AI

Stupid AI! Damn you, damn you to hell... Why can't you be like a normal AI? When I shoot your buddy, you're supposed to continue patrolling as you were, not take cover and return fire, killing me dead.

As you might guess, I was pretty surprised when I picked off a Ruskie guard who was just sitting around a campfire minding his own business. Two of his buddies who were standing around a nearby building immediately ducked behind a nearby wall and started shooting back at me. Oh, and one also fired a grenade at me, which I caught it my teeth.

This was on rookie difficulty. It just gets worse from there. There are also some very nasty snipers and ambushes set up for you in the different missions. Prepare to fight an AI that actually lives up to the "I" in the name. A very nice change.

Multiplayer

Ahhh, the part of the game we all love and love some more. The fine art of finding some guys, and kicking the bejesus out of them over and over again. Well, in theory anyhows!

Thank god that Red Storm has finally given us the option to run dedicated servers. All of their previous games have only allowed for listen (you host and play at the same time.) servers... Dedicated servers mean less lag and better performance for us. :) Also more players.. Up to 36 this time around!

On the multiplayer side of the game comes a wide variety of new missions, and gameplay modes. Not only can you fight other humans, you can gang up on those evil Ruskie nogoodniks with your buddies in co-op mode and give them a little of the old what for.

Multiplayer is fully customizable, with up to four teams and a huge choice in gameplay options. Arcade mode makes the game faster, and players tougher.

Solo mode (lone wolf/death match) pits every man against the world. Under solo mode you can play Hamburger Hill (King of the Hill), Last Man Standing (survival) or Sharpshooter (most kills wins at the end of the game.)

Co-op modes include Recon (get to the evac point), Mission (Plays just like the single player game), or Firefight (kill 'em all!)

Teamplay mode has three game types, Hamburger Hill (team king of the hill), Search and Rescue (the team who rescues the three hostages and gets them to the evac wins.), and Last Man Standing (Team with most live men at the end of the map wins.)

The server can also set up the maps, time limit, IFF (Friendly fire warnings.), kit restrictions and the threat indicator. In a change I'm not sure if I like yet personally but I do appreciate them allowing it, (Hey, different strokes and all.) is respawning. The server host can set the number of respawns allowed to each player or team, or play it for real. One life, that's it.

Pesky TKer? No problem, you can vote to kick his ass out of the game. Yay!

With the number of options, and support for MODs built in, I think that multiplayer GR will be around for quite some time. Oh, did I mention it's fun as hell? I think I did.

There are a few bad things about the multiplayer that need to be mentioned however, just so you don't all think I'm on the Red Storm payroll. (I'm not, but I DO accept bribes. If you lag out playing online, you can have one HELL of a time. For instance keys tend to "stick" if you lag... You let out a key and you're still going in that direction.. Usually just in time to catch a bullet in the noggin.

In a move I find completely incomprehensible you also need to have a computer capable of running the damned game to run a server. If you've ever run a game server before you know that most of the game out allow you to run a dedicated server in a DOS window. This sucks up a very minimal amount of resources, and dedicates everything to running the server. It also allows you to run servers on lower end machines. Not GR. I had to installed a new video card in a machine I was messing around with for a server. And update ALL of the drivers to the latest versions.. Otherwise the machine just locked solid or crashed when the server tried to run.

You also need the disk in the drive to launch the server. I hate when people do that. Server admins are the reason that a game flourishes. As far as I'm concerned the company should make the server software a free download on their site. People who run servers sell the damned game. No places to play, no game sales. *sigh* Ahh well, thank god for CD cracks. (I mentioned that on the forums and I don't think it was appreciated. Heh. Damned if I'm going to buy another copy of the game just to run a server.) It was pointed out to me that you only need the CD to launch the server. That's nice, but what if the server is located at an equipment site away from my home or work? Not very convenient if I have to reset for some reason. Now I have to drive down there to stick the CD in the drive. Don't think so. Smarten up game companies. Make it so easy to setup and run a server that people won't be able to resist if they have the resources to do so.

I also don't like the lack of in game browser... You normally play the game with a front end such as Ubi.com (Think Mplayer) or Gamespy Arcade.

I'm sure that the lag issues will be addressed in a patch sometime. I hope anyhows. :) A DOS box and maybe a Linux server would be nice as well.