Planetside 2 recently got a patch, Game Update 4, and with it came a number of interesting features. The one that grabbed my attention is the new VR training area. I personally always questioned my weapon choices and was never confident in my cert upgrades, This new area allows you to toy with all of the weapons and vehicles in the game without any costs or cool downs. Let’s look into how this plays into the overall picture.
What this does for me is allow me to plan an upgrade path for my gear. No longer am I guessing what weapons to get based on vague numbers and short trial periods. Instead I can try all of the weapons and their attachments to see what works best for me and my play style. Personally, I want of a tight spray cluster and either short reload times or large magazines. Pure damage is less important to me than being able to hit my target reliably. Specializing as a heavy assault on the Terran Republic, I tried out a number of light machine guns, sub machine guns and shotguns, quickly ruling out shotguns. I like being able to hit my target at mid-range, thank you.
Once I’d settled on a SMG I liked (the PDW-16 Hailstorm) I wanted to test the different scopes. The range of this gun seemed to call for a short-range or reflex scope but I use mine to scout ahead as well so I found the 3.4\x scope worked best for me. Now armed with a gun and scope I liked, it was just down to teases out which extras I liked, such as a laser sight. In about 40 minutes I had found my comfort zone and just needed to get the cert points required to get these items.
This is a nice touch to the game and allows players to find their niche from the get-go and plan an upgrade path that fits how they want to play. This should lower the barrier of entry for people who didn’t want to fight the old long and expensive trial-and-error process of upgrading their gear. For those who played Planetside 2 but haven’t logged in recently, hop back in and give it another shot. Between this and the other recent changes made with Game Update 4, Planetside 2 is still getting better.
Alphasim out.
