This Online FPS Broke a Guinness World Record
Yet it remains a woefully underrated game
Planetside 2 can be described with one word: massive. Its unique mix of MMO and FPS enables epic grand scaled battles across huge maps. The game holds the Guinness world record for the most players online in a single FPS battle.
But unfortunately, it has never received the attention it deserves. Over the years, Planetside’s player count has slowly decreased as new players have been losing interest.
The game deserves better. Let’s take a deeper look at it.
Planetside in a nutshell
At first sight, Planetside looks like a typical shooter with dated visuals. You can go on foot, land vehicles, or airplanes. There are different infantry classes etc…
The game takes place in the year 2426 on a distant planet called Auraxis, where a never-ending war is fought between three different factions:
Vanu Sovereignty
People who belong to the vanu sovereignty believe that the only way the human race can survive is through enlightenment and acquiring alien technology.
Terran Republic
Terran republicans want to unite humanity under a regime that follows law and order.
New Conglomerate
The New Conglomerate is a loosely organized group of freedom fighters who have contrary beliefs than the Terrain Republic.
Your character is bound to one faction. If you create a Vanu character, he will always be a Vanu.
Although there is a more in-depth story behind Planetside, it is not essential for the game or the player.
Planetside uniqueness
Now let’s get to the points where Planetside differs from other shooters:
- Massive maps
- Huge scaled battles
- Community
Massive maps
Planetside has four different continents Indar, Esamir, Amerish, and Hossin. Each continent has many bases, ranging from small outposts to huge buildings like Techplants, which each nation has to fight for.
Huge scaled battles
With three different factions and upon 1000s of players, Planetside offers large-scaled battles hardly matched by any other game. Being a part of a battle where hundreds of other players are involved is a fantastic experience.
The Planetside team made some excellent videos from actual game footage to get a sense of Planetside’s scale:
Community
A character is bound to one faction and one server. This means that you will meet certain friends and enemies again and again. You start to get to know them, and sometimes you build up an in-game friendship or a hate-love relationship with them.
Over the years, Planetside build up a friendly community full of interesting people who give the game its character.
Weak points
Although Planetside 2 is a fantastic game. It has its weak points, which play a huge role in the game’s current player loss issue.
Complexity
Planetside is a complex game, which requires a certain amount of skill. Since there is no matchmaking system, because all fights happen on one map, new players are thrown mercilessly into the battle with veteran players.
Combined with the rather hard to understand game mechanics, it is easy for new players to get scared off the game.
Balance
Sometimes it happens that a base gets overrun by a large number of enemies. Having a five vs. 50 fight can be an interesting experience, but most of the time, it results in frustration on the defender site and boredom on the attacker site.
Conclusion
Planetside offers a unique massive scale FPS experience with a community full of interesting people.
Although it is hard to get to know Planetside 2 and its world initially, it pays off. Once you are in, you will be given a shooter experience only Planetside 2 can offer.
