bullet points:
-game is $9.99 on PSN.
-12 players online.
plays like soldat. for those who haven't played something like this, think 2D tribes. if you haven't played tribes, think 2D quake with jetpacks.
controls --
-move - left stick
-aim - right stick
-shoot - R1
-jetpack - L1
-roll - down + L1
-use explosive - R2
-reload - O
-toggle between primary/secondary weapon - square
-suicide - select
primary weapons --
-machine gun: solid at any range, especially if you can master the lob.
-shotgun: can kill in one shot at close ranges -- not nearly as effective far off.
-sniper rifle: long downtime between shots, but if you can aim, this can be very effective. one hit kill unless they have a vest.
-rocket launcher: one hit kill (w/o vest). self explanatory. good timing can make this work great. splash damage isn't necessarily reliable -- you'll want to go for direct hits. great against vehicles.
-grenade launcher: my personal favorite. one hit kill (w/o vest) on direct hit. very flexible weapon -- especially on objective based maps.
-CAB: a solid laser with very long range and a constant dmg rate. personally this is my least favorite weapon, but i've seen some people use it well.
side arms --
-gun: this is the pistol. since i usually use grenade launcher, this is my side arm of choice -- takes care of land mines and isn't a bad alternative when you want/need to save ammo. (edit: i need to confirm if it can kill landmines. i thought it could, but last time i tried, i didn't have much luck)
-knife: one hit kill (haven't confirmed if that's 100%, or if super armor can protect you). sometimes hard to land, but not too hard. fun to mess around with people.
explosives --
-hand grenades: you can throw these while flying/falling. great if used intelligently. my pick for deathmatch modes if i'm not using a grenade launcher.
-C4: press once to throw it (like a grenade), but it will stick on the ground. press again to detonate. you are USELESS when you have a C4 planted because you can't use your other weapons. therefor, i find C4 pretty useless. if they'd patch it to where you can shoot like normal and just detonate with R2 whenever you want, i think it'd be useful without being overpowered.
-mine: my personal favorite for objective based maps on offense and defense. use them to protect terminals/control panels while on defense, but they work even better if you use them to protect a planted bomb (they'll be in a hurry to defuse it). can also give yourself a bit of protection while you're busy hacking a terminal.
stationary weapons --
-turret gun: enter the turret and fire at the other layer. VERY deadly. usually overlooks a pretty important area of the map.
-RC rocket: enter it and it'll protect you while you fly around a rocket. the rocket isn't very fast, but it does quite a bit of damage. throw it into a group of people for a nice combo.
powerup weapons --
-gatling gun: hold the button down for lots of bullets. very effective.
-laser cannon: fires huge blue laser balls. takes like 2-3 hits to kill. very effective.
pick ups --
-armor (yellow vest): gives you armor. basically means you have two life bars. very useful
-super armor (red vest with helmet): more armor
-explosives (green bomb icon): gives you more explosives. i've not run into a limit on the number of mines you can have laid down. i almost feel sorry when enemies let me litter the whole level with mines.
-ammo (yellow bullets): more ammo
survival bonuses --
-regenerating health (red): you get HP back over time. not only that, but you are protected from one hit kills. an excellent first choice if there are enemy snipers or skilled grenaders.
-speed increase (green): you move around faster, but also drain energy faster -- i usually pick this one last.
-roll upgrade (yellow): you now roll faster AND do good damage. i get this one and the HP buff first, in whatever order i feel like.
game modes --
Sabotage:
-Attackers plant bombs on control panels. Up to two can be going at once, but one person can only plant one bomb at a time. As the attackers successfully bomb sets of control panels, the next set of control panels will open up.
Espionage:
-Attackers need to hack the data at the terminal and take the data back to home base. Each terminal has two bits of data -- you can abort download after the first and you will keep it, but one will still be in the terminal. If the person with data dies, the data is instantly returned to the terminal (it does not drop) so it is very important to PROTECT the data carrier.
in both objective based modes, it is important to know the map layout and where the powerups are.
some tips:
-hold downward while boosting to roll -- this is great for traveling fast and dodging enemy fire. this gets boosted with the orange/yellow powerup.
-use pistol (switch with square) to take out land mines if your primary can't
-for objective based maps, land mines are super effective. i not only use them for defense, but i also protect the bombs with mines when on offense. and for the hacking maps, sometimes i'll put a couple around me before hacking. as people get better, they may lose their effectiveness (nobody seems to take out their pistol to destroy them), but for now, they are super deadly.
-when driving a vehicle, watch out for teamates -- if you touch them while moving, they'll die and you lose a point. when you see a friendly vehicle around, don't jump infront of it.
-O lets you reload. the animation is subtle.
