written on Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Call of Duty 4 is a landmark game. It beats Halo 3 as the most played game on the 360 some months. When you add in the other platforms it can be played on, it probably beats Halo 3 every month. One of the reasons it's so successful is the way it rewards players with "perks". Some players automatically drop a live grenade when they die. Some shoot bullets that easily penetrate walls. Some can pull out a pistol and keep shooting even after they've been killed. You play. You get points. You earn perks. Attaching this mechanic to a multiplayer FPS was divisive at first. Many people didn't want to have to be at a disadvantage both because they were new at the game and because they didn't have the same abilities as people who had invested more time. But ultimately the strategy seems to have worked. Killing Floor also has a perk system, but I'm wondering if it isn't more liability than asset.
There are six classes in the game. Only three of them can gain gain XP during the first round of any game because the other three classes have to get kills with certain weapons to level up. Why even have that first round?
Also, the differences between the classes aren't very big to start with and become more pronounced. Why even have classes when the only difference is 10% more melee damage vs. 10% more head shot damage? It takes dozens of hours to level up a perk. Most people will never do it. I guess I wouldn't care, but the more specialized roles sound like more fun.
And finally, the system makes people play badly. If you need welding points to level your Support Specialist class, please just play some single player. Don't weld every door in the game and trap the team in with a bunch of monsters. Likewise, when someone is back pedaling as fast as they can, don't get in their way to heal them just because you want some Field Medic XP. If you're a Commando, shoot the greatest threat, not the monster that gets you the most XP.
CoD4 perks sound like nice bells and whistles. Killing Floor perks make me feel like I have to grind for a hundred hours just to "unlock" my class. And we all know how I feel about grinding.
1 comment:
Lol. Your assessment of killing floor is spot on. Leveling up the classes is a pain in the ass and unlike some other games where your rank stays with you and allows unlockable weapons you can get every time....anyone can use anything as long as they have the money for it. The advantage of being one class over the other is just a slight advantage in an area or two.
Though the game is pretty fun to play despite the annoyances.
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