So a RL friend introduced me to the shooter MMO called Firefall. It is currently in open beta and is a F2P MMO that utilizes a microtrans system similar to LoTR:O (as in you can buy XP boosts and such but so far looks like the main stuff you buy are cosmetic stuff for your character such as different heads, hats, eye/facewear etc. The general basis of the game is you play a character that uses a "Battleframe" to fight The Chosen (the enemies in the game). There are like 10-12 battleframes in the game right now (5 are available to everyone, the others you can get via starter packs and from leveling up their "origin" battleframes). There are no set classes in the game, you can change out battle frames at a whim at any battleframe station or battleframe garage. The 5 frames you start with are Dreadnaught, Recon, Assault, Engineer, and Biomedic (you can kinda guess the general concept behind each frame from the name). There are no set quests like games like most games have. There are dynamic events ranging from players dropping thumpers (which draws enemy attention) to melding tornados showing up all the way up to Chosen attacks on bases (or you having to attack bases that the Chosen have taken over). The crafting system seems pretty deep as well. You gather resources by using a Scan Hammer to find high deposits of materials then bringing down a thumper that drills up said materials. YOu then refine the materials and whatnot to make upgrade components/gear for your battleframes. I am not a PVP fan so havent really checked out PVP but there is your general PVP stuff available as well as a "esports PVP" as the developers call it called Jetball (I believe they call it esports as in it being like a televised kinda event in game...not an actual esports thing in real life).
I went into the open beta with pretty low expectations (the RL friend seems to have a new super awesome MMO they are interested in every month) but I gotta say Firefall has really drawn my interest. The combat is frantic and intense, the crafting system is quite interesting, the ability to change your "class" whenever you want is pretty awesome too. I should also mention that I am playing the game on Very High setting (i believe i recently dropped shadows down to medium) and have some extra stuff like Motion Blur turned on and minus some server lag issues they have had recently due to the massive influx of players due to open beta starting my computer only seems to show slowdown when I am surrounded by craptons of enemies and allies and explosions/gunfire/etc flashing across the screen so the game doesnt seem like it needs a super awesome rig to run well. The introduction/tutorial to the game is pretty good but it did seem to kinda suddenly up and just drop me off on my own (which due to some bugs/glitches occuring at the time may not be 100% intended you could say).
If you are a fan of shooters (whether FPS or third person...you can play in either view) and MMO's I honestly suggest to check out Firefall....its 100% FREE (I downloaded it and have been playing it and at no time have I had to provide credit card info at all) so in all reality....you have nothing to lose lol. If you do decide to try it out I am playing under the name "Jharm" so feel free to add me and msg me if you see me online.
Official website for Firefall:
http://www.firefallthegame.com/en
