Choose My Adventure: MAXing out in PlanetSide 2

Back in PlanetSide 2 for this week's Choose My Adventure, I found myself strangely drawn into the game every chance I got. And that's really part of the beauty of PlanetSide 2: You can jump in and out of the action without any unnecessary foreplay.

I continued to play my Heavy Assault for most of the week but did flirt with both the MAX and the Light Assault trooper to see what I'm missing. My verdict? I miss my Engineer.

That magic Instant Action button was the key to everything once again this week, keeping a constant flow of kills (and more deaths) on my stat page. But to be honest, after a while I stopped paying as much attention to those stats and just had some fun. There are so many strategies to playing this game that I'm really just enjoying the exploration aspect of trying everything out.

Impressions of MAX

Aside from the Heavy Assault, I would say the MAX was my second favorite role of the week. The MAX is almost like a small mech with devastating weapons and armor heavier than that of the Heavy Assault. It counts as a vehicle, so you use Infantry points to equip the MAX. You also have special boosts that can let you "run," but mostly you're there to be a bit of a lumbering aggro magnet while taking out as much as you can in the process.

I didn't want to waste any of my cert points on improving my MAX, but I felt as if she was reasonably powerful from the start. I'm sure that if I started specializing in a certain class strategy (anti-infantry, anti-aircraft, anti-tank), I'd have more fun with it, but I've never been much for the aggro magnet role.

Impressions of Light Assault

Next I tried out the Light Assault, which is exactly as you'd imagine. It's a lighter, more mobile version of the Heavy Assault with a jumpjet ability that allows you to boost yourself up to taller structures without using the stairs.

Playing the LA reminded me a lot of gameplay in Global Agenda, which I've always enjoyed. I really liked the fact that this class was much more agile than the others, but that was really about it. I didn't have the big weapons or armor, and the ability to fly around for a few seconds didn't really make up for that. Also, when you're in the air, you feel as if you have a giant neon sign on you saying, "Shoot me!"

I do have to say, though, that when I wasn't playing the LA, I did miss those jumpjets. The ability to fly right over terrain obstacles or walls was certainly fun. I may give this class more of a chance this week.

Impressions of new Death Screen

This week's update to the game saw some improvements to the Liberator aircraft's weaponry and an updated Death Screen feature that shows off more info on the person who just blasted your face off. Normally, I would click right through these types of things, but I find it interesting to learn that I'm my murderer's fifth victim of the night. Or that my murderer was hiding on that ridge behind me while I was shooting his friends full of holes. Or that my murderer has lot of money that he spends in the Station store.

Next week will be my last time in PlanetSide 2 for Choose My Adventure, but I've obviously been enjoying myself. Look for my full impressions of the assault classes, playing the front-line fighter role, and the state of the game itself in that final installment.

Shawn Schuster is now permanently at the helm of Massively's Choose My Adventure with you as the co-captain. It's going to be a rough ride, so put on your seat belt! Join him every Wednesday for a reader-guided deep-dive into a new MMO every month. Farcical puns about cars and farming sold separately.