corner unless you’ve got your C4 ready. There’s no real reward, there’s a satisfaction of taking territory in the name of your faction, more rewarding when they’re in the majority.