Windows Shattered Horizon to get more than one weapon?!

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/63501

Free DLC on May 5, bringing '8 new weapons' and more grenades

 

Sweet. Only managed a few matches so far, this should be enough for it to take over from CoD4 for a couple months

 

Cool, I've only spent about 4 hours on it, but it's great fun. My only concern is how adding all those weapons will affect the balancing.

 

Mm, I have to say it's not actually too bad with only one weapon. Not to mention, as you say, dead-on balanced.
I don't think it's a very popular game though, Sapphire keep offering it to me for free
Hopefully this will get some new players in

 

It really does seem uncommon... shame. Bought the 4 pack on Steam and trying to my friends to play. Not all have Vista/7.

They all claim that it's just a demo game and isn't meant to really be something to play, but I say they're wrong. Having just one gun and three grenades makes it more tactics and skill based. No worry of some guy with an overpowered item killing you, and no "I only lost because he just happened to have a gun better suited for that fight" QQing. If you opponent can do it, you can do it.

 

it wouldnt suprise me if there was the option to keep it as a single weapon game

 

I just wish more people played! God it's good

 

It really is a good game.
I hope they do include the option for single weapon only matches though.
Everyone having the same setup makes it interesting.

 

i never bought it but played the demo, and its one of my favourite FPS games, but a lack of people to play against made me not actually buy it. Maybe i should pick it up

 

That's my opinion - the totally level playing field keeps it down to pure skill, not weapon balancing. Having said that I'd rather have loads more folks playing and have weapon niggles than not enough playing.

 

Going to give it a go.

 

It really is a fantastically fun game, and just about perfectly balanced. Hope the balance stays with the update.

If it weren't for lack of internet i would definatly play it a lot more.

 

More weapons eh; may give it another go.

 

Personally I think the one-weapon system worked well but I really don't see why people think it makes it more "balanced" so long as none of the weapons are particularly broken like the AK in CoD4.

 

Judging from those screenshots, the weapons are unique for each faction? That's pretty cool, actually. Perfect time for me to get back into the game.

 

New weapons all but one revealed, can't decide if it's good or bad yet.

 

Thank god for a secondary weapon (pistol), most of the times I get killed are from reloading (necessary or unnecessary)

 

My own opinion is that it reduces the inherent advantages and disadvantages which certain weapons bring. These aspects can add more diversity and strategy to a game in their own right, but also add a certain reliance on one's chosen weapon. With one weapon you always know that in any given sitation your weapon is just as viable as your opponents. This, in my mind, actually adds even more strategy to combat than choosing a weapon to suit various situations. Players are instead forced to use superior positioning, ambushes, team-mates, or manouvering to get the upper hand.

Example: Let's say you want to fight in closer quarters. In a normal shooter you grab your SMG and head out for your chosen [likely urban or indoor] location. In Shattered Horizon, however, you cannot change your weapon to provide an advantage in any given situation (aside from changing to burst mode). Since your opponent will always be able to fire back with just as much potency you must find ways of ensuring that he/she is not able to retaliate effectively. Instead of running around corners with your SMG blasting away you must truly ambush your opponents using the rocky, three dimensional world to your advantage. You must use your navigational prowess to evade enemy fire and position yourself for tank shots from behind or head shots from above where you cannot be fired upon.

The game offers such a unique and useful world for players, it'd just be a shame to see that aspect be played down by adding emphasis on weapons.

 

Just played a few games and tried out the new weapons. They're not faction specific, both sides have the same weapons.

Overall I think they're a good addition. It's worth noting these aren't new weapons in addition to the trusty old assault rifle, as that's been given an overhaul too. It not longer has an underbarrel grenade launcher, instead you just press E to fire you grenades from your grande pistol (you change grenades with mouse wheel, and the 6 different types are shown below the map - it took me a while to find that). The mining pick doesn't seem to be any more useful than the old melee attack, so it's not really that great an addition. The pistol is good for finishing off enemies which you have already damaged instead of reloading, but it can't be relied upon for much else (though this is probably the way it's supposed to be).

Each weapon has a clearly defined role. The Machine gun is really good when you're attached to a surface and looking down the sights to lay down suppressing fire, the SMG is really accurate from the hip but a little weak and not great at much else, and the railgun is good for those that want to sit out on a rock halfway to Mars. It's for this reason I'm not too keen on that weapon. The shotgun seems a little underpowered, but really all the weapons are when compared to the Assault rifle. There's just a lot of situations where you'll need anything else. It's pretty accurate when fired from the hip, has good damage, and - unlike the old assault rifle - you can easily much snipe people when you aim down the sights if you fire in short bursts. It's even pretty easy to get kills aiming down the sights when you're flying about, which was almost impossible with the old gun.

So to be honest I can't really see many people using anything other than the assault rifle and railgun unless it's for novelty value, but it does add some different options and variety depending on how you want to play.