Pros: Large maps with lots of players, objective focused matches, vehicles used for both transport or combat
Cons: Fairly linear progression system, saving currency is hard due to repairs, some lagg issues
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 8
Performance: 7
Overall: 8
We recently checked out Heroes & Generals from Reto-Moto, a third person free to play MMO shooter with an element of real time strategy gameplay, all with a WW2 theme where the Russians, Germans and Americans are fighting against each other. We put in a few hours of gameplay to get a better idea of what it's all about, so read on!
Starting out we were able to choose a character from the three different nations, unexpectedly even once we'd picked our character we still had the option of playing as characters from the other nations, switching between them from game to game. Whilst from a monetary point of view this would be pointless, as you'd be essentially levelling up the same Infantry class character three times, as opposed to focusing on improving different characters for different nations; we didn't like the potential "spying" possibilities. Realistically whilst you may have your main nation, it did seem like you could choose to put a low level infantry in the other faction and feed players (or your guild) information on position, etc. If you were super competitive; so personally we'd have preferred to see nation locking once choosing your initial nation.
The different characters available to a nation represent different classes, Infantry, Snipers, Tank Drivers, Pilots, Paratroopers and Generals; all of which opened up access to new gear and features. Unlocking them required leveling up and also purchasing them with earned currency, similar to leveling up each character and acquiring new gear. By using an item you gain proficiency with it until you unlock a medal/certification to then purchase the next best weapon in the list (ie. we had to use a shovel as our melee weapon until we'd used it enough to buy a knife), whether machine guns, ammo, weapon upgrades, vehicles or other stuff; the system was the same and there didn't appear to be that much variation from what we could see. The bigger issue for us was that whilst the money came in at a decent enough speed, it went out just as quickly with consumables and gear maintenance costs, which were constantly needed (and get more expensive the higher level your items are), so saving up enough cash to buy the next items whilst at the same time paying to keep your current ones functional is a bit of a balancing act.
This structured/linear progression shows itself in the game modes as well, with four modes that are unlocked at different account levels (Encounter, Skirmish, Assault, War); the first mode Encounter was a single map with a single point capture. The game was very enjoyable and the layout of the map was based on an assault on a warehouse, allowing for a little bit of forest combat, watchtowers, trench battles, then indoor fights; unfortunately having to play on the same map over and over until we levelled up was a little bit annoying. Once we'd levelled up to unlock Skirmish we then found that the match queue time went over 5 minutes before we just cancelled it and carried on playing Encounter until we'd levelled up to get access to Assault.
Whilst not the main mode the jump from Encounter to Assault was huge, suddenly there were a ton of players on each side, the map was absolutely massive, and now there were half a dozen points to capture or defend, depending upon which side you ended up. For us we were defending which meant keeping hold of at least one of our points until the match timer ran out or we ran out of "resources", which are essentially how many times your team's players can respawn and create vehicles and that kind of thing (which plays a much more important role in the "War" mode). Meanwhile the attacking team, in this case it was the Russians (we were the US) had to capture all out points.
Instead of starting at the beginning of a match we were seemingly dropped right in the middle of it, already well underway we just made a bee-line towards the nearest enemy objective, bumping into a few friendlies on the way and orchestrating an assault on the depot from the top of a ridge, scoping out the possible threats we might face. This is one of the best things about the game, there are no nameplates or health bars floating over players heads, if an enemy is crouched in a bush, or hiding in an upper room peeping through the window waiting to snipe a target, then you have no idea unless you get eyes on them, which makes for some pretty exciting gameplay. Equally exciting was a sudden rush of three trucks that can careening down the road into our main base that suddenly unloaded a bunch of enemy infantry that scattered and broke out a firefight right in the middle of the street as they tried to take control of the area. These kinds of events and little moments were both memorable and frequent throughout our entire time playing.
The combat isn't too bad, it's fairly basic and the aiming sometimes doesn't feel the most accurate, which might be a balance of both our skill, the weapons/accessories precision and the latency/ping issues we seemed to be affected by. Rubber-banding and lagging across the field was a little more frequent than we'd like, and was seen in enemy players as well that made them really difficult to hit (checking the "Tab" score options we could see who had bad ping), which put a bit of a damper on things but it wasn't the end of the world for us. Overall it was a fun experience, the game is very cool, the War mode and some organized play we feel would improve our experience ten fold, albeit the progression is somewhat lacking in our opinion; still, it's worth a play and we don't think it'll be the last time we jump into the game.
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