Massively visits Stargate Worlds, part 2: Gameplay
We saw gameplay in two contexts. First, we saw canned footage of a firefight on the planet Lucia. Second, we visited the Quality Assurance department and watched testers play the game. The scenario they were playing appeared to be a prison break. From this we acquired a relatively good understanding of the basics of Stargate Worlds' combat. We didn't see any of the other modes of gameplay, but we talked about them a bit in our interview with the directors.
The non-combat gameplay is comprised of various mini-games, each representing a different kind of action such as hacking or conversation. The Archeologist and Scientist archetypes are especially adept at these games. Anyone can do them from anywhere. Let's say you're a soldier who likes shooting everything in sight, and you don't like to do puzzles. If you come across a locked door, you don't have to do the minigame yourself; you can pass it on to a Scientist or Archeologist friend who will solve the puzzle for you -- that friend should be glad to do it, because he or she will gain XP.
The combat is a marriage of traditional MMO gameplay to squad-and-cover-based ranged encounters that you might normally see in something like Gears of War. We were about to mention Tabula Rasa when Balentine -- who was no doubt used to the comparison -- beat us to the punch. He assured us that Stargate Worlds' cover system is a more pivotal part of gameplay. Judging from what we saw, he wasn't pulling our leg. When our QA friend ran out of cover in the midst of a firefight, he promptly dropped dead. Cover isn't just an extra edge; it's necessary.
Each rock or human-made barrier provides some level of protection from fire coming from within an arc around the player. This arc is visible on a radar-like circle at the bottom of the heads-up-display. Different kinds of barriers provide different degrees of protection; the arc's radar representation is color coded so you can see what level of protection you're getting.
As far as we could tell, players do not press a button to go into cover and there is no going-into-cover animation. It appears that you just stand behind the object in the environment and the effect is automatic. We would have liked to have seen some kind of input and animation feedback, as that sort of thing contributes to the visceral experience in other cover-based games. Note, though, that the game was still in its alpha testing stage when we saw it. By definition, an alpha build is not feature complete, so that might come later. We didn't think to ask.
Cover can also be used to sneak up on enemies, or to break line of sight in order to lose aggro.
Unlike in Tabula Rasa, players don't aim their weapons like they would in a first-person-shooter -- although we did notice a reload button. The game uses a lock-on mechanic that should be familiar to anyone who's played a modern MMO.
Special attacks (such as throwing a molotov cocktail) are performed by pressing assignable buttons on an action bar. At first we were a bit disappointed by the use of such a familiar interface. The action bar idea is abstract and tired, and we're not sure why folks assume it has to be part of the genre. Nevertheless, we think we understand CME's unique reasons for using it instead of a more complicated, action-oriented control scheme; Stargate fans uninitiated in the gaming world might not be comfortable with controls that demand more precise hand-eye coordination.
The challenge, then, is in outmaneuvering one's enemies. "It's all about flanking," said Balentine. Players will try to move from one cover object to another, hoping to reach a point where they can fire from outside their opponents' cover arc.
In addition to a health bar, players have a focus bar. Focus represents awareness of the environment. Think of it as a concentration meter. When players are hit, focus drops before health. If all their focus runs out, they lose health, which drops much more quickly.
We only saw humans in combat; we didn't get to see Go'auld, Jaffa, or Asgard. We did see the P90, though. It's the signature weapon of Stargate SG-1's human heroes. Apparently there will be several variations. The developers joked that they ought to name one of the weapons "P90 of the Whale." If you've played World of Warcraft, that ought to crack you up a bit.
Continue to Part 3: Impressions!
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