hot damn. this is easily the best deathmatching experience ive ever had, and im playing against bots!
Weapons - very nice. balanced, with none of them being obsolete - i can always find a use for any weapon. the lightning gun (sniper rifle) is very cool too. zap! the flak cannon makes me giggle with glee and i love the shock rifle combo.
Characters - one thing thats apparently unique to xbox is the fact that different characters have abilities. mercs are average, juggernaughts have +70 health but are damn slow, nightmares have -50 health but regenerate health when causing damage, Gen Mo'kai have -40 health but are really fast etc. a nice addition, and you can use a mutator to deactivate it if you like.
Health - they had a nice idea - why does health have to be 100?. now the avberage character (mercs) have 120 (while juggernaughts have 190!) standard (ie start). you can use health packs to get back to this level, and health vials to get to 200. with the use of addrenaline and vials, you can go to double your starting health. so mercs can get to 240, juggernaughts to 380 and nightares to 140. while the juggernaughts would seem to waste nightmares, remember that nightmares can get to their full health by causing damage, adrenaline and vials, while juggernaughts can only use adrenaline (since vials only go up to 200, and juggernaughs have 190 starting health).
Maps - christ. the worst of the UC maps are better than the best Q3 or UT maps. i kid you not. now consider how good the best UC maps are...
each of these has its own music (very good music too, from heavy metal to soft classical to natural sounding stuff), textures are crisp and clear, the maps are epic in scope (check out the Bombing run map than takes place during a sand storm - your view changes coloour when you leave your base and go into the storm) and the weapon and item placement ensures that he who remembers the map and uses it to his advantage is god.
Speed - wow. this is about as fast as Q3 - its hardcore action all the way. never are you bored or have time to plan - you have to use gut knowledge and pure skill and reflexes to win.
Bots - not bad, not bad at all. while they still are no challenge compared to human opponents, they provide a most realistic threat, and make the offline game perfectably playable.
Graphics - awesome. really. im particularly impressed with the water graphics - it actually looks wet! fire a shot from the flak cannon, and there is a splash. the water is a bit slow - like treacle - but very impressive nonetheless.
Online play - dunno, dont have it (yet! ADSL is coming on the 7th of feburary!) but factor in *everyone* on 512 bit connections, everyone using the same hardware (making it easier for epic to ensure no bugs) and everyone using headphones and microphone (its part of the X-box live set) and its a pleasing prospect. apparently the only problem is the fact that the language is rather blue - people dont like getting fragged, and express their disgust with the headset. not a worry for me, but since the other forum people mention not likeing swearing, thought id mention it.
Downloads - with X-box live, you can download new skins, maps and mutators. sweet. companies are excited, since it allows them to extend the life of their games by making content available for download. cant argue with that, eh?
i like the game so much, i bought it after renting it. for a scotsman, thats a pretty heavy endorsement.
