Review: Battlefield 4 (PC)

Diagram 1

Battlefield 4 is really difficult to peg with a numerical score because it's a constantly moving target. The game leaps up and down radically over time, which is something the series has suffered from since the start.

Upon its release, Battlefield 4's multiplayer -- the main draw for the series -- featured server instability, inexplicable crashes and lock-ups, bizarre sound issues, and very short stretches of fun. The early going sparked a rant from this writer about how anyone could possibly review Battlefield 4 (at launch) with any honesty because, although it wasn't unplayable, it was close enough that any writer should have had second thoughts about slapping a score on the game and calling it a day.

In my experience, even the single-player campaign featured a plethora of random lock-ups until a few weeks had passed since the launch. Since the single-player campaign is so inconsequential and acts as a training ground for multiplayer -- glimpses of the gadgets, the scope of the conflict, etc. -- the last time it crashed out was the last time I spent any time with it. As much as the campaign is a cool graphical showcase the story is limp with almost no charm and characters I couldn't care less about.

Review: Planetside 2 (PC)

I'm not going to deny that I'm an unrepentant snob when it comes to FPS games.

I like them on my PC, I like them pretty, and I like them 'splodey in all the right ways.  A well made shooter is almost a thing of beauty.

In terms of pure design, I hold Unreal Tournament as the apex of what a shooter should attempt to attain.  MMOFPS games have to do double duty, since they not only have to work as an FPS but they also have to properly convey the persistent world of an MMO.  I didn't have an opportunity to try Sony's original Planetside, but to correct that oversight, I did get the chance to go through Planetside 2.  I can't really speak to its value as a sequel, but on its value as an MMOFPS, the first half seems to be fairly well executed at the expense of the second.