[CoD4] Hardcore vs. Normal and other arguments of that ilk

[Tetsuo_Shima]

So as not to drag any other threads into an off-topic hell hole, I have conveniently created this one as a cesspit into which I will pour all my CoD4 pet hates.

1. Dodgy Weapons

• M4 Carbine - Lacking in recoil to the extreme. If you use this, you should be playing Myst - its a far better point and click adventure. Note: More of a minor one this. Most of the time I don't mind, and funnily enough its easier to live with in hardcore.
• P90 - As above but with added RPM, better spraying potential and a ludicrously large clip. When in doubt, coat every single thing in sight with an inch-thick coating of lead; that's the P90 creed.
• M249 SAW - As above minus the spraying potential, for that reason this one is only minor.
• M21 - Was perfectly fine as a balanced autosniper before the 1.3 patch, but since then the accuracy has been parallel to that of the R700 without the cost of, y'know, reloading.
• Dragunov SVD - as above, but worse.
• Barrett M50 - as above but worse worse worse. Note: The autosnipe quibble, as applied to the three above, is only minor in normal play, but accentuated in Hardcore. See below.

2. Dodgy Perks

• Overkill - Desc.: Carry two main weapons as opposed to one + pistol. Reason: Bye bye rock paper scissors mechanic, hello CQB sniper.
• Dead Silence - Desc.: Make virtually no noise, even when running. Reason: All the sneaky knife kills you want, without the sneaking!
• Last Stand - Desc.: Pull out your pistol with a full clip of ammo when you are killed without a headshot Reason: Rewards poor marksmanship with a second shot at your killer. Allows teammates to thieve your kill. Especially upsetting for bolt-action snipers like oneself.
• Martyrdom - Desc.: Drop a live grenade on your body when killed. Reason: Sounds OK on paper, causes real live aneurisms in game.
• Double Tap - Desc.: Fire at twice the normal rate. Reason: Apart from not making any sense, it turns already notorious spray guns like the P90 into fire-and-forget lunacy.
• 2x RPG-7 - Desc.: Carry a rocket launcher with 2 shots as an additional weapon. Reason: Like tubes, but not quite so annoying.
• *Claymore* (???) - Desc.: Carry 2 claymore AP mines which detonate on proximity. Reason: In essence, I don't mind claymores all that much. What I do hate are snipers who barricade themselves in spawn with claymores to prevent rushers from doing what they do best. Even if we somehow do manage to notice the claymore and blow it up, you can hear the explosion a mile away and can react to it.

3. Other Assorted Travesties to Humankind

• (noob) Tubes - Underslung grenade launcher available on assault rifles. No need to aim anymore, as long as your target is onscreen that'll do.
• Kniving replacing bash - Too fast, too powerful and no drop in power when using heavy weapons. There's no humiliation in being knived anymore - it's just infuriating.

4. Hardcore Mode

A playstyle new to the CoD series implemented into CoD4, where all weapons are far more deadly (one shot will do more often than not) and there are no ammo counters nor grenade indicators.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate hardcore mode as such and I think it's a neat idea but some of the weapon mechanics carried over from normal mode make it (ironically) noob friendly and (annoyingly) very hard for some styles of play.

Firstly, the accuracy and recoil of the weapons remain unchanged. This hands a large bonus to people who have practised with the G3, P90, Carbine and all the rest of those dirty weapons. One hit kills, and with loads of RPM or a large clip in a semi auto - thats some mega blessing.

And second, all sniper rifles have their damage equalised (what I mean by that is the really powerful ones still kill with one hit most of the time, and the less powerful ones now kill with one hit most of the time). So, autosnipes ahoy!

That's most of my lot. Don't get the wrong impression and think I'm saying CoD4 isn't what it's cracked up to be - despite all this spiel it's incredibly fun, and even with a list twice the size I wouldn't quit it for the world - but these things, for me at least, definitely back up my brothers claim that it makes everything a little bit 'noob friendly'. Sure, it's good to give beginners more of a chance against veterans, but some of it is woeful. At least it makes for some good fun-poking banter in game

Feel free to disagree with me, and I'm definitely getting the impression that I want CoD4 to be CoD2

 

[Traxata]

The G3 ... is my precious!

 

[waterproofbob]

I love hardcore and I certainly wouldn't say it is noob friendly, as long as the people playing aren't noobtoobing everything in site at the start. I like the perks and I rarely get all that annoyed by peoples choice as you can only have those select few. Last stand is an ass particularly in hardcore and martydom is also a pain but I find I can hear people with dead silence some of the time unless I'm in a gun fight when you hear nothing anyway. I hate the p90 and all snipers, or more precisely all campers.


I have no experience of previous COD games so I can't comment on some of the stuff, there's a few little things bug me all of which you have mentioned above, but I still love hardcore and there's no better gun than the g3 for it.

You raise some valid points and I look forward to getting back to some CODage tomorrow night.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Wow, that's some rant.

I've only been playing for a few days and then only on hardcore servers so I don't really have a depth of perspective on this game yet, however...

I tend to disagree with some of your points. To date, I'm not finding that I'm dying to any particular weapon more than the rest, except the underslung grenade launcher in the hands of a dedicated n00b-tuber and possibly Traxata's knife.

In particular, I've not found I've had any problem with any of the perks you've mentioned, either using (where I can) or having them used on me. I really enjoy the unpredictability of, say, a guy going down but not knowing whether you need to put that extra round or two in him to make him stay down (aka Last Stand). I find it livens the games up. Besides, I love Last Stand, even when I die behind a wall and can't see the guy who killed me...

However, I have a gripe that you've not mentioned, which isn't new to this game but certainly a repeated mistake. So, you give people the power to launch explosives across the map and make it so that each spawn can roughly see each other at the start. What's going to happen? N00b-tubes and airstrikes are the first weapons to speak after a few rounds, which can lead to a bunch of people sitting out in Search & Destroy games for no particularly good reason. Even a 5 second "wait" on using those tools at the start of a round would prevent wholesale and random slaughter without any effort or skill involved. I'd implement a mod that prevented their use in that way on the THN server if I had one.

All that said, I'm really appreciating CoD4 multiplayer, where I really disliked CoD2 multiplayer. Maybe it's just that I've found that I can step in, play and be effective despite being new...?

The one weapon I feel the game could do without is the n00b-tube, though. In a game without health bars, just a "take too much damage in X time" death system, the minor lashback of your own n00b-tube explosion near you isn't nearly enough to put you off using it at stupid close ranges.

 

[Pubic_Warrior]

thats exactly how i feel about the game, i didn't want to say anything in case WW3 started.

brilliant storyline and set pieces, put i'm loving PR 0.7