I hear the console version was pants. Well, perhaps not pants, but at least a game that was all for show and carried very little of the Rainbow Six trademark gritty edges and "realism".
The PC version, however, is apparently going back to their Raven Shield roots.
I've had a play of the demo and so far I'm quite pleased.
The Good
No long-and-tedious planning missions within a tool that can't possibly help you understand what the map really looks like.
A straight-forward "send your team mates here" click.
AI team mates feel fairly responsive and autonomous. They stack on corners, they provide covering fire, I've even seen them go dynamic and really push an assault through (and it's a bugger to keep up when you're naturally more cautious).
Enemy AI seems okay. In the missions it is somewhat scripted and the mobs feel a little immobile once they've taken their positions, but flashbangs do get them moving. They use the hide-and-lean shooting technique just fine, which is a new addition and I welcome it! Overall, they don't feel utterly stupid and they're at least mostly competent at slowing your elite team down.
Missions are now a series of linked maps. This means that you can't lob a nade into the skybox knowing that the mobs three streets over will be activated and start walking stupidly towards you... it also means that they can link interesting-yet-difficult-to-map things together. In single player the mission maps are contiguous so there's no chance to get extra ammo or heal up between them. Drop a man in an earlier stage and it's just harder later. Not sure how this translates to multiplayer.
The AI is less lethal. In fact, the gameplay is clearly pushing for a faster movement -- less crawl, smoke, shoot, repeat that Raven Shield really required, especially at higher AI difficulties. Body armour does a better job of keeping you alive. I've rushed a room against handguns and survived. You get three "blobs" of health. Injuries seem to take off one blob. I haven't started the Raven Shield gimp-limp yet... that said, being on 3 blobs of health doesn't make you invincible. I rushed out of a building and one guy slotted me as I stood stupidly next to a wall looking around.
Weapon selection seems alright. The assault rifles don't appear to have silencers, which will push silenced combat to pistols or SMGs. There's a fair few guns, but not nearly as many pistols as I'd like (only 3 models).
Switching to and from night vision takes a moment, and in that moment you have a black screen. Not sure if this is a bug, but it makes the decision to have one or the other a tactical one, not just a flick of the wrist.
You can't move whilst leaning. The ol' lean-and-creep technique is dead at last. It looked sooooo stupid.
The Bad
Ammo is now pooled. As far as I can tell, changing mags just refills your mag from the pool, rather than having the effect of dropping the mag or storing it for later on partial load. Maybe people don't like bullet-counting? For me it's part of the tactical squad game and I miss it.
Sometimes your team AI is just too gung-ho. I've seen a lone R6 operative rush up a set of stairs to their doom when they should have waited. No idea what was happening there.
The weapons feel a little, er, light. The G36 doesn't quite have the punch I was expecting and the handguns feel too much like popguns, though that may be due to the silencer I was using.
There's no prone stance. Where did that go?
The (not so) Ugly
The game looks quite pretty, certainly a mark up from Raven Shield. Flashbang effects leave you dazed and wobbly. Injuries can leave you reeling and needing to recover behind cover.
There isn't any decal damage, though, which I've grown to appreciate in games such as FEAR and Max Payne 2.
I can't connect to any multiplayer servers. I'm just dropped after hanging for a minute. No idea what's happening there.
Closing Thoughts
Lockdown is looking pretty good. More accessible than Raven Shield by virtue of being a faster, more run-and-gun game style, but still with the possibilities of careful advance and punishments for being too cavalier. This is no Doom, for certain. Not sure if the demo is a good picture of the contents of the final game, but I think I'd be interested in looking at this one around release time.
The PC version, however, is apparently going back to their Raven Shield roots.
I've had a play of the demo and so far I'm quite pleased.
The Good
No long-and-tedious planning missions within a tool that can't possibly help you understand what the map really looks like.
A straight-forward "send your team mates here" click.
AI team mates feel fairly responsive and autonomous. They stack on corners, they provide covering fire, I've even seen them go dynamic and really push an assault through (and it's a bugger to keep up when you're naturally more cautious).
Enemy AI seems okay. In the missions it is somewhat scripted and the mobs feel a little immobile once they've taken their positions, but flashbangs do get them moving. They use the hide-and-lean shooting technique just fine, which is a new addition and I welcome it! Overall, they don't feel utterly stupid and they're at least mostly competent at slowing your elite team down.
Missions are now a series of linked maps. This means that you can't lob a nade into the skybox knowing that the mobs three streets over will be activated and start walking stupidly towards you... it also means that they can link interesting-yet-difficult-to-map things together. In single player the mission maps are contiguous so there's no chance to get extra ammo or heal up between them. Drop a man in an earlier stage and it's just harder later. Not sure how this translates to multiplayer.
The AI is less lethal. In fact, the gameplay is clearly pushing for a faster movement -- less crawl, smoke, shoot, repeat that Raven Shield really required, especially at higher AI difficulties. Body armour does a better job of keeping you alive. I've rushed a room against handguns and survived. You get three "blobs" of health. Injuries seem to take off one blob. I haven't started the Raven Shield gimp-limp yet... that said, being on 3 blobs of health doesn't make you invincible. I rushed out of a building and one guy slotted me as I stood stupidly next to a wall looking around.
Weapon selection seems alright. The assault rifles don't appear to have silencers, which will push silenced combat to pistols or SMGs. There's a fair few guns, but not nearly as many pistols as I'd like (only 3 models).
Switching to and from night vision takes a moment, and in that moment you have a black screen. Not sure if this is a bug, but it makes the decision to have one or the other a tactical one, not just a flick of the wrist.
You can't move whilst leaning. The ol' lean-and-creep technique is dead at last. It looked sooooo stupid.
The Bad
Ammo is now pooled. As far as I can tell, changing mags just refills your mag from the pool, rather than having the effect of dropping the mag or storing it for later on partial load. Maybe people don't like bullet-counting? For me it's part of the tactical squad game and I miss it.
Sometimes your team AI is just too gung-ho. I've seen a lone R6 operative rush up a set of stairs to their doom when they should have waited. No idea what was happening there.
The weapons feel a little, er, light. The G36 doesn't quite have the punch I was expecting and the handguns feel too much like popguns, though that may be due to the silencer I was using.
There's no prone stance. Where did that go?
The (not so) Ugly
The game looks quite pretty, certainly a mark up from Raven Shield. Flashbang effects leave you dazed and wobbly. Injuries can leave you reeling and needing to recover behind cover.
There isn't any decal damage, though, which I've grown to appreciate in games such as FEAR and Max Payne 2.
I can't connect to any multiplayer servers. I'm just dropped after hanging for a minute. No idea what's happening there.
Closing Thoughts
Lockdown is looking pretty good. More accessible than Raven Shield by virtue of being a faster, more run-and-gun game style, but still with the possibilities of careful advance and punishments for being too cavalier. This is no Doom, for certain. Not sure if the demo is a good picture of the contents of the final game, but I think I'd be interested in looking at this one around release time.
hopefulyl this one will just be as good or BETTER!