Planetside 2 is easily one of my all time favorite mmo shooters, the absolute cluster ♥♥♥♥ that occurs in large battles as swarms of hundreds of multi colored nerds in vehicles and boots scream and tear across a continent flipping bases and calling eachother hackers in yell chat is easily some of the greatest fun ive had. it can kind of eat ass to begin as certain mechanics in the game kinda turn people off this game really quickly, but with enough patience to adjust and overcome those, im sure alot of people, maybe the reader included, would have a great time.

i will elaborate on and briefly cover the general issues people have that make it a stiff game to get into, they are as follows,

Lag compensation, which is the reason hacker claims are so immense when people review this game negatively, which, while i wont claim there aren't hackers in planetside 2, i think the claims made to the frequency/amount are greatly exaggerated, planetside 2 has a very different lag compensation system that is alot to get into, so if you'd like an in depth analysis on it, you can watch this older, but still relevant video made by now developer Wrel at This link.

Lack of direction, as the game doesnt have too specifically highlighted directions but more of a set of basic mechanic guidelines, i.e capture bases and such which, while indicated on your map, aren't particularly forced on you. This is easily solved by either pressing your instant action key (i by default) to spawn you into a fight, or opening your map in the escape menu, and finding a fight to your size preferences. in which the player amounts in said area are indicated by a pi chart when hovering over a base in said map, which trails into the other issue i've seen new players get into which is:

Bad fight populations. being as open ended and sandboxish as this game is, that means there is no limit to the amount of people in a specific fight as there are four maps, or continents in the game covered with an array of bases, this sandbox functionality results in zerg rushes that can completely overwhelm an entire map based on a number of variables including global faction population at the time and cohesion of currently online guilds or Outfits as they are called in game. This leads to new players spawning into fights where for example, One faction has 60% or more of the total player population at that base, leading to what is essentially spawn camping, making it very important to pick your fights carefully.

Lastly, the damage model, which is more halo esque, requires a multitude of rounds to down opponents, especially the MAX exoskeletons, which have around an 85% reduction in damage from guns. typically veteran players are well trained in headshots, which can also play into a new players perception of hacking, as while a body shot kill could take 5 to 10 rounds a headshot kill would take half the time making you feel like your guns are inferior. Overall, if you can get past these issues, there is a fantastic game here with satisfying gunplay.

for comparisions i would say this game is akin to the likes of battlefield 1942 and halo multiplayer on a grander, more nano technological scale.